For the 50th edition of COVER, we asked influential people in the world of handmade carpets to without prejudice name the best rug since the first issue 13 years ago. Art historian and curator, Cornelia Lauf chose Santa Cruz River by Alexandra Kehayoglou.
‘I’ve selected Alexandra Kehayoglou’s Santa Cruz River, hand-tufted by the artist and team, for the following reasons: The work is handmade with great manual dexterity by a visual artist who operates with full knowledge of the passage of art history and its paradigm shifts. She does not frustrate her natural talents and uses beauty as her weapon. Kehayolgou works in full function and enjoyment of her gender, without resorting to diatribe, cliché, or invective. Embracing the ancient, and mostly female, the art of weaving, without proselytizing, she carries on a family tradition. Her husband, José Huidobro, is an artist in his own right and helps her unflaggingly. Kehayoglou’s works suggest how material culture might be mapped over generations, even genetically. Modest and unpretentious, she is an oracle whose woven textile works touch themes so great they can be called universal.’
