Plate 52

California Drop Cloth
“Celebration” Fabric, 1979 (VII-7)

Through the curious reversals of California’s informal culture, which during the 1960s and 1970s firmly established the validity of its design independence, a painter’s drop cloth is translated into a custom upholstery fabric, prized for the beauty of its color combinations. Alluding to the spontaneous gestures of Abstract Expressionism, the paint-splattered effect of California Drop Cloth’s “Celebration” fabric is punctuated by splashes of dripped or thrown paint, in a design created to order by each artist-craftsman within the limits of loosely structured patterns.