PETER & RITZI JACOBI BIOGRAPHY
Peter and Ritzi Jacobi met as textile and sculpture students respectively at the Art Academy in Bucharest, marrying in 1966. Until they went their own way in the 1980’s, they collaborated on textiles while developing other separate practices. Their relief tapestries make new experimental and sculptural forms inspired by the Romanian traditions of finely woven blankets, flags and wall hangings and medieval religious embroidery. Anni Albers identified a particular tactility in textiles, arising from how what you see is a direct consequence of the material’s make-up: the Jacobis heighten the effect, often adding contrast by integrating paper and adding to the surface texture by weaving in non-traditional elements such as woven boxes, thick cords, and pieces of wood.