Shirley Craven

An exhibition of vivid, colour-filled textiles by post-war designer Shirley Craven.

Born in Hull in 1934 and evacuated during the Second World War, Craven cites the rural Yorkshire landscape and her post-war education at Hull College of Art and the Royal College of Art (1955-8) as a launchpad to a hugely successful career at the printing firm Hull Traders. Aged 29, Craven became Chief Designer and Director of this small and visionary firm whose artist-designers also included Althea McNish and Eduardo Paolozzi. The Whitworth is home to over 80 of Craven's bold abstract textiles, displayed together for the first time in over 60 years alongside newly acquired unique works from her days as a Student at the RCA.

6 April 2024 – 11 May 2025

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Image: Shirley Craven, for Hull Traders, Five, detail, 1966-67
Screen-printed furnishing textile. The Whitworth, The University of Manchester (T.12298.2). Photo: Michael Pollard