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Call for Papers: Journal of Contemporary Painting Special Issue & Symposium

Special Issue: ‘Conversations between Painting, Fashion and Textiles’

One-day symposium: ‘Painted Garments’

Friday 22 May 2026

The Hub, Camberwell College of Arts, Bonar Road, London SE15 5FB

Keynote: Delaine Le Bas

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-contemporary-painting#call-for-papers

Deadlines

• Deadline for submission of 300-word abstracts to Dr Tom Cardwell (cardwell@arts.ac.uk): 11 March 2026

• Successful applicants informed: 25 March 2026

• Submission of power points to Dr Tom Cardwell: 5 May 2026

• Symposium: 22 May 2026

• Special Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Painting (Intellect) produced: Spring 2027

Call for papers or creative presentations

The ‘Painted Garments’ symposium will explore links between and within painting, textiles and fashion. From artists who depict clothing in their work to designers inspired by painting and those working directly onto or in response to garments and textiles, we invite contributions from artists, designers and academics working at the intersection of these subjects. Several recent high-profile exhibitions have explored work at this juncture, notably Unravel, The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, Barbican (2024), Sargent and Fashion, Tate Britain (2024), Collection in Focus: The Reach of Faith Ringgold, Guggenheim New York (2025) and Woven Histories Textiles and Modern Abstraction, LACMA, Los Angeles (2024).

Fashion houses frequently collaborate with artists to translate their paintings into garments. Recent examples include Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton and Uniqlo, amongst many others. There is a surge of public and scholarly interest in textile and fashion histories, yet their integration with painting scholarship remains underexplored. The ‘Painted Garments’ one-day symposium, convened by Dr Tom Cardwell and Dr Sarah Kate Wilson, seeks to redress this gap.

We invite 300-word abstracts for articles or creative presentations/performances that concentrate on the reciprocal exchanges among painting, textiles and fashion. We especially welcome abstracts from artists, art historians and theorists as well as writers and academics in associated fields.

Following the symposium, we will invite the development of papers for a special guest-edited issue of the Journal for Contemporary Painting (Intellect), to be edited by Dr Tom Cardwell and Dr Sarah Kate Wilson (planned for 2027).

Suggested themes could include, but are not limited to:

• the relationship between painting and the material, symbolic and cultural functions of clothing;

• how painted garments and textiles might give voice to racial, social and/or environmental injustices;

• critical and theoretical interpretations of the intersections between the mediums;

• the role of painted garments and textiles as forms of resistance;

• wearable paintings/paintings as garments;

• fashion items translated from paintings;

• artists working directly onto garments and textiles;

• explorations of identity through the intersection of painting, textiles and fashion;

• textiles and fashion as subjects for painting;

• art/fashion histories approach to painting.

Abstracts (300 words max) should be submitted to Dr Tom Cardwell at t.cardwell@arts.ac.uk by 11 March 2026. Please get in touch directly for further queries about the symposium.