Textiles gaining favor in contemporary art

I was excited to receive this article from an important contemporary art collector friend. It made me feel that Unconventional & Unexpected is playing a role in elevating quilts and other textiles from the last half of the 20th century. They create a history and context for the incredible work being made today.

“Many point out that artists made textiles long before they were fashionable, and will continue to do so. ‘Fibre often becomes mired in conversations about art and craft, but artists don’t think about categories—they consider how a material might be deployed’...”
— Julia Halperin, The Art Newspaper

Read the article here.

Material world: Caroline Achaintre’s Befor, 2013. Image courtesy The Art Newspaper.

Material world: Caroline Achaintre’s Befor, 2013. Image courtesy The Art Newspaper.

New Bed installation at Krowswork, Oakland, CA

To view images of my installation, visit New Bed on my Artist page.

I am pleased to have been included in the latest group show, "New Bed," at Krowswork in Oakland, CA. Here is a beautiful description of the group exhibition:

“Robert Rauschenberg’s 1955 work Bed represents a watershed in the history of art, one cited as signifying the moment when the hegemony of Abstract Expressionism in America let go. But the piece is far more radical than simply an invisible line in the art continuum. The work hangs on a wall like any painting, yet its central element is a quilt. The eponymous bed is ‘made,’ so to speak, with its corner turned invitingly down and a fluffed white pillow above; but the invitation is moot because the artist stained and closed off this opening with thick, brightly colored oil paint in drips and mottled strokes. Rauschenberg created a bed into which we, the viewers, cannot possibly climb, a bed in which we cannot lie. [...]

In this present show, multi-media, multi-sensorial sculptural installations by [the artists] offer insight into these boundaries between the personal and the public, private and shared history, exploring the disparities between the rhythms, expectations, and emotions of each.”
— Jasmine Moorhead, Krowswork Gallery
Robert Rauschenberg, Bed, 1955

Robert Rauschenberg, Bed, 1955

What do we learn from the back, that which is usually not seen? I am fascinated by the backs of quilts and quilt tops. I also love the WPA photographs of the interiors of sharecroppers homes. My installation uses the backs of quilt tops and quilts along with a collaborative video piece with Jason Hanasik. I wanted to allude to the types of homes in which these textiles may have originated.

New Bed is at Krowswork in Oakland, CA with work by Roderick Kiracofe, Karen and Malik Seneferu, and Nicole Shaffer, along with a provocative video by Sanford Biggers.

The exhibition runs October 24 to December 6, 2014.

The Quilt Show's Daily Blog features U&U

It was great to chat with someone just as excited about quilts as I am. It's always a pleasure when someone sees these quilts as I do -- as "bridges between the traditional quilts of the past and the new modern quilts, which are coming to the forefront of quilting." There is a recognition of the soulfulness in these quilts. Thank you!

 

Read the feature in The Quilt Show's Daily Blog here.

“Did they run out of fabric? Did they want to use up their scraps? Or perhaps they were accepting a personal challenge to create something beautiful out of chaos. In many cases, he is as interested in what they used for the back of their quilts as much as what they used on the front.”
— The Daily Blog

Janneken Smucker weighs in

“I had the pleasure of interviewing Roderick for my research for Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon about his role as a quilt dealer in the 1980s. Although Kiracofe and Kile did not specialize in Amish quilts, they bought and sold many of them, and convinced corporate buyers of their significance. In fact, the first substantial article I read about the Esprit Amish quilt collection was by Michael Kile, published in the 1983 Quilt Digest. The accompanying images of Esprit’s corporate headquarters filled with Amish quilts helped me build my argument about Esprit’s vital role in the promotion of quilts as art objects.”
— Janneken Smucker
Janneken and I at AQSG Seminar 2014, Milwaukee. Image courtesy of janneken.org.

Janneken and I at AQSG Seminar 2014, Milwaukee. Image courtesy of janneken.org.

I was so pleased when my friend and colleague Janneken Smucker agreed to write the "quilt history" essay for the book. She is doing an amazing job as part of the next generation of quilt historians. I have always enjoyed following her writing and projects. Be sure to include her newest book, Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon, in your quilt library.

Her blog post about Unconventional & Unexpected really captures what I hope people take away from U&U as she concludes: "I hope you join me in looking, reading, and thinking, and then behold these quilts as completely unexpected, yet just what you’ve been looking for."

Read her blog post here.

Unconventional & Unexpected in the world!

It's so exciting to find Unconventional & Unexpected out in the world! Friends have been sending me images of the book in so many different places. Thank you for sharing, and please keep sending them!

 
At the de Young in San Francisco. Thanks to Kristin Shields for the image. The de Young has carried every book I have done since The Quilt Digest.

At the de Young in San Francisco. Thanks to Kristin Shields for the image. The de Young has carried every book I have done since The Quilt Digest.

U&U at the de Young. Image courtesy of Leah Thomason Bromberg.

U&U at the de Young. Image courtesy of Leah Thomason Bromberg.

U&U in the gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

U&U in the gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

Having a new book is too much fun. Image courtesy of Luana Rubin.

Having a new book is too much fun. Image courtesy of Luana Rubin.

I found U&U on the new arrivals table at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City!

I found U&U on the new arrivals table at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City!

Amazing company for U&U. Note Janneken Smucker's excellent book, Amish Quilts: Creating an American Icon -- I highly recommend it. Gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Imag…

Amazing company for U&U. Note Janneken Smucker's excellent book, Amish Quilts: Creating an American Icon -- I highly recommend it. Gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

Ames Gallery booth at prestigious San Francisco Fall Antiques Show

Ames Gallery booth at prestigious San Francisco Fall Antiques Show

 Cooperfield's Books in Napa, CA. A thank you to Tony Spleen for this image!

 Cooperfield's Books in Napa, CA. A thank you to Tony Spleen for this image!

Autographed copies of U&U at the booth for Julie Silber's The Quilt Complex, #937 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Thanks to Deborah Turner Ursell for the image!

Autographed copies of U&U at the booth for Julie Silber's The Quilt Complex, #937 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Thanks to Deborah Turner Ursell for the image!

Mary Kay Davis of The Quilt Show sent this picture from Houston Quilt Festival

Mary Kay Davis of The Quilt Show sent this picture from Houston Quilt Festival