Exhibition Archive

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Mary L. Bennett (b. 1942) Housetop quilt, block variation, 1965 Cotton and cotton/polyester blend, 77 x 82 inches Collection of the Tinwood Alliance

July 15th - December 31st, 2006
de Young Museum, Textile Gallery

Note: To display more of the work of the Gee’s Bend artists, the exhibition will be expanded into Gallery 50 on August 28. Also, please check the calendar for updates on events related to the exhibition.

The Quilts of Gee’s Bend celebrates the artistic legacy of four generations of African-American women from a small, historically all-black community in rural southern Alabama. This exhibition of over 60 extraordinary quilts that were made between 1930 and 2000 showcases a body of work that is bold, spirited, and moving. Hailed by Michael Kimmelman, of The New York Times, as “some of the most miraculous works of art America has produced,” the San Francisco presentation of the Quilts of Gee’s Bend is the final opportunity to view these objects that almost pulsate with energy and life. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta, the exhibition has been on a three-year, coast-to-coast, twelve-venue tour since its premiere in Houston in fall of 2003.

The community of Gee’ Bend is located in Wilcox County at the heart of a stretch of land extending from Texas to Virginia that is called the Black Belt for its thick, fertile soil. It is a region that has historically been characterized as home to “the richest soil and the poorest people” in the United States. Situated some 30 miles southwest of Selma at the tip of a thumb of land demarcated by a deep loop in the Alabama River, the community has been isolated for most of its existence by geography, poverty, and outside indifference. Of necessity, the women of Gee’s Bend pieced quilts to keep their families warm. Using scraps of everyday fabrics like cotton sheeting, corduroy, and denim, which was often salvaged from well-worn work clothes, the women created quilts of astonishing beauty and originality. In design, the quilts are equally remarkable. Bold geometric shapes, dramatic shifts in scale and color, and an improvisational approach to the way the fabrics are assembled produce abstract compositions more akin to the rhythms of jazz and African art than to the order and repetitiousness of many traditional American quilts...

Continue to view more quilt images.

The above is an excerpt—click here to download the full version (PDF).