PORTRAIT QUILTS, WILD TO WOOFY (Cheri)

Smithsonian Magazine!  When I saw this month's cover article about quilt artist Bisa Butler, I couldn't wait . . .

I got a picture of this quilt when visiting the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.  Since I took pictures of only one other portrait quilt while there, I've been holding it for a while.  Today the Smithsonian article that I linked to above came up on my Google feed, and the magazine itself showed up in the mail.  Clearly, it was time to post!

Bisa Butler is having a real moment.  New York's Katonah Museum of Art had a large showing of her quilts in 2020.  This link includes many full and detail pictures from that exhibit, along with commentary.  My sentimental favorite among those quilts is Broom Jumpers, but Four Little Girls, at the bottom of the article, is devastating.

The New York Times commissioned a portrait quilt of author Octavia Butler for the cover of an "Arts and Leisure" insert in November.  [Addendum:  BMW used her as the focus of their Black History Month ad in 2024.]

The Smithsonian article talks a lot about the factors in Butler's color and fabric choices:

“When you look at her quilts, you know from the facial features that the subject matter is African American,” says Yale University Art Gallery curator Michele Wije . . .
“But Bisa allows the viewer to step away from that idea, because she uses all of these
vivid colors that express emotions.” Wije likens Butler to German Expressionists, the early 20th-century artists who strategically employed unnatural flesh tones in their paintings. “You’re put in a different relationship with the person.”

When we got back from Paducah, I checked to see if Butler had written a book.  Yes, but . . .  Bisa Butler: Portraits, published in 2020, is apparently out of print, and secondary sellers on Amazon.com are selling it for prices ranging from $153 to $235 per copy.

Here is a link to an interview with Butler, done by WNYC, New York City's NPR station.

I was very excited to see Summer Fun, 2022 also hung at the National Quilt Museum, as I had seen it in numerous magazines.

My photograph does not do its radiance justice, but the detail photo does give you an idea of the work involved in its creation.

This quilt was part of the AQS QuiltWeek Paducah 2023 "Shakespeare" exhibit.  Lots of metallic gold fabric involved:

Memories of a Maiko, below, has also been featured in numerous magazines, having won numerous awards.  It was hand-painted before being quilted.

If you expand the picture substantially, you can see its masterful contour quilting.

Finally, a couple of "regular" quilts from the show.  Oh to be this good!