Gee’s Bend: Shared Legacy

See a focused installation of prints made by members of the Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers’ Collective from Alabama during an artistic residency at Paulson Fontaine Press in Berkeley, California. The pieces were created by pressing original quilted fabric designs face down on a wax-coated printing plate that captured the texture, seams, and stitching of the original fabrics. Through this innovative process, a quilt is translated to a printed surface—a new medium to explore and share the quiltmakers’ creativity. “Gee’s Bend: Shared Legacy” is presented in two six-month installments, each featuring a selection of 12 prints by quiltmakers Mary Lee Bendolph, Louisiana Bendolph, Loretta Bennett, and Loretta Pettway. In addition to the prints on display, each installment will also exhibit one of two quilts by Mary Lee Bendolph, Diner (2004) and Image of Formal Presidents (2009), which was made as a gift for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on the occasion of his historic inauguration.

Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is home to one of the most important African American quilt-making traditions in the United States. Quilting had begun there by the 19th century, when enslaved women sewed quilts for themselves and their families. As quilters passed down memory, skill, and meaning from generation to generation, they developed both individual and collective artistic practices unique to the community. Their works, which have been shown widely in museums over the past two decades, are celebrated for their soft geometries, bold juxtapositions of color, and inventive use of materials.

This exhibition is supported by the Hannah and Russel Kully Fund for American Art and Laura and Carlton Seaver.