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SPEED ART MUSEUM PRESENTS ‘ARCHITECTURE OF THE QUILT’

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LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Speed Art Museum hosts “Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt,” on view through March 23, featuring the brilliant, bold quilts created in the Twentieth Century by a group of women in the small, isolated African American community of Gees Bend in southwestern Alabama.

The 70 quilts in the exhibition, created by 42 women spanning four generations, provide a look at the work of Twentieth Century artists who lived and worked in solitude.

Gee’s Bend is on a sliver of land five miles long and eight miles wide, a virtual island surrounded by a bend in the Alabama River. Isolated geographically, the women in the community created quilts from available materials using patterns of their own imaginative design. Like many American quilters, the women transformed a necessity into a work of art, but their innovative and often minimalist approach to design is unique.

The dynamic, abstract quilts’ brilliant use of line and color demonstrate a highly developed talent for structure and design. Their focus on everyday concerns, such as salvaging discarded fabric, recycling old clothing, and finding ways to keep their families warm and comfortable, adds to the aesthetic appeal of their quilts.

“Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt” has been organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Tinwood Alliances, Atlanta.

The Speed Art Museum is at 2035 South Third Street. For information, 502-634-2700 or www.speedmuseum.org.