“The Art Quilt Revolution” at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
The quarterly meeting of SAQA was held at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles where their current exhibit “The California Art Quilt Revolution: From the Summer of Love to the New Millennium” is hanging. Nancy Bavor, SAQA member and Curator of Collections and Exhibits gave a tour of the exhibit, the subject of which was her Master’s thesis. The art quilt was born in northern California during the 1970s and 1980s, pioneered by Jean Ray Laury, Yvonne Porcella, Joan Schulze and Therese May. The exhibit takes us from the movement’s inception to late 20th and 21st century.
Jean Ray Laury was certainly one of the earliest pioneers of the art quilt movement. Imagine how it felt to see this whimsical and unorthodox quilt in 1970!
Joan’s work is an important part of the narrative of the emergence of the art quilt. This early impressionist California landscape still referenced the traditional block. I wish I’d taken a photo of some of her later work which definitely does not reference traditional blocks!
I forgot to take a photo of the card with this quilt so I do not have the exact date but I am pretty sure it was in the 1970’s. Therese’s work usually starts with a drawing which she makes into a quilt. Here she took her drawing and enlarged it through the use of a grid. Love that she took an everyday scene and made it into this beautiful piece. Therese continues to make whimsical pieces that push the boundaries.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the work of some artists that spanned the decades, like these two quilts by Miriam Nathan-Roberts.
Miriam created the illusion of depth through the manipulation of color and value. Since commercial ombres were not available, she achieved this by piecing together gradations of commercial solid fabrics. I remember seeing photos of this quilt long ago and being amazed by her vision and ability to carry this off.
Wow, same artist, almost 30 years later! The photo cannot do this piece justice-her ability to achieve a realistic view of an ordinary scene using fabric is amazing. Miriam started with her own photo which she manipulated and printed digitally onto the fabric.
I love Susan’s work, always, and this is incredible in person. Susan’s faceless, unclothed figures are all about the gesture and her work always has a point. Her statement addresses the “intractable knots in the fabric of our common humanity”. Continued strife pulls the knots tighter until some leave, feeling they have no future in the current situation.
Her ability to convey emotion through gesture-no words.
Joe’s inspiration for this piece was an ill-fated attempt to take abandoned auto factories in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and make them into an amusement park. It honors his Father who worked on an assembly line for 30 years. The upper right portion of the quilt references a vacation to Italy where he saw signs of a defunct civilization and felt a connection between the two memories.
The exhibit was so worth the 2 1/2 hour drive and my post does not represent its depth and complexity and I’ve inadvertently omitted several key artists. My post comes at the intersection of many good and busy things in my life and this is what I’ve got to give to you. Soooo, what’s on my design wall?
I am revamping a class I teach and this will eventually become a class sample for a feathers class. I really don’t know how to keep it simple and this class sample has already taken me 5 hours and it’s not done. And I need to make at least 3 more. I really need to learn to simplify.
I’m taking a class from Lynne Pillus-“Color Doesn’t Matter”. Lynne is an excellent teacher and I am so excited to be able to take this image and make it into a quilt using non-representational colors. The image itself is very meaningful to me-a snap from a beloved family vacation. I’ve always wanted to work with non-representational colors and I am confident this will be a decent piece when finished. The last day of class is next week and I hope to make some significant progress on it. Lynne really is making this easy and I can’t wait to finish this piece!
I’ll post up on Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday-do stop by and see what everyone is up to.
I so want to see that exhibit. We tend to forget the wonderful art quilts being made well before the year 2000. And what is a nonrepresentational color? An orange waterfall?
Yes exactly-an orange waterfall! See Lynne’s work here and you’ll understand better: http://www.mechanicalquilt.com/gallery. It is a wonderful exhibit, one of the best I’ve seen of late.
I was really sad to miss our meeting, and especially the new display at the museum. Thanks for sharing!
Debby you can still go! It is more intriguing that my post showed. I just ran out of energy. It is fascinating. Until the exhibit and Nancy’s talk, I really did not get that northern Ca really was the crucible of all of this that we do.
Missed you in Houston this year! Also, the new quilt you are working on is exactly the way I learned how to label each piece by value, not color from Esterita Austin. This should be a great piece with lots of depth! Your class sample is gorgeous and I would love to take that class sometime with you!
Oh I missed being there too! Lucky you to take a class from Esterita. I may never finish that class sample….
Wish I could have been there for the meeting. I know how special it would have been. Thanks for this very nice post about it Jenny — it’s the next best thing!
You would have loved the exhibit Franki!
I enjoyed the pictures from the San Jose exhibit; I remember seeing Miriam Nathan-Ross’ interweave quilt (picture) in 1983 and it is interesting to see the change or growth in her style. I had the privilege of meeting Susan Else in Santa Fe at the 2013 SAQA conference and have been amazed at her creations ever since. Your quilting sample for your class looks like a winner. And I’m eager to see the waterfall done!
Thank you Martha! It was so cool to see historically important and iconic quilts, but to also see the progression of the maker. And isn’t SAQA great? It brought me to know you, you to know Susan and many others-love that!
I love the image that you are working on in your class. I think it’s perfect for non- representational colors. I’m sure it will turn into a cherished piece.
Thank you Regina-I’m pretty excited!
The illusions Miriam Nathan-Roberts was able to create with fabric were revolutionary in 1983. So good to see this piece getting an airing. It was studying work like hers that got me planning my quilts much the way I see you are doing – by value. I recognize my own key with those ML, M, LD etc. you have on your blue print. Color is what draws you in – value does the work. :)
Thank you Gwyned-I am still reveling in being able to see that much history of the art quilt in one place. And through SAQA I actually know some of the leaders of the movement. I am so excited about my “value study”. It is not as hard as I’d thought and I can’t wait to see the finished piece.