You’ve probably seen photos from the American Folk Art Museum’s exhibition Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts that ended last week in New York. Displayed at Park Avenue’s Armory, the exhibition was designed and installed by Thinc Design and curated by Elizabeth V. Warren. The massive grouping of 651 quilts came from the collection of Joanna Rose, who wished to see the quilts on display to celebrate her 80th birthday.
You can read more about Mrs. Rose and her “accumulation” of quilts here. But what I find most interesting about the exhibition is the way that the quilts were hung, in spirals from the ceiling, creating a breathtaking display that overwhelms with its sheer volume. After reading this article, I started to think more about this issue. As the curator of the exhibition said in this article “…when you bring them together, the whole is greater than the part.” This is an interesting idea. You have all of these quilts that were made by different individuals and are beautiful on their own, but become remarkable when grouped together. Suddenly they are transformed from craft to art. There was a grouping of chairs in the center, reminding the viewer of the quilt makers who have become inconsequential, lost in the floating sea of red and white geometry.
I just think it’s something to think about as I see so much possibility for quilts to enter the art world in new ways. I think everyone makes things for different reasons, but what does it take to elevate craft to an art form?
You can see more photos of the exhibition on flickr here.
Wow! I had no idea that this exhibition was on . Darn 🙂
Wow, looks like it was a beautiful display!
I didn’t know about this exhibition either – it looks fantastic. to me, the beauty of a quilt is that whole is greater than the sum of the parts ; and in putting them together like that, it was amplified even more.
The end result is like a quilt of quilts-smaller pieces of beautiful patterns that combine to make something really remarkable.
This is absolutely incredible!! So gorgeous and unique. (The mind boggles at how you would store 651 quilts.) Happy Birthday, indeed!
wow, I wish I could see the exhibition myself but I’m half way across the globe. What makes art art? I think that’s defined to a great extent by the art world. A lot of pieces made in traditional art forms don’t make the cut but it seems anything presented in traditional ways can be art nowadays. I’ve seen a lot of quilts that I would consider much better candidates for what art should be – perhaps it takes a visionary (or hip?) art dealer, curator or collector to think “hey, what about quilts?” and quilting will get the break it needs to be finally categorised as an art form.
Best wishes
Wow! is all I can say!!!
It’s also interesting that the big Delaunay exhibition, “Color Moves,” on view right now at the Cooper Hewitt, deals with these issues. Delaunay didn’t really distinguish between craft and fine art — for her the medium didn’t really matter.
Ellen, the installation above is incredibly graphic!
That is a stunningly lovely display and I wish I could see it – unfortunately it would require a plane ticket.
Actually the whole art/craft/craftwork divide is a bit of a pet peeve for me because I think it really all boils down to perception about what is and isn’t ‘woman’s work’ – quilting, sewing, lacemaking and such is traditionally done by women and so is not taken seriously, but cabinet making, glasswork, silversmithing and the like are traditionally men’s crafts and yet sell for much more. The great masters tended to work in oils but watercolours were seen as something that idle rich ladies did to pass time, and so are typically valued less as art.
I could rant about this for hours, but don’t worry, I’m not going to…
this is amazing ! thanks for sharing this !
How stunning. I wish I’d had a chance to see this! It would be amazing to be surrounded by quilts like this, and to admire all that can be done with just two colors! Thanks for sharing, I’m moved just seeing the Flickr stream.
how stunning is that!!! thanks for shraring
Oh my gosh, so much red and white. These pictures are fantastic; thanks for sharing this! 🙂
Very cool. They look like playing cards, don’t they? The way they’re hung in a spiral makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland, falling down the rabbit hole. Awesome.