Gee’s Bend is co-organized by the Austin Museum of Art and Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta The exhibition is presented by Fidelity Investments.
ARTISTS:
- Louisiana Pettway Bendolph
- Mary Lee Bendolph
- Thornton Dial
- Lonnie Holley
- Aolar Mosely
- Essie Bendolph Pettway
The Quilts of Gee’s Bend was the exhibition sensation of the 2005-2006 season all throughout America. AGNS is the only Canadian venue that will present: Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond. This exhibit celebrates the resonance of the strikingly innovative, abstract quilts by a group of African American women from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. It also is a major component in the AGNS’ African Canadian Art Initiative. This focused exhibition is the first to highlight one of most original artists of Gee’s Bend Mary Lee Bendolph, her predecessors and progeny, and the artistic dialogue they share with artists beyond their quilting community. Twelve dramatically designed, richly coloured quilts created by Mary Lee Bendolph, Louisiana Pettway Bendolph, Aolar Mosely, and Essie B. Pettway, are presented alongside complex and evocative found object sculptures by Alabama artists Thornton Dial and Lonnie Holley, who have both been influenced by the quilts and the quiltmakers.
Several fine art prints by two of the quiltmakers and documentary films about the artists provide a further context for their creative exchange. A full-colour, scholarly catalogue co-published by the Austin Museum of Art and Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta, accompanies the exhibition.
