Kate Lenkowsky and I met at the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2003. Lots of star power quilters to interview. The result is stunning.
This arrived by courier this afternoon. I have not had time to study more than the Table of Contents. The last quarter of the book, A Guide for Buyers & Collectors, is information that has never, to my knowledge, been put in one place. The information is extensive. Lenkowsky covers care, insuring and appraising as well as a long list of other topics in the guide.
I was at the University of Arizona Museum of Art today. This is from a new installation by
El Anatsui.
These works are copyright of the artist and are shown here under the doctrine of fair use for educational purposes. The work above uses the rims of screw on caps of cheap liquor that the anglo world has exported to Africa for the last several centuries. It references that societal problem, the problem of garbage, and also the West African textile tradition.
Not to mention that it is lusciously gorgeous and cries out to be carressed.
More societal commentary. Aluminum printing plates used in their most maleable form to comment on waste and waste paper in particular.
If you are traveling or happen to be around Tucson, Arizona, do yourself a favor and go to the University of Arizona. There is the Museum, two galleries, the Center for Creative Photography, the Flanrau Observatory, the Arizona Historical museum and much more.
I spent an afternoon the other day doing a lot of research on the Gees Bend women and quilts. Many of my references (below) require membership in the QuiltArt list. Some of the messages I wrote I will reprint here.
“October 6, 2002, please pick up or check the library for the November issue of Conde Nast’s House and Garden. Page 98 is titled Stitches in Time by Barbar Pollack. Shown in four color are Annie Mae Young an her indigo quilt. Also shown is a quilt by Mary Lee Bendolph. A Rachel Carey George quilt, 1938, that is the most subtle and lovely of them all. Netti Young’s Milky Way quilt, and the late Lillie Mae Pettway’s 6′x5′ quilt made in 1965. And last, but certainly not least, Loretta Pettway’s quilt made in 1960.”
My statement, seriously edited to placate the demographics of the QuiltArt list says in part, “Those purchases – – – gave the curators a wealth of opportunity – – – That body of work is unlikely to be reproduced by women in their seventies and eighties so the preservation is a mixed blessing.”
Gwen Magee countered, ” – – – gave the curators “a wealth of opportunity” to take incredibly unfair advantage of extremely poor people who had no idea that they were being “ripped off” and of what their work was worth.”
Naturally, the nature of the QuiltArt list created great uproar. Gwen’s integrity and credentials were despicably questioned. All I could do was give this response, “I want to commend her (Gwen) for the courage I lacked. I deleted a lot of sentences about my own feelings about the article I read.
My strongest emotions were those of anger, shame, and theft;”
Now, with the lawsuits beginning, those emotions of anger, shame, and theft are here again. They are tempered with hope. My wishes are to see the theft of copyright from these women for avarice and monetary gain righted. I certainly hope the attorneys for the women of Gees Bend see too it that punitive damages are requested in very high numbers.
Kyra Hicks blog, Black Threads, clearly examines the current situation. Please, go, read, scroll down, absorb all the unsavory details. Kyra writes of today’s news with dependable accuracy.
If you wish further information I’m adding a long list of hotlinks. Those from his.com are QuiltArt proprietals; you must be a member to access those hotlinks in their archives.
Gee’s Bend Quilters Claim Big Rip-Off
July 3, 2007, addition:Â Matt Arnett now has two postings to his blog (the most recent one is about their press conference the other day. http://tinwood.blogspot.com/
> Gee’s Bend: A Fight for Rights – Ben Raines – June 15, 2007
> http://bama.live.advance.net/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1181899233121920.xml&coll=3&thispage=1
>
> Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/39f3kx
As a postscript to this long post, consider the differences between using an image under the fair use clause of the United States Copyright Laws for the purpose of informing and educating the public and the fact that a judge and a court will be examining the use of the copyrighted images of the works of the women of Gees Bend for manufacturing items for the profit of others.
The mail man left me a rubber banded stack of paperbag envelopes today. I have seven copies of this new magazine from Spain. I am completely flummoxed. My spanish is just barely enough to understand that writer, J. M. León Moriche, has captured my thoughts about person to person conversations among the citizens of many nations. ArtePatchwork serves Spain and Europe. For those of you who are bilingual, have fun with the website.
There are seven additional artists featured with good, four color, images. I have magazines for each of you. I find that leaves not one for myself. I shall have to scan and print for my portfolio. I don’t know who will get the slightly used copy. Here’s the list:
Eve Under Scrutiny, Pamela Allen, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Rebirth, Scott Murkin, Asheboro, North Carolina
Choices I, Peg Keeney, Harbor Springs, Michigan
Trapped, Lisa Chipetine, West Hempstead, New York
The Coat of Old Responsibility, Jane Herrick, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Who’s Counting, Eileen Doughty, Vienna, Virginia
What We Know, Lauralyn Sciretta, Tucson, Arizona
The article is magnificent. León Moriche has grasped the concept of societal commentary. His appreciation of that concept combined with textile art is evident. When I find assistance for a professional translation I will see to it that the artists receive a copy. In the meantime, I’m over the moon.
I think this publication is suitable for every textile artist world wide. Not only will it serve to tweek your multilingual struggles, the text is exploratory and intelligent. The magazine is probably two thirds editorial reportage. The balance of the information is focused on those of us who are still learning. It is not just patchwork, it is threads, and yarns, and all sorts of learning. Well worth the quality of the printing and the images.
It’s a lesson to bureaucrats in the United States that we, as citizens, should honor our hispanic compadres by matching their efforts to be not only bilingual and multilingual but to become multilingual and multiliterate ourselves as well.
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