Art Blog

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: June 1 - August 21, 2005

One of the most innovative and prolific artists from Gee’s Bend, Annie Mae Young made her first quilt at age thirteen. Young likes to experiment, especially with the “strip quilt" form, tearing fabrics rather than cutting them; she pieced the “Work clothes" quilt illustrated here from recycled jeans and corduroy.

See the quilts The New York Times called “some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced," when this widely hailed exhibition stops in Boston on its nationwide tour.

“The Quilts of Gee’s Bend" features more than sixty quilts made between 1930 and 2000 by four generations of quilt makers, resulting in a body of work that is bold, colorful, and unique. What gives the quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, their particular power? One look gives you a sense of their originality and graphic impact. The Gee’s Bend quilters inventively combine materials to form bold, abstract compositions that reveal a genius for color and geometry. These quilts, sometimes pieced from worn clothing, were originally made for practical use, often piled in layers on beds for warmth. ...

http://www.mfa.org