A beautifully illustrated look at the work of one of today’s most unique and exciting artists Bisa Butler (b. 1973) is an American artist who creates arresting and psychologically nuanced portraits composed entirely of vibrantly colored and patterned fabrics that she cuts, layers, and stitches together. Often depicting scenes from African American life and history, Butler invites viewers to invest in the lives of the people she represents while simultaneously expanding art-historical narratives about American quiltmaking. Situating her interdisciplinary work within the broader history of textiles, photography, and contemporary art, contributions by a group of scholars—and entries by the artist herself—illuminate Butler’s approach to color, use of African-print fabrics, and wide-ranging sources of inspiration. Offering an in-depth exploration of one of America's most innovative contemporary artists, this volume will serve as a primary resource that both introduces Butler’s work and establishes a scholarly foundation for future research.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Searing. Powerful. Needed." —Oprah “Sometimes a single story can change the world. Unbound is one of those stories. Tarana’s words are a testimony to liberation and love.” —Brené Brown From the founder and activist behind one of the largest movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the "me too" movement, Tarana Burke debuts a powerful memoir about her own journey to saying those two simple yet infinitely powerful words—me too—and how she brought empathy back to an entire generation in one of the largest cultural events in American history. Tarana didn’t always have the courage to say "me too." As a child, she reeled from her sexual assault, believing she was responsible. Unable to confess what she thought of as her own sins for fear of shattering her family, her soul split in two. One side was the bright, intellectually curious third generation Bronxite steeped in Black literature and power, and the other was the bad, shame ridden girl who thought of herself as a vile rule breaker, not as a victim. She tucked one away, hidden behind a wall of pain and anger, which seemed to work...until it didn’t. Tarana fought to reunite her fractured self, through organizing, pursuing justice, and finding community. In her debut memoir she shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and brown girls, and the devastating realization that to truly help these girls she needed to help that scared, ashamed child still in her soul. She needed to stop running and confront what had happened to her, for Heaven and Diamond and the countless other young Black women for whom she cared. They gave her the courage to embrace her power. A power which in turn she shared with the entire world. Through these young Black and brown women, Tarana found that we can only offer empathy to others if we first offer it to ourselves. Unbound is the story of an inimitable woman’s inner strength and perseverance, all in pursuit of bringing healing to her community and the world around her, but it is also a story of possibility, of empathy, of power, and of the leader we all have inside ourselves. In sharing her path toward healing and saying "me too," Tarana reaches out a hand to help us all on our own journeys.
A mother stitches a few lines of prayer into a bedcover for her son serving in the Union army during the Civil War. A formerly enslaved African American woman creates a quilt populated by Biblical figures alongside celestial events. A Diné women weaves a blanket for a U.S. Army soldier stationed in the Southwest. A quilted Lady Liberty, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln mark the resignation of Richard Nixon. These are just a few of the diverse and sometimes hidden stories of the American experience told by quilts and bedcovers from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Spanning more than four hundred years, the fifty-six works of textile art in this book express the personal narratives of their makers and owners and connect to broader stories of global trade, immigration, industry, marginalization, and territorial and cultural expansion. Made by Americans of European, African, Native, and Hispanic heritage, these engaging works of art range from family heirlooms to acts of political protest, each with its own story to tell.
It's Easy To Sew Art When You Know The Simple Secrets! In this book you will find the inspiring story of how I became an artist and I'll teach you the easy way to become an artist too. I will teach you my award winning Contoured Pixel Technique. You will master the Core Concepts that make sewing art easy. Follow me and you'll be making fine art with a sewing machine and ordinary fabrics (easily found at any fabric store) very quickly. The diagrams and instructions make this modern quilting process so easy to understand that even a beginner can do it! Each book comes with a free online video course to guide you. The Techniques Are Easy! Read This Book And Learn: How to choose the perfect image! How to make your fabric look like paint! How to use thread like it's a paint brush!
CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD WINNER • CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK Acclaimed artist Faith Ringgold seamless weaves fiction, autobiography, and African American history into a magical story that resonates with the universal wish for freedom, and will be cherished for generations. Cassie Louise Lightfoot has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on “tar beach,” the rooftop of her family’s Harlem apartment building, her dreams come true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city, claiming the buildings and the city as her own. As Cassie learns, anyone can fly. “All you need is somewhere to go you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.”
"A powerful document of the inner lives and creative visions of men and women rendered invisible by America’s prison system. More than two million people are currently behind bars in the United States. Incarceration not only separates the imprisoned from their families and communities; it also exposes them to shocking levels of deprivation and abuse and subjects them to the arbitrary cruelties of the criminal justice system. Yet, as Nicole Fleetwood reveals, America’s prisons are filled with art. Despite the isolation and degradation they experience, the incarcerated are driven to assert their humanity in the face of a system that dehumanizes them. Based on interviews with currently and formerly incarcerated artists, prison visits, and the author’s own family experiences with the penal system, Marking Time shows how the imprisoned turn ordinary objects into elaborate works of art. Working with meager supplies and in the harshest conditions—including solitary confinement—these artists find ways to resist the brutality and depravity that prisons engender. The impact of their art, Fleetwood observes, can be felt far beyond prison walls. Their bold works, many of which are being published for the first time in this volume, have opened new possibilities in American art. As the movement to transform the country’s criminal justice system grows, art provides the imprisoned with a political voice. Their works testify to the economic and racial injustices that underpin American punishment and offer a new vision of freedom for the twenty-first century."
Journey of Hope is a gallery of more than 100 stunning quilts inspired by President Obamas path to the White House. The works range from the poignantly abstract to the grippingly realistic and feature techniques including piecing, painting, appliqué, embroidery, dyeing, beading, and more. Filled with the spirit of renewal and change that fueled the Obama campaign, Journey of Hope is a celebration of our patchwork heritage and the quilters art.
Collaborations: Two Decades ofExcellence in African American Art, complete with color reproductions of the artwork of 57 artists who have exhibited in either solo or group exhibitions at Hearne Fine Art, is a vibrant testimonial to the longevity and commitment to excellence that has come to be the hallmark of this gallery. Accompanying the images are brief profiles of the artists as well as their respective statements. Also included are incisive textual contributions from noted appraiser and historian, Halima Taha, PhD and artist Dianne Smith.
A highly illustrated,important volume inspired by the way craft artists have unitedduring the COVID pandemic and engaged in artistic conversations about race,gender, and inclusivity. During thesummer of 2020, the space outside the Renwick Gallery--the Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum's dedicated museum for contemporary craft and decorative arts--becamehome to a new discussion about racial justice on Black Lives Matter Plaza. Thecurators at the Renwick Gallery felt the need to align themselves with what wasgoing on right outside the Gallery's door, the organizing rationale forunderstanding the objects presented in this volume, many of which are newacquisitions. The title istaken from Alicia Eggert's 2019-2020 eponymous neon work, and the 85 objects inthe main plates section lead the reader from the idea of shelter, throughlayers of expanding spaces to the vast expanses of the universe. The volume looksat contemporary American craft "in the whirlwind of now" revealingpossibilities for contemporary makers to respond to a more empathetic future.
Accompanied by a traveling exhibition, this book on the Bahamian artist’s textile portraits serves as a love letter to Black women: their style, strength, vulnerabilities, and beauty. This debut of the 29-year-old Bahamian-born artist aims to redefine the often-politicized Black body, with portraits made in a range of textile-based techniques, such as embroidery and appliqué, celebrating Black women. Gio Swaby’s intimate portraits are unique, highly personal figurative works made from an array of colorful fabrics and intricate, freehand lines of thread on canvas that explore the intersections of Blackness and womanhood. Illustrated with 80 works in full color that span from 2017 to 2021, this is the first book on this contemporary feminist artist who is a rising star in the world of textiles and portraiture. According to Swaby, “I wanted to create a space where we could see ourselves reflected in a moment of joy, celebrated without expectations, without connected stereotypes.” Writers and scholars with multiple points of view take on Swaby’s work and delve into her place within contemporary Black art.
