Art Picks
Gee's Bend Quilters
By Susanna Tu, Midtown Monthly
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Louisiana Bendolph, "History", softground aquatint, 2007
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Gee's Bend, a small community in Alabama, is home to a group of women who have been making their distinct quitlts for generations.
After the Civil War, freed slaves settled in the area, creating a community that was largely isolated from the rest of the world due to the geography
of the land. At least six generations of the women of Gee's Bend have created quilts with great skill from whatever materials
were available, pulling eye-catching aesthetics from their imagaination. The composition and colors of the quilts are modern, with a simplicity
that is reminiscent of Amish quilts as well as abstract paintings. The result is an extraordinary collection of truly
unique, individual pieces.
Gee's Bend Quilters WHEN: Noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through May 3 WHERE: b. sakata garo, 923 20th St. ADMISSION: Free INFORMATION: (916) 447-4276. www.bsakatagaro.com
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Art Pick of the Week
By Victoria Dalkey, Sacramento Bee Correspondent
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Mary Lee Bendolph, "To Honor Mr. Dial," color aquatint etching, 2005.
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Mary Lee Bendolph, Louisiana Bendolph and Loretta Bennett are three of the famous quilters from Gee's Bend in Alabama, a small community
settled by freed slaves after the Civil War. Made from scraps at hand, the vibrant quilts of Gee's Bend, which have been shown at the
Whitney Museum in New York and the de Young Museum in San Francisco, have been hailed as some of the world's most stunning modernist
compositions. Working with master printers at Paulson Press in Berkeley, Bennet and the Bendolphs produced a series of texturally
rich, brilliantly colored etchings that translate their textiles into prints that are suprisingly affordable.
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