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    In a Baltimore Exhibition, the Transformative Potential of Today’s Griots Emerges

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    Alanis Forde, “A Sea Bath” (2023), oil on canvas, 25 x 20 inches. All images courtesy of the artists and Galerie Myrtis, shared with permission

    In a Baltimore Exhibition, the Transformative Potential of Today’s Griots Emerges

    June 27, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Stories have long helped us to understand the world and our place within it. For the western Sahel in West Africa, storytellers known as griots are often responsible for sharing oral histories and local legends. As generations pass and culture shifts, griots add onto the narratives they’ve inherited with contemporary details relevant to their audiences.

    A group exhibition curated by Noel Bedolla and Ky Vassor at Galerie Myrtis gathers a dozen international artists continuing this tradition. Emergence: Stories in the Making presents “a mirror to contemporary society” by positing that the narratives we tell play a critical role in collective experiences, acts of solidarity, and ultimately, societal progress.

    Kachelle Knowles, “Queen’s College” (2025), graphite, decorative paper, colored pencils, thread, charcoal, acrylic paint, ink, acrylic gemstones, marker on paper, 28 x 18 inches. Image courtesy of the artist, Galerie Myrtis, and Tern Gallery

    For Alanis Forde, imagining paradise and its trappings is a way to excavate questions about internal conflict. She often paints figures with blue masks and bodies, the vibrant disguises becoming proxies that allow the artist to merge her likeness with a fictive version of herself. Subverting the art historical and cultural representations of Black women “as objects of pleasure and servitude,” Forde shapes an alternative narrative.

    Kachelle Knowles works in a parallel practice. Through mixed-media portraits with patterned paper, thread, and acrylic gems, the Bahamian artist focuses on Black teenagers and asserts their rights to fluid gender expressions.

    While portraits feature prominently in Emergence, Kim Rice’s “American Quilt” invokes the politics of the body without visualizing a figure. Her large-scale tapestry is comprised of maps distributed by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the defunct federal agency responsible for delineating which neighborhoods were too “hazardous” to receive mortgages in a racist process known as redlining. Stitched together with red thread, “American Quilt” makes explicit the ways that “whiteness is woven into our everyday lives,” Rice says.

    If you’re in Baltimore, see Emergence: Stories in the Making through July 12.

    Alanis Forde, “Garden Gloves” (2024), oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

    Kim Rice, “American Quilt” (2025), HOLC “redlining” maps, acrylic gel, thread, 10 x 11 feet. Photo by Vivian Marie Doering

    Kim Rice, “American Quilt” (2025), HOLC “redlining” maps, acrylic gel, thread, 10 x 11 feet. Photo by Vivian Marie Doering

    Kim Rice, “American Quilt” (2025), HOLC “redlining” maps, acrylic gel, thread, 10 x 11 feet. Photo by Vivian Marie Doering

    Unyime Edet, “Spirit To Spirit: The Night Watchers” (2024), oil on canvas, 55 x 59 inches

    Damilare Jaimu, “All Things Bloom” (2025), oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

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      in Art

      Explore Storytelling Through 300 Years of Quilts in ‘Fabric of a Nation’

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      Bisa Butler, “To God and Truth” (2019), print and resist-dyed cottons, cotton velvet, rayon satin, and knotted string, pieced, appliquéd, and quilted; 117 1/2 x 140 5/8 inches. Photos © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All images courtesy of Frist Art Museum, shared with permission

      Explore Storytelling Through 300 Years of Quilts in ‘Fabric of a Nation’

      June 25, 2025

      ArtCraftHistory

      Kate Mothes

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      While we often associate quilts with their function as bedspreads or an enjoyable hobby, the roots of the craft run very deep. The art form has long been associated with storytelling, and numerous styles have enabled makers to share cultural symbols, memories, and autobiographical details through vibrant color and pattern.

      African American quilters have significantly influenced the practice since the 17th century, when enslaved people began sewing scraps of fabric to make blankets for warmth. Through artists like Harriet Powers in the 19th century or the Gee’s Bend Quilters, this powerful mode of expression lives on in rich tapestries and textile works being made today.

      Civil War Zouave Quilt (1863–64), wool plain weave and twill, cotton plain weave and other structures, leather; pieced, appliquéd, and embroidered with silk. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

      A new exhibition titled Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston opens this week at the Frist Art Museum, surveying nearly 50 quilts from the MFA’s collection. Works span the 19th through 21st centuries, with bold textiles by contemporary artists like Bisa Butler included alongside Civil War-era examples and commemorative album quilts.

      Stories play a starring role in Fabric of a Nation, which delves into the socio-political contexts in which the pieces were made and how narrative, symbolism, and autobiography shaped their compositions. For example, a unique Civil War quilt completed by an unknown maker in 1864 repurposes fabric from Zouave uniforms. Small panels featuring birds, soldiers on horseback, and the American flag transport us to a time when the U.S. had been at war for three years.

      Another fascinating piece is another flag composition in which the stripes have been stitched with dozens of names, including Susan B. Anthony near the top of one of the central columns. Known as the “Hoosier Suffrage Quilt,” it’s thought to chronicle suffrage supporters.

      More recently, Michael C. Thorpe’s untitled work features the bold appliquéd words “Black Man” over pieced batik fabrics. Butler’s large-scale “To God and Truth” is a colorful reimagining of an 1899 photograph. She transforms a black-and-white image into a vibrant, patterned portrait of the African American baseball team of Morris Brown College, Atlanta.

      Fabric of a Nation opens on June 27 and continues through October 12 in Nashville. Find more and plan your visit on the museum’s website. You might also enjoy exploring more quilts by Black Southern makers or Stephen Townes’ embroidered tableaux of leisure in the Jim Crow South.

      Michael C. Thorpe, Untitled (2020), printed cotton plain weave and batting; machine quilted, 20 x 16 inches

      Hoosier Suffrage Quilt (before 1920), cotton plain weave, pieced, embroidered, and quilted. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

      Unidentified maker. Peacock Alley Chenille Bedspread (1930–40s), cotton plain weave, embroidered with cotton pile; 99 x 88 1/2 inches. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

      Baltimore album quilt (c. 1847–50), cotton plain weave, pieced, appliquéd, quilted, and embroidered ink. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

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      in Art

      African Mythology and Ancestry Merge in Zak Ové’s Exuberant Sculptures

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      “The Mothership Connection” (2022), stainless steel, bronze, resin, and mixed media, 9 x 1.8 meters. Images courtesy of Zak Ové and Library Street Collective shared with permission

      African Mythology and Ancestry Merge in Zak Ové’s Exuberant Sculptures

      June 20, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Merging themes of interstellar travel and cultural convergences, Zak Ové creates large-scale sculptures and multimedia installations that explore African ancestry, traditions, and history. The British-Trinidadian artist’s practice is deeply rooted in the narratives of the African diaspora, focusing on traditions of masquerade. He delves into its role in performance and ceremony, as well as masks as potent instruments for self-emancipation and cultural resistance.

      Ové’s interdisciplinary work spans sculpture, painting, film, and photography, exploring links between mythology, oral histories, and speculative futures. “His sculptures often incorporate symbols, iconography, and materials drawn from African, Caribbean, and diasporic traditions, merging them with modern aesthetics to celebrate the continuity and adaptability of culture,” his studio says.

      Detail of “Black Starliner” (2025), stainless steel, aluminium, fiberglass, and resin, 40 x 22.6 x 27.4 feet

      Ové often delves into the relationship between contemporary lived experiences and the spirit world, like in “Moko Jumbie” or a glass mosaic installation in London titled “Jumbie Jubilation.” In these works, the artist brings an ancestral spirit rooted in African and Caribbean folklore known as a Jumbie to life as a spectral dancer, cloaked in banana leaves with a torso of a golden, radiant face.

      The motif of rockets has emerged in Ove’s recent installations, like “The Mothership Connection” and “Black Starliner,” which feature totem-like stacks of African tribal masks and lattice-like Veve symbols—intricate designs employed in the Vodou religion to represent spiritual deities known as Lwa.

      “The Mothership Connection” combines architectural elements referencing the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., and a ring of Cadillac lights nodding to Detroit, “Motor City.” The crowning element is a giant Mende tribal mask that glows when the 26-foot-tall sculpture is illuminated at night, with a pulsing rhythm suggestive of a heartbeat.

      The title is also a reference to the iconic 1975 album by Parliament-Funkadelic, Mothership Connection, in with outer space is a through-line in the group’s celebration of what BBC journalist Frasier McAlpine described as a response to the waning optimism of the post-civil rights era. Mothership Connection soared at a time when “flamboyant imagination (and let’s be frank, exceptional funkiness) was both righteous and joyful,” he wrote.

      “The Mothership Connection” (2022), stainless steel, bronze, resin, and mixed media, 9 x 1.8 meters. Installed at Frieze London 2023

      Ové echoes this exuberance through vibrant colors, repetition, and monumental scale. Library Street Collective, which exhibited “The Mothership Connection” on the grounds of The Shepherd in Detroit late last year, describes the work as a nod “to a future where Black people are included in all possible frames of reference.”

      In a monumental assembly of African masked figures titled “The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness,” Ové conceived of 40 graphite sculptures organized in a militaristic grid, each six-and-a-half feet tall, that have marched across the grounds of Somerset House, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, San Francisco City Hall, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

      The title of this piece references two groundbreaking works in Black history—Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man, which was the first novel by a Black author to with the National Book Award, and Ben Jonson’s 1605 play The Masque of Blackness, noteworthy for being the first time blackface makeup was used in a stage production.

      “Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness” (2016), graphite. Installed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

      Ové reclaims and reframes dominant narratives about African history, culture, and the diaspora, interrogating the past to posit what he calls “potential futures,” where possibilities transform into realities. “By fusing ancestral wisdom with Afrofuturist ideals, Ové ensures that the voices of the past remain integral to shaping the futures we envision,” his studio says.

      “The Mothership Connection” will be exhibited later this summer and fall at 14th Street Square in New York City’s Meatpacking District, accompanied by a gallery show at Chelsea Market. Dates are currently being confirmed, and you can follow updates on Ové’s Instagram.

      “Moko Jumbie” (2021), mixed media, overall 560 centimeters

      Detail of “Moko Jumbie” (2021), mixed media, overall 560 centimeters, installed at Art Gallery of Ontario, commissioned with funds from David W. Binet and Ray & Georgina Williams, 2021. Photo courtesy of AGO

      “Jumbie Jubilation” (2024), glass mosaic panels, dimensions vary around 11.5 x 1.2 meters per panel

      Detail of “Jumbie Jubilation” (2024)

      “Virulent Strain” (2022), graphite, 22-carat gold leaf, and bronze, 120 centimeters in diameter

      “Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness” (2016), graphite. Installed at Somerset House, London

      “Black Starliner” (2025), stainless steel, aluminium, fiberglass, and resin, 40 x 22.6 x 27.4 feet. Installed at Louvre Abu Dhabi

      “The Mothership Connection” (2022), stainless steel, bronze, resin, and mixed media, 9 x 1.8 meters. Photo courtesy of Library Street Collective

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    • 138 Shares197 Views

      in Art

      In ‘Pu$h Thru,’ Yvette Mayorga Examines Latinx Experience Through Rococo Maximalism

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      “She’s in the cake/Put out the fire, after Nicolas
      Lancret” (2025), collage, glitter, buttons, textile, birthday candles,
      pastel, cardboard, gold foil, silver foil, gold flakes, stickers, cake
      toppers, acrylic marker, acrylic nails, nail charms, and acrylic piping on canvas, 60 x 120 inches. all images courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, shared with permission

      In ‘Pu$h Thru,’ Yvette Mayorga Examines Latinx Experience Through Rococo Maximalism

      June 11, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Known for her delectable, frilly, occasionally ominous acrylic paintings made with bakery tools, Yvette Mayorga (previously) nods to memories of her mother working as a baker and references Baroque and Rococo art while critically examining family, community, and notions of prosperity.

      Mayorga’s pieces are “dominated by shades of pink to critically examine the American Dream and the Latinx experience, often borrowing compositions from personal and family photos and art history,” says Monique Meloche Gallery, which presents a solo show of the artist’s work opening this weekend.

      “W3 R TIR3D” (2025), collage, rhinestones, plastic butterflies, acrylic marker, pastel, silver foil, gold foil, pen, acrylic nails, car sticker, butterflies, glitter, gold flakes, silver flakes, textile, belt, rhinestones, nail charms and acrylic piping on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

      Pu$h Thru, the artist’s first show with the gallery and the first in her hometown of Chicago since 2018, takes a semi-autobiographical approach by reflecting on her experiences during the last decade in the city. Beyond her characteristic confection-inspired works, she has created large-scale compositions incorporating found objects like lampshades, clothing, and jewelry, along with bits of ceramic, pastels, gold foil, acrylic nails, and more.

      Many of these works draw on Mayorga’s personal memories, like snapshots of the artist as a child during a birthday party or sitting in her family’s living room. Converging with romantic Rococo aesthetics and style, like portraits modeled after Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun or Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the artist addresses the Euro-centric narrative of art history and its overarching omission of other identities. Mayorga has even coined a term to describe her approach, “Latinxoco,” which merges Latinx identity with Rococo aesthetics.

      “Pink, a color that has a long history with Mayorga’s practice, is deployed as a conceptual strategy to destabilize Western ideals of skin tone, evoking questions of race, class, and gendered embodiment while also referencing cosmetic and domestic aesthetics—an ironic and radical reclamation of softness as strength,” the gallery says.

      Pu$h Thru runs from June 14 to July 26. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “La Ursupadora Not 4 Me” (2025), collage, textile, glitter, lamp shade, pen, electrical outlet, hoop earrings, shoes, jeans, marker, pastel, drawer handles, lampshade, ceramic, belt, felt, pastel, clock, stickers, gold flakes, gold foil, mirror, acrylic nails, textile, nail charms, TV control, and acrylic piping on canvas, 60 x 120 inches

      “What’s Hidden Beneath (Remnant Series)” (2025), found objects, nail charms, and acrylic piping on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

      “Hot and Ready” (2025), collage, rhinestones, acrylic marker, silver foil, gold foil, pen, pastel, mirror, acrylic nails, stickers, rhinestones, gold flakes, nail charms, collage, glitter and acrylic piping on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

      “Self Portrait of the Artist After Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun” (2025), textile, collage, stickers, gold flakes, silver flakes, pen, lace, buttons, acrylic nails, nail charms, and acrylic piping on canvas, 72 x 60 inches

      “The Portal (Remnant Series)” (2025), found objects and acrylic piping on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

      “Rhinestone Vaquero After Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun” (2025), textile, rhinestones, buttons, belt buckle, gold flakes, silver flakes, glitter, and acrylic piping on canvas, 72 x 60 inches

      “Taffy Taffy (Remnant Series)” (2025), found objects and acrylic piping on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

      “PU$$H PU$$H THRU” (2025), collage, rhinestones, glitter, acrylic marker, silver foil, gold foil, pen, toy boat, mirror, marker, acrylic nails, stickers, textile, leather, nail charms, and acrylic piping on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

      “La Serpiente (Remnant Series)” (2024), found objects and acrylic piping on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

      Installation view of ‘Pu$h Thru’ at Monique Meloche Gallery

      “Party Favor (Remnant Series)” (2025), found objects, nail charms, party favor, and acrylic piping on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

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    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      ‘Wonder Women’ Celebrates the Dazzling Figurative Work of Asian Diasporic Artists

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      Dominique Fung, “Bone Holding Fan” (2021). All images courtesy of the artists and Rizzoli, shared with permission

      ‘Wonder Women’ Celebrates the Dazzling Figurative Work of Asian Diasporic Artists

      May 15, 2025

      ArtBooksSocial Issues

      Kate Mothes

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      In February 2020, curator and gallery director Kathy Huang met artist Dominique Fung—a month before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. Their conversations, which continued throughout quarantine, served as an impetus for what would become Huang’s Wonder Women exhibitions at Jeffrey Deitch.

      During their chats, Huang and Fung lamented “the uptick in violence against Asian American communities, particularly against women and the elderly,” Huang says in the introduction to her forthcoming book, Wonder Women: Art of the Asian Diaspora.

      Mai Ta, “mirror image” (2022)

      The two also found it difficult to pinpoint when the last major exhibition had been staged that thoughtfully presented Asian artists, and neither could think of an instance where women and nonbinary artists had been the focus. Both of Huang’s exhibitions and her new book are the fruit of that desire to highlight the remarkable spectrum of figurative work being produced within the Asian diasporic community today.

      A response to racism against Asians exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Huang conceived of the shows that went on view in 2022 in New York and Los Angeles as a means to highlight the incredible, groundbreaking work made especially by women and nonbinary artists.

      Forthcoming from Rizzoli, Wonder Women shares a similar title to a poem by Genny Lim, which follows experiences of Asian women through the lens of a narrator who observes their everyday routines and considers how their lives relate to hers.

      Huang expands on this view in her approach to showcasing the work of forty artists, each represented through at least four pieces and a personal statement. These artists “subvert stereotypes and assert their identities in places where they have historically been marginalized,” Rizzoli says.

      Sally J. Han, “At Lupe’s” (2022)

      Artists like Sasha Gordon or Nadia Waheed explore identity through sometimes fantastical self-portraiture, while others highlight family, community, and colonial or patriarchal systems in the West. Some address Asian myths, legends, and visual culture, like Fung’s exploration of antique objects or Shyama Golden’s otherworldly scenes in which hybrid human-animals interact with nature or urban spaces.

      Wonder Women will be released on May 20. Order your copy from the Colossal Shop.

      Shyama Golden, “The Passage” (2022)

      Chelsea Ryoko Wong, “It’s Mah Jong Time!” (2022)

      Nadia Waheed, “Bolides/ 852” (2022)

      Cover featuring a painting by Sasha Gordon

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      in Art

      Kandy G. Lopez Embroiders Striking, Life-Size Yarn Portraits Highlighting BIPOC Narratives

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      Detail of “City Girls” (2025), yarn, acrylic, and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 102 x 168 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and ACA Galleries, shared with permission

      Kandy G. Lopez Embroiders Striking, Life-Size Yarn Portraits Highlighting BIPOC Narratives

      May 8, 2025

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      On large swaths of colorful mesh, Kandy G. Lopez embroiders large-scale portraits of people from historically marginalized communities. “Her works are created out of the necessity to learn something new about her people and culture,” says a statement.

      Drawing on her Afro-Caribbean ancestry, the Fort Lauderdale-based artist celebrates the style, culture, and heritage of individuals as a way to build connections and generate dialogue around representation.

      “R² – Roscoe and Reggie” (2024), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 90 x 60 inches

      Lopez began working with mesh and fiber almost ten years ago, but she began to approach it more seriously as a major tenet of her practice in 2021 while an artist-in-residence at The Hambidge Center in Georgia. “As a painter, my backgrounds were minimal. Sometimes they would have monochromatic cityscapes,” Lopez tells Colossal, “So, leaving the background rare is something I’m familiar with.”

      Visibility, presence, and representation are vital to the artist’s work. In each composition, she centers vibrantly dressed, life-size figures so their gazes directly meet the viewer. Through the use of material and metaphor — like layered threads suggesting how BIPOC individuals “disappear and reappear” — she intertwines notions of community, resilience, and narrative. “I love the connections and stories that the individuals tell but also how the stories narrate the material,” she says.

      The gridded backgrounds evoke associations with neighborhood street patterns and the overlapping layers of woven warp and weft. “I also love the metaphor in transparency, layers, and vulnerability,” the artist says, sharing that she sometimes still incorporates cityscapes painted onto the mesh.

      Lopez is represented by ACA Galleries. See more on her website and Instagram.

      “Reyna” (2025), yarn and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 96 x 60 inches

      “City Girls” (2025), yarn, acrylic, and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 102 x 168 inches

      “Rohan” (2023), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 96 x 60 inches

      “Miami” (2025), yarn and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 96 x 60 inches

      “Rohan” (2023), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 96 x 60 inches

      Detail of “Reyna”

      Installation view of “Tayina”

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    • 138 Shares129 Views

      in Art

      ‘Of Salt and Spirit’ Celebrates the Legacy of Black Southern Quilters

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      Hystercine Rankin (1929–
      2010), “Memory Quilt” (ca. 1994), fabric; appliquéd, hand-embroidered, and hand-quilted, 88 x 82 inches. All images courtesy of Mississippi Museum of Art, shared with permission

      ‘Of Salt and Spirit’ Celebrates the Legacy of Black Southern Quilters

      April 23, 2025

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      You may have heard of the remarkable quilters of Gee’s Bend, but do you know about the Crossroads Quilters, like Gustina Atlas? Or Hystercine Rankin? Mary Mayfair Matthews? You’re in luck if you have a chance to visit Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South at the Mississippi Museum of Art, which shines a light on dozens of incredible Black Southern quilters and takes a celebratory approach to showcasing their myriad styles and techniques.

      MMA is home to one of the South’s largest collections of quilts, from which more than 50 handmade and machine-stitched examples were drawn for this expansive exhibition. Merging research, interpretation, and community engagement, curator Dr. Sharbreon Plummer aimed for “a cohesive, experiential study of American art through a Black feminist lens.” The show parses cultural narratives around the art form, spotlighting the impact of the craft across generations and geography.

      Emma Russell, “Star Quilt” (1978), cotton blend; hand-pieced, appliquéd, and hand-quilted, 81 x 77 inches

      A wide range of contemporary and historic pieces converge in Of Salt and Spirit, including figurative and narrative works alongside vibrant geometric compositions. Many of the works were acquired by the museum from Roland L. Freeman (1936-2023), a photographer who documented African-American craftspeople and guilds in his work as a stringer for Time magazine and Magnum Photos.

      Freeman collected more than 100 quilts, made several of his own, and published a couple of books on the subject. “Quilts have the power to create a virtual web of connections—individual, generational, professional, physical, spiritual, cultural, and historical,” he says in his second book, A Communion of the Spirits (1996).

      In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum also highlights the large-scale, ongoing AIDS Memorial Quilt project, which was initiated in 1985 at the height of the epidemic. Paralleling Of Salt and Spirit’s focus on creative expression, identity, and strength, the AIDS quilt—which will be on display at MMA for a two-week period beginning May 5—honors quilting for its role in resistance and remembrance.

      Of Salt and Spirit continues through May 18 in Jackson. Plan your visit on the museum’s website. You may also enjoy a look back at Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers, a monumental survey recognizing the artistic traditions of Black artists.

      Mary Mayfair Matthews, “Folk Scenes Quilt” (1992), rayon, cotton polyester blend, lace, lamé, and buttons; hand-pieced and appliquéd, 86 1/4 x 74 inches

      Annie Dennis (designed by Roland L. Freeman), “Voodoo Quilt” (1987), fabric; hand-pieced, appliquéd, hand-embroidered, and hand-quilted, 83 1/2 x 64 inches

      Detail of “Voodoo Quilt”

      Gustina Atlas, “Variation on Dresden Plate Quilt” (1998), cotton; machine- pieced and hand-quilted, 81 1/2 x 80 inches

      Clancy McGrew, quilted and appliquéd by Jeraline Nicholas, “Storytime at the Library” (2004), fabric; machine-pieced, appliquéd, embroidered, and hand-quilted, 41 3/4 x 83 1/8 inches

      Mabel Williams, “Improvisational Strip Quilt” (1968), cotton, polyester, wool, twill; hand-pieced and hand- quilted with appliquéd and embroidered backing, 85 x 65 inches

      Clancy McGrew, quilted by Tammy McGrew, “Clancy’s Beauty Salon” (2004), fabric; machine-pieced, appliquéd, and hand-quilted, 67 5/8 x 49 1/2 inches

      Roland Freeman, “Maya Angelou, Author, Educator, and Quilter (top left and bottom right); Dolly McPherson, Maya Angelou, and Beverly Guy-Sheftall (top right and bottom left), Winston-Salem, North Carolina, November 1992” (1992), Chromogenic print with quilted mat (1996) by Anita Knox, 36 x 36 inches

      Roland Freeman, “Catherine Gill with Sunburst Quilt (left) Made by Her Mother, Classy Blaylock, fromDecatur, Mississippi, Flagstaff, Arizona, April 1993″ (1993), Chromogenic print, 27 x 38 inches

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    • 113 Shares159 Views

      in Art

      Krzysztof Grzybacz’s ‘Floral Compositions’ Are Tender Portrayals of Togetherness

      by

      “Yellow, White, Orange, Pink, Blue, Yellow, White” (2025), diptych, oil on canvas, 200 × 320 centimeters. Photos by Bartosz Zalewski. All images courtesy of Krzysztof Grzybacz and Galeria Dawid Radziszewski, Vienna, shared with permission

      Krzysztof Grzybacz’s ‘Floral Compositions’ Are Tender Portrayals of Togetherness

      March 27, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Arranged by size and hue, the blooms in Krzysztof Grzybacz’s large-scale oil paintings appear in comfortable togetherness, each individual’s features amplified by its placement next to those that differ. His Floral Compositions series organizes the flowers against swaths of green fabric, exploring their potent symbolism.

      Grzybacz taps into the age-old tradition of flowers in oil, rendering their petals and stems in vibrant hues that capture their unique outlines and textures. Rooted in still life, his compositions are underpinned by abstraction and the artist’s fascination with layering and perspective.

      “Yellow” (2025), oil on canvas, 200 × 160 centimeters

      The works in Grzybacz’s current solo exhibition at Galeria Dawid Radziszewski also reference the queer community. “Flowers are like people: they pose, search for their own space, and mark out boundaries,” says a statement from the gallery. The artist nods to the role of order and systems, while also emphasizing the importance of celebrating diversity.

      Grouped together in front of textile folds, oblique grids, or distorted human features, the artist invokes the power of alliances through a sense of tenderness, curiosity, and pliability.

      Floral Compositions continues through March 29 in Vienna. Find more on Grzybacz’s website and Instagram.

      “Blue, yellow, orange, white, pink” (2025), oil on canvas, 100 × 80 centimeters

      “Orange, blue, pink, yellow, white, maroon, purple” (2025), oil on canvas, 200 × 160 centimeters

      “White, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Purple” (2025), oil on canvas, 200 × 160 centimeters

      “Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Pink” (2025), oil on canvas, 100 × 80 centimeters

      “White, maroon, orange, yellow, blue” (2025), oil on canvas, 70 × 60 centimeters

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    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Robert Peterson Summons Black Resilience and Tenderness in Vibrant Portraits

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      “The Prophet” (2025), oil on canvas, 48 x 30 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and albertz benda, New York and Los Angeles, shared with permission

      Robert Peterson Summons Black Resilience and Tenderness in Vibrant Portraits

      March 20, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      In characteristically glistening blue hues, Robert Peterson’s striking portraits invite us into emotionally complex inner worlds.

      Peterson centers the Black body in paintings that challenge dominant narratives surrounding Black lives, celebrating beauty, compassion, and resilience. Tender portraits reveal the essential humanity of vulnerability and individuality with an emphasis on themes of empathy and togetherness.

      “Protect Those Tears” (2025), oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

      Peterson’s choice of oils, a traditional portrait medium, embeds his work in the continuum of Western painting. However, instead of highly stylized scenes or elaborate ornamentation, his figures are often set against bold, flat backgrounds and they appear half-dressed or in casual clothes, unguarded and relaxed.

      In his forthcoming solo exhibition, We Are Forever at albertz benda, Peterson examines familial connections, paying homage to the strength and dedication inherent in the relationships between siblings and parents and their children.

      “At the core of this new body of work is a profound sense of intimacy, offering a thoughtful reflection on presence and the enduring significance of his subjects’ stories,” the gallery says.

      We Are Forever runs from March 27 to May 3 in New York. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “Untitled (Purple)” (2025), oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

      “Water Me” (2025), oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

      “Hamsa Tattoo” (2025, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches

      “Untitled (Black)” (2025), oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

      Installation view of works at the Dallas Art Fair

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