Paying Homage: Celebrating the Diversity of Men in Quilts
Paying Homage focuses on contemporary quilts by men with a theme of paying homage to ancestors or influential individuals. The exhibition includes local and national loans alongside objects in various mediums from the Spencer Museum’s permanent collection.
This exhibition acknowledges that contemporary men quilt artists take their inspiration from mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, as well as from the African American women quilters who pioneered modern story quilting as a way to link generations and pass down unwritten histories. That ancestry is shown in part by featuring Faith Ringgold’s influential Flag Story Quilt (1985).
Featured quilt artists include Faith Ringgold, William Daniels, Leo Ransom, Luke Haynes, Marvin Crum, Julius J. Bremer, and Miles Beaty. Artists working in other mediums include Willie Cole, Aaron Douglas, Kehinde Wiley, and Gordon Parks.
Paying Homage builds on research for the Museum’s 2017 exhibition Narratives of the Soul. The exhibition is organized in conjunction with the National African American Quilt Convention (NAAQC), in collaboration with Marla A. Jackson, director of Marla Quilts Inc. and the National African American Quilt Museum and Textile Academy, Lawrence. The NAAQC is a citywide celebration of African American history, quilting traditions, and contemporary artistic practices, and will be held at numerous locations July 11–14, 2018.
