Tenderness and empathy prevail in Bisa Butler’s nostalgia and vibrant quilts – Huge
Using the power of empathy, Bisa Butler presents in her current exhibition Hold me close In Jeffrey Deitch. The artist is known for her colours, multi-door quilt artwork, exploring black history, identity and craft traditions. Her carefully crafted pieces combine materials such as printed cotton, silk, sequins, beads and velvet to create large tapestries and intimate little episodes.
Work Hold me close Focusing in an increasingly large society requires the necessity of mutual respect, love and unity. “This work is a visual response to my feelings as an African-American woman,” Butler said in a statement on the show. “Her current era of division and violence is deeply touched by her time in challenging and overturning the hard-win civil rights she has always revealed our current moment.
Hold me close Drawing on images from pioneering black photographers like Gordon Parks, Jean DePara and Gerald Cyrus, they capture street scenes, depict the daily lives of black characters and enjoy each other’s company. Park, for example, is a staunch civil rights advocate who documented the segregation and oppression of black people to boldly illustrate social differences in the 1940s and 1950s.
In his two decades Life In magazine, Parks captures his most important work, ranging from celebrity portraits to the iconic parade in Washington in 1963. Along with numerous other photographers and renowned artists like Faith Ringgold and Kerry James Marshall, Butler turned to reference images, Parks’ images shed light on the evolving diversity of American culture and experience.
Butler presents a focus on expression and interaction with excellent mixed media textures and vivid patterns. The artist describes her recent work as a “visual diary” and she turns to comfort. “The protection and programs for non-white people, women, queer people, poor people and people with disabilities are under attack, which makes me feel unstable,” she said.
Faced with uncertainty, the artist summoned feelings and care. Jean DePara’s photo “Amoureux au nightclub” is a photo “Les Amoureux du Kinshasa” that celebrates young love by portraying a couple at night. More works such as “Be Mine” and “My Cherie Amour” capture gentle portraits of people who are approaching.
Butler’s work also explores the love of the family, the innocence and ease of the children playing together. In “Guardian”, a father warms his daughter in his big coat, and in “Don, Baby,” two young girls hold an impromptu tea party in the water puddle.
Most of Butler’s new work begins with the bottom of black cotton or black velvet, which she layered in colors and textures. “Using the foundation of darkness prompted me to combine more fabrics with shimmer and reflective qualities,” she said. Three-dimensional textures such as beads and rhinestones create fantasies of depth that encourage us to go beyond the direct surface. This poetic thing is that in order to identify and connect with others in our daily lives, we have to do so. “This collection is my visual statement, and we need love, not hatred,” Butler said.
Hold me close From November 1 to November 1, continue at the Los Angeles location in Jeffrey Deitch. Find more information on the artist’s website and on Instagram.
