the Quilts of Gee’s Bend at Elizabeth Leach July 14, 2009

On Friday, Pearl and I headed over to Elizabeth Leach to see the Quilts of Gee’s Bend show and met up with Jamin, Angelina, Lee, Pete, Star, Josh & Sarah there. Having the chance to see these beautiful pieces and appreciate the hand-quilting and binding and color and details in natural light in that luxuriously open gallery space is amazing. When I saw the larger Gee’s Bend show at the DeYoung in San Francisco, it was so popular and so crowded that it was hard to just enjoy looking at each quilt — so if you are in Portland (or can get here this month), don’t miss it!

The Elizabeth Leach Gallery generously gave me permission to take photographs, so all of my images are courtesy of them — the quilt and print snapshots are first, then the artist’s details, and all of my photos are here.

Lucy Mingo, Housetop Blocks
Housetop Blocks - details

Mary Lee Bendolph, Strip Quilt
Strip Quilt - details

Loretta Burton, Blocks
Blocks
Blocks - details

Allie Pettway, Four Housetop Blocks
Four Housetop Blocks - details

There is also a collection of exquisite aquatone etchings — signed and numbered limited edition prints in simple, appealing frames that capture the lushness of the quilts in a calmer medium. I had never seen anything quite like these and I thought they were mesmerizing…

Loretta Burton, Blues
Blues - details

Louisiana Bendolph, Shared Legacy
details of Shared Legacy and Get Ready
Mary Lee Bendolph, Get Ready

There are so many pieces (quilts and prints both) that I didn’t photograph, but one last thing I did catch was this statement from the gallery:

Quilts of Gee's Bend show overview

Quilts of Gee's Bend show overview

What a treat! We all headed over to get ice cream afterwards and it was such a nice end to the busy week.

I am so eager to see the show again — a weekday afternoon is my favorite time to visit a gallery, and I will be right in the neighborhood all next week! And I’m still hoping to make it down to Ashland, too…

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