Irene Williams
Irene Williams(1920–2015) was an American artist. She is associated with theGee's Bendquilting collective, although she made her quilts "in solitude" and "uninfluenced."[1][2][3]Her work has been exhibited at theMuseum of Fine Arts, Houstonand theFrist Art Museum,and is included in the collections of thePhiladelphia Museum of Art,[4]theIndianapolis Museum of Art,[5]theMuseum of Fine Arts Boston,[6]and theNational Gallery of Art.[7]
Life
[edit]Irene Williams was the daughter of Sandy and Tom Williams. She grew up on a farm with common crops like cotton, watermelon, etc. They also raised various livestock.[1]
She completed school until the ninth grade. At seventeen,[8]she married Cornelius Williams, a man whom she adored, and together they raised six children – three boys and three girls. One of her sons died young, trying to save a logging truck driver from his wrecked vehicle.[1]
Williams' sister-in-law was fellow quilter, Liza Jane Williams.[1]
Work
[edit]Williams did not begin making quilts until she was married and began to have children. Although members of her family and community made quilts, Williams always quilted alone in her house. having never participated in quilting bees, William's style developed on its own, uninfluenced by her peers.[1]
In "Strips,"[9]created around 1960, Williams deconstructed used basketball jerseys to form a quilt that mimics a street map, with a main street lined with houses with street numbers.[10]
Her "Vote" quilt,[6]a housetop-style quilt featuring red, white, and blue fabric strips with the word "vote" printed on them, was inspired byDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s1965 visit to Gee's Bend.[8]
Williams' "Blocks and Strips"[11]quilt features bright colors and irregular, geometric shapes. It is part of the permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
References
[edit]- ^abcde"Irene Williams | Souls Grown Deep Foundation".www.soulsgrowndeep.org.Retrieved2019-04-21.
- ^Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Arnett, Paul; Livingston, Jane (2002).Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts.Tinwood Books. p. 375.ISBN9780971910409.
- ^Arnett, William; Herman, Bernard (2006).Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt.Tinwood Books. p. 27.ISBN9780971910478.
- ^"Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands African American Art Collection".Art & Object.Retrieved2019-04-21.
- ^"Gee's Bend quilt," Housetop "variation with" Postage Stamp "center row".Indianapolis Museum of Art Online Collection.
- ^ab"Vote Quilt".MFA Boston.RetrievedSeptember 24,2022.
- ^"Blocks and Strips".www.nga.gov.4 October 1980.Retrieved2022-09-24.
- ^abScala, Mark, ed. (2012).Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial.Vanderbilt University Press. p. 40.ISBN978-0-8265-1880-4.
- ^"Strips | Souls Grown Deep".www.soulsgrowndeep.org.Retrieved2022-09-24.
- ^History refused to die: the enduring legacy of the African American art of Alabama.William S. Arnett, Laura Bickford, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Printed by the Prolific Group. [Montgomery, Ala.] 2015.ISBN978-0-692-36520-5.OCLC909397263.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^"Blocks and Strips Quilt".philamuseum.org.Retrieved2022-09-24.