A sculpture created by Max Adrian is featured in “Quilting a Future: Contemporary Quilts and American Tradition,” one of the new exhibits on display at the Columbus Museum of Art. Credit: Paige McBane | Lantern Reporter
To art lovers’ delight, two new exhibitions are officially open at the Columbus Museum of Art.
“Accra! The Rise of a Global Art Community” and “Quilting a Future: Contemporary Quilts and American Tradition” will be on view today until Jan. 28, 2024, according to the museum’s website. Brooke Minto, the museum’s executive director and CEO, said the choice to display these exhibits simultaneously was opportunity-based.
“For a number of years, we’ve had a publication in progress around the Wasserstrom quilt collection, which we received some years ago,” Minto said. “That foundation is now going to be printed, and so we have the opportunity to launch this publication in the context of the show. So, whether that was strategically timed or it was just serendipity, it’s really our good fortune.”
“Quilting a Future” is co-curated by Sarah Berenz and Deidre Hamlar, the website states. Berenz said the exhibit includes 55 works from an assortment of quilt artists, which are divided into four themes.
“The themes are patterns and techniques, wearables, narratives and stories and economy, ecology and the future,” Berenz said. “We have a substantial collection of over 400 traditional American quilts in the Columbus Museum of Art, which was gifted by the Wasserstrom family in 2015.”
Berenz said “Quilting a Future” aims to provoke discussion surrounding how generations of artists have begun to mix traditional quilting elements with more contemporary art forms.
“I hope this sort of makes you think about quilting in a different way,” Berenz said. “It’s not just these, you know, hunky-dory pieces of material. It’s really being used today in really interesting, innovative ways.”
Wendy Kendrick, a featured artist in “Quilting a Future,” said quilting is an immense source of comfort for her.
“I did not have the pleasure of having anyone directly teach me about quilting, but they were there,” Kendrick said. “They were on my grandmother’s bed, they were on my aunt’s bed in Kentucky when we would go for the summers. I think of snuggling up.”
Kendrick said her piece in the exhibition is titled “Queen Mother” and depicts a woman standing vertically to suggest a sense of strength.
“They always have collars, because they are also very spiritual, and they are women who pray,” Kendrick said. “The collars are, in some sense, their protection of their throat because they are always whispering our prayers.”
“Accra! The Rise of a Global Art Community” is co-curated by Edmund Gaisie, Rebecca Ibel and Diedre Hamlar, according to the website. Hamlar said Accra is Columbus’ sister city in Ghana.
“In this exhibition, you’re going to see a variety of styles, a variety of materials and they all speak to the rising innovative contemporary art scene in Accra,” Hamlar said. “There is an outstanding number of artists that are coming out of Accra right now, and we are just really lucky to have this exhibition here.”
Gaisie said the artworks delve into the vibrant universe of Ghanaian creativity, speaking to the visible impact Ghanaian artists have had in reshaping contemporary art.
Featured artist Kwesi Botchway said street art helped spark his love for portraiture.
“I love the fact that portraits challenge you, and I think I’m someone who likes to be challenged,” Botchway said. “I like the process of overcoming the situation.”
Botchway said he initially employed a hyper-realistic painting style, but has slowly moved into conceptual portraiture over time.
“I was inspired by the microaggression of dark skin,” Botchway said. “I decided to create a piece of visual perception by creating an abstract body of work that is meaningful and would actually elevate people’s minds and also open their eyes on how they view Black skin.”
Ultimately, Botchway said his art aims to stimulate education and personal growth.
“I think my work is actually to elevate the people conceptually and visually to learn to assert themselves, to also challenge themselves,” Botchway said. “That has been my main goal and main practice.”
More information about “Accra! The Rise of a Global Art Community” and “Quilting a Future: Contemporary Quilts and American Tradition” can be found on the Columbus Museum of Art’s website.
