Made from long strips of cut, or perhaps even torn, fabric, Lazy Gal Bars is one of the simplest patterns the Gee’s Bend quilters produced. Loretta Pettway made this quilt from approximately equal widths of work clothes and other fabrics she had at hand, stitching the narrow strips together with long vertical seams. While using a relatively basic technique, Pettway managed to create a striking composition by choosing to place two light strips off-center and to border the lavender-blue denim with strong dark blue denim on two sides. The quilt is backed with a patterned blue-and-white polyester that also serves as the binding. It peeks around the sides, making for a somewhat jarring contrast to the solid colors of the front.
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the artist, Gee's Bend, Ala. (until 1999; in 1999 to Arnett); William S. Arnett, Atlanta (1999–2002; his gift in 2002 to Tinwood Alliance); Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta (2002–10; transfer in 2010 to Souls Grown Deep); Souls Grown Deep Foundation, Atlanta (2010–14; their gift to MMA)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 8–November 10, 2002, unnumbered cat. (p. 76; lent by the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," November 21, 2002–March 9, 2003, unnumbered cat.
Mobile, Ala. Mobile Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 14–August 31, 2003, unnumbered cat.
Milwaukee Art Museum. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 27, 2003–January 4, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," February 14–May 17, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 27–September 12, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Norfolk, Va. Chrysler Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," October 15, 2004–January 2, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," February 13–May 8, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 1–August 21, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Auburn, Ala. The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 11–December 4, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," March 25–June 18, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," July 15–November 12, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 6, 2007–January 7, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Nashville. Frist Center for the Visual Arts. "Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial," May 25–September 3, 2012 (p. 24; lent by the Souls Grown Deep Foundation).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift," May 22–September 23, 2018, unnumbered cat. (pl. 28).
Jane Livingston inGee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Ed. William Arnett and Paul Arnett. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Atlanta, 2002, ill. p. 86 (color).
Amelia Peck inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 54, 108, colorpl. 28.
Mario Naves. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift." New Criterion 37 (September 2018), p. 38.
Karen Wilkin. "A Visual Equivalent of Jazz." Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2018), p. A13.
In this interview, author and curator Amelia Peck discusses the history of quilting in Gee's Bend, Alabama, and how these works of art have historically been misunderstood.
Kerry James Marshall (American, born Birmingham, Alabama, 1955)
2014
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