The Museum

Current Exhibition

Masters: 40 Contemporary Art Quilters

November 19, 2009 - February 25, 2010

Masters explores the cutting edge of art quilting, with today’s most regarded global quilt artists represented in this comprehensive exhibition. Guest curator Martha Sielman has assembled a seminal collection of representative works by master art quilters, explored in this exhibition and in Sielman’s companion book, Masters: Art Quilts. This expansive look at state of the art quilting brings together works by artists from around the world including Australia, the UK, Japan, Israel, Hungary, France, South Africa, Denmark, and Belgium.

Artists included in the exhibition include Noriko Endo, whose detailed, realistic landscapes have won critical acclaim worldwide, Kyoung Ae Cho, whose minimalist wood constructions push the boundaries of the fiber art form, and Jane Sassaman, whose bold, sinuous designs have been widely respected among quilt lovers for over 20 years. The exhibition shows not only the wide geographic reach of quilting, but also its thematic range. From energetic sculptural works to deeply personal portraits, from meticulous visual narratives to enigmatic still-lives, art quilting embraces as many diverse forms as contemporary painting or sculpture. For those unfamiliar with the medium, the exhibition is a great introduction—for those who have long appreciated the art quilt, a welcome chance to see old favorites and new discoveries.
 

Sielman, herself a contemporary art quilter whose commissioned works are featured in many corporate and private collections, set out to gain a comprehensive view of contemporary quilt art, researching the works, techniques, and design philosophies of some of today’s leading artists. The result was first her book Masters: Art Quilts, published in 2008 by Lark Books, and now the exhibition that bears its name, showcasing representative works by each of the forty artists profiled in the book. This exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell is the only stop in the Northeast for the exhibition, and its last stop. It will close at the NEQM in February of 2010, making this exhibit the only chance for many to see key works by international artists seldom shown in the United States. 

Masters opens on November 19, 2009, with a formal opening reception on Saturday, November 21 at 1pm. Sielman will be signing copies of her book, Masters: Art Quilts at the reception. The exhibition will run through 2009 and into the 2010 season, through February 25, 2010.

Image: Metamorphosis (2000), by Jane Sassaman. Photo courtesy the artist.