Today, quilts are finally overcoming their old-fashioned rap. Once perceived as blocklike, follow-the-rules fabric sandwiches, contemporary art quilts—with the emphasis on art—break the ancient code. Bresenhan truly has eyed and chosen 500 of the world’s best, hailing from France and Israel and other countries to the U.S. Each page delivers a different vision of what quilting means, along with the material and manufacturing details. A few examples: a tongue-in-cheek “Cow Pie” depicting, yes, cows meandering in a baked pie. Stark black-and-white whorls in a fingerprint (and so named). Undulating green fabric strips weaving into grass. Bold wisteria in a Tiffany-like stained-glass quilt. Two ready-to-play border collies in a field—just like some museum painting. The quilts here showcase a wide variety of painterly influences, multimedia techniques and materials, and aesthetic periods. Naive, ethnic (e.g., Latino and Native American), abstract, representational, three-dimensional, postmodern, and classics like Chagall and Matisse and Monet. An ooh and aah on every page. --Barbara Jacobs
Review
Praise for 500 Art Quilts by Ray Hemachandra and Karey Bresenhan:
"This collection of stunning contemporary art quilts is both visually and conceptually tantalizing. Juror Karey Bresenhan, the president of Quilts, Inc., and the director of the International Quilt Festival, offers a thoughtful introduction that reflects on the history of the art quilt. The quilts themselves represent the diversity of the medium and the vast array of approaches that can be taken within it. Styles range from realistic to abstract, and techniques from collage to patchwork. Many quilts demonstrate the finest examples of surface design, while others feature superb hand and machine stitching. One of the most moving aspects of this collection is the diversity of subject matters: portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, abstracts, and more evoke a wide range of sentiments and are a testament to the limitless possibilities of the art quilting medium. With so many artists included, this book introduces new and exciting talents amongst many recognizable favorites." — Quilting Arts Magazine
"The magnificent pieces found in 500 Art Quilts, edited by Ray Hemachandra, show how quilts are more than bedspreads — they are now considered true works of art found on gallery walls and in fine art museums. After a short introduction by Karey Patterson Bresenhan, founder and president of Quilts, Inc., the remaining 400 pages are filled with images of stunning 21st century quilts. Flipping through this colorful book, you'll find that 500 quilts are simply not enough." — AmericanStyle
“What an incredible feast for the eyes! These 500 wonderful works of art created with fabric and thread form a bountiful, international collection of the best in art quilts today. There is something new and engaging to discover on every page, one masterpiece after another. This gorgeous book is a must-have for every art lover, quilter, and fiber enthusiast.” — Martha Sielman, executive director of Studio Art Quilt Associates and curator of Masters: Art Quilts
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