In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art, new mediums and materials constantly emerge, challenging conventional notions of what constitutes fine art. But sometimes we look to old materials and techniques and reimagine or recontextualize them. For centuries the result of practical necessity — and generally considered a folk art or craft — quilts are increasingly taking over space at museums and galleries. You’l likely never have such a good time to see the phenomenon in the state of Utah than this next week, when no less than five different exhibits converge, displaying the work of several hundred artists. 

The annual quilt exhibits at the museums in Springville and Brigham City, up for another week, date to the 1970s, a time that saw a revived interest in traditional quilting as well as exploration of new techniques that expanded the medium. This year, they are joined by an impressive exhibit at The Brigham Young University of Museum of Art. And as if to emphasize that quilting as art is not just a group phenomenon but can stand alone in solo or two-person shows, Salt Lake City city galleries offer two examples: Sheryl Gillilan and Roxanne Bartel at Finch Lane, closing next week, and the work of Margaret Wilson Morris, which opens at Phillips Gallery on Friday. 

Leaning towards but not confined to traditional techniques and patterns, Springville Museum of Art’s annual quilt exhibition features Utah artists working in the medium.

Springville is by far the largest of the exhibits. The entire main floor, home to the massive Spring Salon and the annual Spiritual & Religious show, is given over to the  medium. It’s also the most traditional. Museum director Emily Larsen says it always has been, a reflection of the jury, which looks for craft and excellence of execution more than flash or innovation. It is by no means boring, however: the well-lit and spacious galleries are full of color and pattern. Neither is it immune to innovation: even within established norms or patterns, these artists execute their own variations, not unlike early Renaissance painters working within the established framework of a Madonna and Child motif, or a Pop or Blues musician finding personal expression within a basic song structure.  

While Springville may be the largest annual quilt exhibition, Brigham City gets bragging rights as the oldest. Their exhibition dates back to 1972, when they first staged an exhibit of new and antique quilts from local sources.  These days the annual exhibit hosts the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), which creates themed exhibits from work by quilt artists from around the world. This year’s theme is Light the World, and artist were encouraged “to explore how light creates and transforms their art.” You’ll find just about anything you might find in any 2-dimensional visiual art show: abstract designs both jazzy and geometric; visions of the natural world, from landscapes and cityscapes to garden and seaside scenes; works exploring political and social issues and others investigating the medium itself. Where the majority of the work on display in Springville would easily cover a queen size mattress, most of these works are smaller in scale — designed for the wall more than for the bed. 

Pennsylvania artist Patty Zenedy-Zafred’s “Sedona Sunset,” on view at Brigham City, used silkscreen photographs in her quilt.

BYU’s Museum of Art hosts another SAQA-sponsored exhibition, Primal Forces: Earth. The contemporary quilt movement is characterized by its embrace of diverse materials and techniques, and Primal Forces shows the broadest range. Artists are incorporating unconventional fabrics, from reclaimed garments to metallic threads, blurring the boundaries between fine art and textile craft. Read the liner notes for the exhibits and you’ll find the quilters are kin to printmakers:  both engage in laborious and time-consuming processes and their practitioners geek out on the various techniques they employ. This fusion of materials opens up new avenues for self-expression, allowing artists to experiment with texture, depth, and dimensionality in ways previously unexplored. Artists may paint or stain the fabric, like an artist working on canvas. Like a collage artist they may stitch together disparate found elements; and the stitching itself becomes another textural layer and often serves the same linear role as drawing with ink or crayon. Quilted materials even become fully three-dimensional elements allowing the artists to create sculptural works to be viewed on a pedestal rather than on a wall.

Several sculptural pieces at BYU’s take quilting beyond the bed and wall to create pieces that should be viewed fully in the round.

Rear view of California artist Susan Else’s “Memory of Water” at the BYU Museum of Art

Two additional exhibits, both committed to abstraction, provide a deep-dive into the work of individual artists. As art, quilts have long been ahead of their time: homes all over the world had non-objective art long before Solomon Guggenheim decided to devote a museum to it; and the patchwork approach of quilting anticipated various 20th-century trends, including collage and assemblage. (It’s no coincidence Robert Rauschenberg chose to include a quilt in one of his first Combines, “Bed.”) Sheryl Gillilan and Roxanne Bartel’s explorations of abstraction at Finch Lane has been reviewed here.  Meanwhile, Phillips Gallery in Salt Lake City opens a two-person show this week featuring the textile art of Margaret Wilson Morris and the paintings of Oonju Chun. In the exhibit, Morris’ work are a geometric counterbalance to the lyrical abstraction of Chun. Morris works in quilted silk that has been decorated with beading. As if to emphasis their non bed-covering quality, the works are small (less than a foot in any dimension) and framed behind glass like works on paper.

Visit all five exhibits and you’ll get a very good idea of where quilts have come from and where artists are taking them. Traditionally, quilting has been  synonymous with comfort and practicality, a means of repurposing and preserving fabrics for warmth and decoration. Yet, in the hands of visionary artists, the humble quilt has undergone a profound metamorphosis. Today’s quilt-makers are pushing boundaries, weaving together threads of tradition and innovation to create pieces that transcend their utilitarian roots.  

In this piece, Japanese artist Chiaki Dosho transformed an old Japanese kimono to represent the past, present and future, with the many threads in the center express light. On view at Brigham City Museum.

Light the World, Brigham City Museum, Brigham City, through Sept. 23

49th Annual Utah Quilt Show, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, through Sept. 23.

Primal Forces: Earth, BYU Museum of Art, Provo, through Dec. 29.

Sheryl Gillilan & Roxanne Bartel: Juxtaposition, Finch Lane Gallery, Salt Lake City, through Sept. 21.

Oonju Chun and Margaret Wilson Morris, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, through Oct. 13.

All images courtesy the author

Shawn Rossiter

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.