Textural Rhythms at the Museum of the African Diaspora

Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition, Contemporary African American Quilts now on display at the Museum of the African Diaspora, unites two of the most well-known and popular artistic forms in African American culture, jazz and quilts. The exhibition includes work from some of America’s best-known African American quilters, Michael Cummings, Edjohnetta Miller, Tina Brewer, and Jim Smoote as well as quilts by top Bay Area quilters, Marion Coleman and Alice M. Beasley. Curated by Carolyn Mazloomi, the MoAD showing is part of a two-and-a-half-year-long national tour involving the work of the artists of the Women of Color Quilters Network, whose mission is "to foster and preserve the art of quilt making among women of color."

In one of her more famous songs, Ella Fitzgerald sang "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing." Well, you could actually say she bopped, hopped, swayed and seduced us with her lively rhythms. A similar seduction is going on at the exhibit through what curator Carolyn Mazloomi calls "visual soul food."  The song sung here is in fabric and thread, not musical notes but it's equally vibrant, Throughout the show, the background music and the wall text pay tribute to jazz, an utterly American music, created out of African rhythms and inspired by the myriad of experiences, both tragic and joyous, of African-American life.

For anybody who saw the exhibit at the De Young of the Gee's Bend quilters, the ingenuity, artistic eye and unique use of fabric will not come as a surprise. But these are not your traditional quilts. Unlike Gee's Bend - or Amish quilts for that matter -  these masterpieces of fabric are not structured blocks of color but complex riffs on the interweaving of jazz with African-American traditions of quilt making. 

There are sequins interspersed with beads, metallic threads combined with appliqué and gold accents on vibrant colors; these quilts are not made from the usual used scraps pierced into bed coverings for everyday use but art pieces, joyous and inspiring.

The show runs through April 24th

About the Museum:
The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) showcases the history, art and the cultural richness that resulted from the dispersal of Africans throughout the African Diaspora through innovative and engaging exhibitions, education and public programs. By realizing its mission MoAD connects all people through our shared African heritage. Incorporated in 2002 as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, MoAD opened its doors in 2005 in space contiguous with the St. Regis Hotel and Residences and in the historic Williams Building at 685 Mission Street at Third.

moadsf.org |415.358.7200

WHERE: 685 Mission Street (at Third), San Francisco, CA 94105

HOURS: Wednesday–Saturday: 11:00AM – 6:00PM | Sunday 12:00PM-5:00PM | Monday–Tuesday: CLOSED ADMISSION

$10 General Admission | $5 Students and Seniors | FREE Members and Children 12 and under w/adult

Other resources:

http://thevibologist.com/artmuseum-moads-textural-rhythms-jazzquilts-e

About African-American quilts: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/atrads.html

http://www.wcqn.org/