Exhibit of artful quilts covers a wide array of talent

Review by Camille Howell

A wave of color splashes through the Springfield Art Museum this month, and the magic carpets that carry us over it are quilts.

These aren't any old quilts, mind you. These are contemporary art quilts, created by 15 members of Uncommon Threads, a group of 17 fiber artists from Missouri and Kansas who meet monthly in Springfield. We're fortunate to have them living close by.

I recently saw an exhibit in Atlanta of the quilters of Gees Bend, a group of Alabama women who have been quilting for many years and whose fame has spread far and wide. While the Gees Bend quilters, mostly descendants of slaves in that area, have made a name for themselves as traditional quilters working with whatever fabric was handy at the moment, the Uncommon Threads truly takes quilting to another level.

While some people will say these contemporary quilters cheat by using sewing machines to quilt many of their works, the "Uncommon Threads: Contemporary Art Quilts" show at the art museum needs to be viewed first and foremost as an art exhibit, not a quilt exhibit. None of these quilts lie across the end of grandma's bed or spend the summer stuffed into the top of a closet. These quilts are meant to hang on walls, like paintings and prints, and many of them resemble those sorts of works as much or more than they do traditional bedcovers.

For example, the work of Lettie Blackburn incorporates what she refers to as "thread painting." Blackburn goes over and over her quilt top in a serpentine pattern, contrasting threads with fabric colors. The results, as seen in "A Sycamore and Lime Tree Lost in the Night" are more like painting in many ways than like customary quilting.

More traditional in design but thoroughly contemporary in color and presentation are the works of Clyde Fairbanks, the only male quilter in the exhibit. His "Lights, Camera, Action" and "Jazz Ride" both feature bright geometrics with fun results.

Nearby is a quilt by Donna Olson titled "Night Flight," which contrasts with the eye-popping colors of Fairbanks' quilts. "Night Flight," first of all, is huge — 102- by 79-inches and largely black, sprinkled with regular patterns of three triangles pointing in a variety of directions. Olson uses just enough red against the dark background to keep this quilt exciting.

Pam RuBert, wife of Springfield artist Russ RuBert, takes a totally different tack in the five pieces she exhibits. RuBert's works all feature a cartoon-character young woman in various states of distress, whether she's losing things, cleaning her purse, walking her dog or, my favorite, talking on a cell phone (along with everybody else) in downtown Springfield. These fun, retro-designed pieces are about as far from traditional quiltmaking as you can get, but they are real eye-catchers in this exhibit.

A pair of quilts hang freely in "Uncommon Threads" so viewers can see both sides, and one in particular, "Aftermath — Fire, Smoke and Ashes," stands out. Created by Arleta Johnson in response to 9/11, this work is totally different on both sides. One side is more traditional, with circular patterns of red, gray and black radiating across its surface, but the other side is hard-edged and powerful, with hints of falling buildings, billowing smoke and flames.

That a quilt can stop us in our tracks and bring back memories of that awful day attests to the power of this show. It's an exhibit rooted in an old and homey tradition that has found a new voice — a voice contemporary, edgy and with a lot to say.

Camille Howell reviews visual arts for the News-Leader.