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Additional Artworks

From Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College

  1. A Sweet Hell by Trenton Doyle Hancock, Image 1.

    Trenton Doyle Hancock

    A Sweet Hell, 2010

    Etching, aquatint, and spit bite aquatint on paper

    30 x 40 in (76.2 x 101.6 cm)

  2. Flowers in the Mirror, Beijing Series #3 ( 镜花园系列——北京 3#) by Zhan Wang, Image 1.

    Zhan Wang

    Flowers in the Mirror, Beijing Series #3 ( 镜花园系列——北京 3#), 2004

    C-print

    23.625 x 31.5 in (60.01 x 80.01 cm)

  3. Untitled (Black Heart) by Jim Dine, Image 1.

    Jim Dine

    Untitled (Black Heart), 1985

    Mixed-Media on paper

    48 x 39 in (121.92 x 99.06 cm)

  4. Trophies by Dieter Roth, Image 1.

    Dieter Roth

    Trophies, 1978

    Offset print

    19.8125 x 13.875 in (50.32 x 35.24 cm)

  5. Bunch by Thomas McCormick, Image 1.

    Thomas McCormick

    Bunch, 1974

    Charcoal on paper

    33 x 25.5 in (83.82 x 64.77 cm)

  6. Delta by Herb Jackson, Image 1.

    Herb Jackson

    Delta, 1974

    Lithograph on paper

  7. Hans Koningsberger by Philippe Halsman, Image 1.

    Philippe Halsman

    Hans Koningsberger, 1959

    Gelatin silver print

    13.875 x 10.875 in (35.24 x 27.62 cm)

  8. Japanese Plate by Unknown, Image 1.

    Unknown

    Japanese Plate

    Porcelain

    12.5 x 2 in (31.75 x 5.08 cm)

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About the artist

Stella Mae Pettway

American

b. 1952

Stella Mae Pettway was born in Gee's Bend/Boykin, Alabama in 1952 into a tradition of quilt making spanning more than four generations. Gee’s Bend, also known as Boykin, Alabama, sits within a bend in the Alabama River south of Selma. Many within the isolated African-American community can trace their ancestry back to individuals enslaved at the Pettway Plantation that once stood in Gee’s Bend. After emancipation, many of the freed enslaved individuals and their relatives stayed in the area as sharecroppers. The quilting tradition in Gee’s Bend dates back to the 19th century, originally influenced by a combination of Indigenous American and African textiles. In the post-Civil War period and into the 20th century, the women of Gee’s Bend created quilts out of functional needs for themselves and their families. In the 1960s the Gee’s Bend community, alongside the Freedom Quilting Bee, gained recognition for their quilts and their involvement in the civil rights movement. In recent years, the collective has featured in shows at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. The quiltmaking traditions passed down over generations resulted in a unique style characterized by geometric abstraction and a distinctly hand-made touch.

Drawing on the work of her mother, Georgianna, as well as earlier generations of quiltmakers, Stella Mae Pettway creates elaborate quilts using found and sourced cloth. She has developed the “My Way” approach, in which quilt patterns diverge from traditional simplistic geometric forms and incorporate distinctive asymmetry. Pettway has spearheaded a new generation of Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, one that embraces the designation of their works as art objects. Stella Mae Pettway still resides in Gee’s Bend and continues to work with the Gee’s Bend Collective.