Kavi Gupta Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • Viewing Room
  • Editions
  • Events & Art Fairs
  • Public Works
  • Podcast
  • Information
  • Mission
Menu
  • Artworks

    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021

    Basil Kincaid USA, b. 1986

    Wade in the Water, 2021
    Quilt vintage corduroy, donated clothes, clothes from the artist, Ghanaian embroidered fabrics, hand-woven Ghanaian kente, wax block print cotton fabric, and wool
    97 x 72 x 1 in
    246.4 x 182.9 x 2.5 cm
    7932

    Further images

    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 6 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 7 ) Basil Kincaid, Wade in the Water, 2021
    • Wade in the Water
    Basil Kincaid's Wade in the Water directly questions religious notions and the role of Christianity for Black life. “Any time you strip someone of their belief, and force them into...
    Read more
    Basil Kincaid's Wade in the Water directly questions religious notions and the role of Christianity for Black life.

    “Any time you strip someone of their belief, and force them into new beliefs, that practice is bad,” says Kincaid. “But Black people in the U.S. have been able to take Christianity, and somehow transmute it into something useful.”

    In the quilt, we see a brown figure—a human form—being embraced and scaffolded by the black figure—the eternal form.

    “It’s about being guardians, looking out for each other throughout all the different iterations of being in life,” says Kincaid. “As a child, I was scared to be baptized. I remember the gravity of that moment. I remember being told baptism means you’re giving away your life. I remember how big that felt as a kid. When I did choose to get baptized I was always thankful it was my dad who baptized me. If it wasn’t him, I wouldn’t have done it.”

    Throughout time, tapestries have been used to tell stories of what was happening. These quilts map in some way the very personal journey Kincaid is on. They also tell a story of the expanding liberation of all the people who share his various communities. As he says, “My work is telling the story of how, over time, we are becoming more free.”
    Close full details
    Share
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Email

Contact: +1  708-480-2882

General Inquiries: info@kavigupta.com

Media Inquiries: media@kavigupta.com

Client & Sales Inquiries: client@kavigupta.com

Publications: Kavi Gupta Editions

Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter

Kavi Gupta Washington Blvd

835 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL 60607

Hours | Tue–Fri: 11 am–6 pm, Sat: 12 pm–5 pm

Kavi Gupta Elizabeth St

219 N. Elizabeth St. Chicago, IL 60607 
Hours | By appointment only

 

 

Kavi Gupta Warehouse

2108 S. California Ave. Chicago, IL 60608

Kavi Gupta New Buffalo

215 E. Buffalo St. #219 New Buffalo, MI 49117

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Artsy, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
View on Google Maps
Ocula, opens in a new tab.
Manage cookies
2025 Kavi Gupta
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences