This is a continuation of a series of Quilt Block Paintings Jeffrey Gibson debuted in his critically acclaimed, 2021 solo exhibition Beyond the Horizon at Kavi Gupta in Chicago. Each work in the series contains a grid of 16 blocks. Just as with a traditional quilt, each section can be read as its own composition, while all elements simultaneously contribute to a larger statement of the subject matter being addressed in the work.

This particular work contains multiple elements that have come to embody the series, including: text elements rendered in Gibson’s personal, minimalist font; hand-woven beaded patterns; a mixture of hand painted and screen printed abstract patterns and shapes; and hand woven, figurative beaded elements referencing human faces. The text in this work reads: “BETTER BECAUSE WE CAN BE,” “YOU ARE MY RELATIVE,” “A QUESTION OF TIME,” and “A QUESTION OF TRUST.” The last phrase evokes the chorus of the Depeche Mode song A Question of Lust, continuing GIbson’s ongoing use of lyrics from songs and literature in his work.

Also interwoven into many of the panels of this painting are delicate, beaded objects known as “beaded whimseys.” Dating from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, and taken from Gibson’s own private collection, these items were often made for personal reasons by Indigenous artists and craftspeople, and other times were made as objects of wonder and amusement to sell to tourists. Incorporating traditional and global materials, these beaded whimseys elucidate a crucial turning point more than a century and a half ago, when sudden access to global trade allowed Native Americans to expand their aesthetic lexicon with an assortment of new types of beads. Such moments amplify awareness of Modernism not as a one-time Western phenomenon, but a continuous and manifold spectrum.

The pastiche appearance of Gibson’s Quilt Block Paintings is a material reflection of the intertextual narratives within. Says Gibson, “My grandmothers made quilts, and I collect quilts. I’m drawn to their patchwork quality. If you know where the fabrics are coming from, there’s a story that can be played out through material culture.”