Eli Leon: Improvisational African-American Quilts

A special province of African-American quilts features IMPROVISATION, CONTRAST, MULTIPLE PATTERNS, SHIFTS IN SCALE, and OTHER THAN 4-SIDED BORDERING ARRANGEMENTS.

Three Sixes.  Pieced by Rosie Lee Tompkins, Richmond, California, 1987.  Quilted by Willia Ette Graham and Johnnie Wade, Oakland, California, 1996.

Rosie Lee Tompkins' textile art works demolish the category. Roberta Smith, The New York Times

Links:

Photo Albums at album page, click on album you wish to view

Put-together (detail).  Pieced by Rosie Lee Tompkins, Richmond, California, 1985.  Quilted by Willia Ette Graham, Oakland, CA, 1986.

More Quilts

Collecting Stories

Tompkins's quilts have a tactile allure and wobbly ecstasy unmatched by any canvas. Andrea Scott The New Yorker

Eli Leon Resume

Catalog Excerpts

Mission Statement

Upcoming and Ongoing Shows

View or Print Out-of-Print Catalog Models in the MInd

To book exhibitions or order catalogs, e-mail elileon1@Yahoo.com Exhibition Catalogs SOMETHING ELSE TO SEE:  BORDERING ARRANGEMENTS IN AFRICAN  TEXTILES AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN QUILTS : 44  PAGES, 39 COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS.......$20.00 ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE: THE AESTHETIC MANAGEMENT OF IRREGULARITIES IN AFRICAN TEXTILES AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN QUILTS:  176 PAGES, 126 COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS ...  $40.00 SOMETHING PERTAINING TO GOD: THE PATCHWORK ART OF ROSIE LEE TOMPKINS : 30 PAGES, 39 COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS ... $12.95

Put-together.  Pieced by Rosie Lee Tompkins, Richmond, California, 1992.  Quilted by Irene Bankhead, Oakland, California, 1992

Tompkins's quilts are works of such distinction and devotion that they supercede established art-historical categories.  Alison Bing Artweek