About this item
Unconventional & Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950–2000 is a stunning collection of approximately 150 eccentric and extraordinary quilts made predominantly by anonymous quilters in the US during the second half of the 20th century. Collected by renowned quilt authority and collector Roderick Kiracofe, they represent a 20th-century quilt movement that remains mostly undocumented. Unlike the familiar quilts that replicate traditional patterns of earlier centuries, these surprising textiles represent a freer, more casual, utilitarian style that departs from (and returns to) a multitude of norms and standards. Peppered with essays by renowned experts that help to contextualize the quilts’ surprisingly modern aesthetic, Unconventional & Unexpected is a groundbreaking celebration of 20th-century quilting that picks up where most other quilt histories leave off.
About the Author
www.roderickkiracofe.com
I grew up in a small Indiana town in the 1950s, and that time and place certainly affected how I see the world. Our home did not have original art, but my parents certainly had style. I had no formal training in art, but my friendships with artists as I became a young adult led me to seek out and look at art. Objects, architecture, style, design and art fascinate me.
Household objects and photographs provide me with a lens to view times that came before. I love how quilts and photographs document people's lives. The first quilt that I ever saw and slept under was in Los Angeles in 1973, and the next year was the first time I saw a quilt hung on the wall as art. My college girlfriend gave me my first camera, and I began to experience the world through a lens. My first boyfriend had quilts from his family, and together we started buying and selling them. More of my quilt narrative is found in the books I have authored and published. Unconventional & Unexpected, The American Quilt, Cloth & Comfort, Homage to Amanda, and The Quilt Digest each grew out of very simple ideas while influencing and impacting the next one. I never dreamed these projects would be created or anticipated the impact they would have.
I am now at a point in my life where I can see the evolution of these creative efforts, and I am excited to continue the pursuit of my curiosities and ideas. In the late 1990s, I was presented with a unique and challenging opportunity with a group of buildings in downtown Oakland. Creating attractive living and work spaces for artists was a natural instinct. Out of this endeavor grew the creation of Oakland Art Murmur and its continuing evolution. Helping others see and view the world in new ways, as well as my own creative pursuits, has helped solidify my artistic voice.
