vertical geometric sculpture made up of triangular and square planes; faces of planes are covered in old patchwork quilts--triangular pieced designs with various printed fabrics, portion of Log Cabin pattern with various prints and some solid fabrics (particularly red and white), and solid colored diamond shaped pieces designs forming brightly-colored bars with larger solid blue areas; planes edged in gold leaf

Semaphore, 2019

Sanford Biggersexpand_more

Antique quilt, birch plywood, and gold leafexpand_more

The Douglas J. and Victoria Galloway Holmen Endowment Fundexpand_more  2020.45

Not on Viewexpand_more

“Semaphore” draws a link between Biggers’ painted quilt assemblages—works that incorporate ethically sourced fragments from antique quilts—and freestanding sculptures. Biggers first began working with salvaged quilts in 2009 in developing a work for display in Mother Bethel AME Church, a site that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Research for the project exposed Biggers to the idea that such sites employed quilt displays as coded devices or signposts that guided enslaved people along the path to freedom. Quilt assemblages have remained part of his core artistic practices ever since.

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Details
Title
Semaphore
Artist Life
born 1970
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2020.45
Curator Approved

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vertical geometric sculpture made up of triangular and square planes; faces of planes are covered in old patchwork quilts--triangular pieced designs with various printed fabrics, portion of Log Cabin pattern with various prints and some solid fabrics (particularly red and white), and solid colored diamond shaped pieces designs forming brightly-colored bars with larger solid blue areas; planes edged in gold leaf
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