The Art Newspaper: How do you feel about having your first European solo show around the same time that President Trump is visiting London?įaith Ringgold: You’ve got to be kidding, I didn’t know that! I’m making portraits of him, but with a little satirical twist. All these different strands come together in Ringgold’s survey exhibition at London’s Serpentine Gallery this summer, her first solo show in a European institution. Ringgold is also a prolific author-she has written more than 20 children’s books.

Her work was included in Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power at London’s Tate Modern in 2017, touring to Crystal Bridges in Arkansas, the Brooklyn Museum in New York and The Broad in LA, where it closes on 1 September. Protest and activism still underpin all of Ringgold’s activities-from her politically charged oil paintings of the 1960s, to soft sculptures, performance and public art projects, as well as the often more affirmative story quilts. This experience of “coming up in a period where great changes were being made” has informed a career spanning more than five decades. Born in Harlem in 1930, Ringgold grew up surrounded by the creative and intellectual ferment of the Harlem Renaissance and went on to become actively involved in the Civil Rights and Feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s. If you were going through a big change, wouldn't it feel good to crawl under a beautiful old quilt? We're guessing the answer is a resounding yes.Pioneering artist, activist and educator Faith Ringgold is best known for her richly referential, painted story quilts, which combine piecework quilting, acrylic painting and written stories to recount African American histories as well as narratives around her own family life. But pulling against that is the darkness she hints at, what with the challenges of the times (remember, this was the Great Depression), the racism (it's implied Daddy is denied union membership because he's Black) and her family's situation (since we're pretty sure Daddy flew the coop.) On one hand, Cassie's memories and daydreams seem to represent all the warmth and color and happiness of a quilt. Those colorful fabric squares of the quilt that surround the page give the book a warm, cozy feeling, which is interesting to compare and contrast with the story itself. We can make a guess that quilts remind Cassie of her parents, and her family's heritage. (Before Tar Beach was ever a book, it was a fine-art quilt.) More generally, quilts are a symbol of family and tradition.Īre quilts important to Cassie's family in particular? Hard to say, but the spread on Mommy's bed looks like a quilt to us.

The quilted squares that border the pages represent an actual quilt-a work of art made by the author that lives in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Faith Ringgold did a lot of sewing to bring this story to life-and we're not talking metaphorically.

Tar beach faith ringgold quilt