Lazy Gal is a beautiful example of a Gee's Bend quilt created by resident Helen McCloud. Gee's Bend is a predominately Black community in rural Alabama,taking its name from a plantation settled there by Joseph Gee. After emancipation, previously enslaved people were provided loans to purchase 10 thousand acres of the former plantation. Out of necessity and lack of resources, the women of Gee's Bend began recycling scraps of fabric into exraordinany quilts. rather trhan follow a pattern, they created their own bold designs through an improvisational style of quilting.

Gee's Bend quilts have fostered conversations about high and low art, distinctions between art and craft, but perhaps most importantly, they serve as a prime example of Black abstraction, while breaking down historical notions of who and what constitutes abstraction and Modernism. In Lazy Gal, one pink stripe and one dark green block contrast with the beige stripes and the light green stripes. This simple yet sophoisticated composition equals the work of any Moderenist master. The quilts of Gee's Bend convey a time and place, hold memories, and tell stories.

Source: DMAC News May Jun Jul Aug 2022