Bisa Butler
In episode 77 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the fantastic artist, BISA BUTLER!!!\n\n[This episode is brought to you by Alighieri jewellery: www.alighieri.co.uk | use the code TGWA at checkout for 10% off!]\n\nOne of the leading artists working today, Butler uses the medium of textile for her vivid and vibrant portraits of subjects that weave personal and historical narratives of Black life. From integrating members of her own family derived from old photographs to immortalising celebrated figures from Chadwick Boseman to Frederick Douglass, or those unknown from depression-era photographs, Butler\u2019s oeuvre aims to, in her words, \u201ctell the story \u2013 the African American side \u2013 of American life\u201d.\n \nBorn and raised in New Jersey, where she still resides today, Butler studied for her BA at the prestigious Howard University \u2013 where she was taught under the AfriCobra group \u2013 and for an MA at Montclair State University, it was here when she first began using the medium of textiles after assembling together a portrait quilt for her grandmother. \n\nWorking as a high school art teacher for more than a decade, Butler worked on her fibre creations in school holidays and at the weekend, exhibiting at churches and community centres. And it is this medium which she has come to pioneer \u2013 not only by integrating portraits in such meticulous ways, but by fusing a range of fabrics in her work \u2013 from her father\u2019s homeland of Ghana, batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa.\n \nButler\u2019s rise has been astronomical. Having had her first solo exhibition in 2017, within just a few years she has had solo exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Katonah Museum of Art; made two covers for TIME Magazine, as well as a cover for New York Magazine featuring Questlove, and for those in Los Angeles, her work is currently and prominently on view at LACMA\u2019s hotly anticipated exhibition, Black American Portraits.\n\nLISTEN NOW + ENJOY!!!\nFollow us: \nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by Nada Smiljanic\nResearch assistant: Viva Ruggi\nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/