Meticulously hand-dyed and woven from the historically fraught material of cotton, Diedrick Brackens’s textiles portray Black figures in grand, saturated and mythic landscapes. His work employs an ever-expanding constellation of symbols that gesture to the complexities of contemporary American life.
In this virtual talk, Brackens will explore his evolving utilization of craft to investigate notions of ritual, care, intimacy and survival. The presentation will include images from the pondkeepers, his recent show at Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, as well as his exhibition shape of a fever believer opening at Oakville Galleries, Ontario in 2021.
About Diedrick Brackens
Diedrick Brackens is a Los Angeles based weaver and visual artist. His work mines history, allegory and mythology to speak to the complexities of intersecting Black and queer identity in the United States. His work resides in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Hammer Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others. He is a recipient of the Studio Museum’s Wein Prize, the Los Angeles Artadia Award, the Biennial Grant from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, and the American Craft Council’s Emerging Artist Award.
How to Participate
To participate, register online to get a link and instructions for joining the program on Zoom. Simply follow that link at the time the event starts (6 p.m. EST). When you register, you can also request to receive a reminder email one day before the program with the link included.
About the Contemporary Voices Series
Meet innovative artists and scholars whose practice draws on textile materials, techniques or knowledge. This series is presented in partnership with the Textile Society of America.
More info here: https://museum.gwu.edu/contemporary-voices-diedrick-brackens
Image Credit: Diedrick Brackens, “shape of a fever believer” (detail), 2020. Image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles.
