AQatS In the News Don Polec's World

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http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=features&id=3298042
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QUILTS
04.21.06

If, when you think of quilts, you think of the rural reaches of Lancaster County and a grandmotherly group of women busily crafting a quaint bedcover, you're probably in for a surprise...if you visit the Philadelphia art alliance for the next month, and see offerings on exhibit at the 7th Annual Artquilts at the Sedgwick Show.

"They're irregularly pieced, they're not blocks at all. These are not intended for the bed, these are very much intended for a wall."

They're nothing like the quilts you imagine snuggling up with next to a warm fire on a winter's night. And in many cases, you wouldn't want to.

Since the cuddle quotient of materials like recycled pressboard, or cut up New York City subway maps does leave something to be desired but are all part of a presentation that compels visitors to radically re-think the conventional idea of a quilt.

Deborah Schwartzman/ArtQuilts Philadelphia: "They are created as art the artist has chosen the medium of fiber not paint. It's definitely not a new idea."

Cindy Friedman/ArtQuilts Philadelphia: "During the Victorian era they were using velvets and other materials. They were never meant to be actually used."

Like the inspired creations of the 44 innovative artists represented here.

She combines doilies and pieces of lace with upholstery fabric and she makes this art. It starts out as a photo, it gets transferred to fabric, it gets cut up and it gets reassembled."

Works whose artistic impact that cannot help but have a special resonance with those who view it.

"Everybody has this gut reaction to fiber. When you're born, you're wrapped in fiber, when you die, you're wrapped in fiber. You're exposed to fiber every day of your life."

And for every day of the next month, visitors will be exposed to it in ways&your grandmother could never have imagined.

On view through May 21 at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. Rittenhouse Sq. Phila. PA. For info you can call 215-545-4302 or visit www.aqats.com. Or ArtQuilts can be reached at the Sedgwick, P.O. Box 42, Merion, PA 19066.