Bisa Butler

The Great Women Artists

Katy Hessel

Arts

4.8 • 877 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2021

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In episode 77 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the fantastic artist, BISA BUTLER!!! [This episode is brought to you by Alighieri jewellery: www.alighieri.co.uk | use the code TGWA at checkout for 10% off!] One 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’s oeuvre aims to, in her words, “tell the story – the African American side – of American life”. Born and raised in New Jersey, where she still resides today, Butler studied for her BA at the prestigious Howard University – where she was taught under the AfriCobra group – 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. Working 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 – not only by integrating portraits in such meticulous ways, but by fusing a range of fabrics in her work – from her father’s homeland of Ghana, batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa. Butler’s 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’s hotly anticipated exhibition, Black American Portraits. LISTEN NOW + ENJOY!!! Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic Research assistant: Viva Ruggi Artwork by @thisisaliceskinner Music by Ben Wetherfield https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome back to season six of the Great Woman Artist podcast. In this series, I am so excited to be continuing my partnership with the brilliant Aligieri Jewelry, who have been supporting the GWA podcast for the last year and a half.
0:17.3	Alighieri jewelry creates imperfect and fragmented modern heirlooms, inspired by Dante Aliquieri's
0:23.4	journey from the darkness of inferno to the light of Paradiso. Discover their range of
0:29.2	gilded talismans online, perfect for the gifting season, with pieces for relatives, friends, and for
0:34.9	you. Give the gift of strength and courage with their Leone medallion,
0:39.2	or the gift of light in clarity with Alighieri's signature in perfect pearls.
0:44.0	Alighieri packs every piece with a handwritten note and ships worldwide with love.
0:49.2	For all of our London listeners, you can visit their newly open showroom.
0:53.0	Join the team for a coffee or glass
0:54.8	of Prosecco, and meet their styling team who can offer one-to-one advice and help.
1:00.0	Book in your appointment by emailing clients at aligieri.com.uk or walk in for a late-night
1:06.2	shopping on Thursdays, open till 8.30pm. And don't forget, all Great Woman Artist listeners will receive
1:13.0	10% discount on all magical Allegory jewelry with the code TGWA at checkout online or by visiting
1:21.8	the showroom. I hope you enjoy this episode. Hello everyone and welcome to The Great Women Artist
1:32.6	podcast with me Katie Hessel. Some of you might know me from The Great Women Artists,
1:38.2	an Instagram account I set up in October 2015 which celebrates female artists on a daily
1:43.6	basis ranging from young graduates
1:45.7	to old masters.
1:47.6	Well, in a similar fashion to the Instagram, this podcast is all about celebrating female
1:52.8	artists from a variety of backgrounds and histories.
1:56.1	And I am so excited to be interviewing artists on their career or artists, writers, curators or general
2:02.0	art lovers on the women artist who means most of them.
	...

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