However, even I, with my particular penchant for quilts in any shape or form, have to admit that Geeâs Bend quilts are truly exceptional. It was around this time that the quilts first caught the attention of the outside world with the establishment of a quilting collective known as the Freedom Quilting Bee to uplift the economically impoverished area. The quilts dropped out of public attention in the 1980s and didnât reappear until the 2002 exhibition âThe Quilts of Geeâs Bend. Other quilts are based on traditional Euro-American quilting patterns, such as Wild Goose Chase and Bethlehem Star, but still maintain the Geeâs Bendâs penchant for creativity and innovation. Much criticism toward the exhibition has been aimed at the highly enthusiastic response of the popular press toward the Geeâs Bend quilts, particularly the tendency to praise them in comparison to modern abstract art of Rothko, Still and even Pollock.

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