For over two decades, Sanford Biggers has been developing a singular body of work that is deeply informed by African American history and traditions, and sustains a rich dialog with contemporary art on a national and international level, referencing urban culture, the body, sacred geometry, and American symbolism.
In 2009, Sanford Biggers was commissioned by Hidden City Philadelphia, a month-long cultural project, to produce a work for the Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a stop on the Underground Railroad. As Biggers researched the history of the Underground Railroad, he became intrigued by the long-debated historical narrative that quilts doubled as signposts along nineteenth-century escape routes. Inspired by those stories, he created his first quilt-based artworks for the Philadelphia project, hanging traditional-seeming quilts that visually engaged the church’s stained-glass windows. He also created and circulated a “celestial map” documenting the city’s Underground Railroad sites in which Mother Bethel figured as the North Star.
The title of the exhibition, Codeswitch, refers to both the artists’ quilt series known as the Codex series and to the idea of code-switching itself, or shifting from one linguistic code to another depending on the social context. The Codex series includes mixed media paintings and sculptures done directly on or made from pre-1900 antique quilts. This process, like linguistic code-switching, recognizes language plurality, as the quilts signal their original creator’s intent as well as the new layers of meaning given to them through Biggers’s artistic intervention.
The tradition of quilt-making holds a significant place in American culture and has special resonance in Black communities, as witnessed in the quilts of Gee’s Bend- small, insulated African American community in Alabama that has produced hundreds of quilts from the nineteenth century to the present. Women there have produced hundreds of quilts from the nineteenth century to the present. That tradition has been upheld by contemporary artists such as Faith Ringgold, Emma Amos, Sam Gilliam, and Sanford Biggers.
Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch was co-organized by Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought, New Orleans, and The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York and organized by Andrea Andersson (Founding Director and Chief Curator, Rivers Institute) and Antonio Sergio Bessa (Director of Curatorial Programs, Bronx Museum). The exhibition at CAAM is curated by Rivers Institute and is the first project in a multi-year collaboration between CAAM and Rivers. The exhibition and catalog are made possible by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund: Culpeper Arts & Culture Program, Henry Luce Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Massimo De Carlo, David Castillo Gallery, Monique Meloche Gallery, Baldwin Gallery, and Yale University Press.
This exhibition premiered at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York and was on view from September 09, 2020 to April 04, 2021. It then traveled to the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, CA, and was on view to the public from July 28, 2021 to January 23, 2022. The final iteration of this exhibition will be at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY and will be on view to the public from March 18, 2022 to June 26, 2022.
In coordination with this exhibition, Rivers also presents the digital publication, Sanford Biggers: a fractal approach, an invitation to intimate exploration of Biggers’ quilts and their fractal logic of unending discovery.
Quilt 20 (Zora), 2013. Antique quilt, assorted textile, acrylic, spray paint and silkscreen, 73 1/4 x 70 5/6 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 28, 2013. Antique quilt, acrylic, spray paint, 71 x 78 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 30 (Nimbus), 2013. Antique quilt, acrylic, spray paint, 78 x 78 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 27 (Horatius Cocles), 2013. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, silkscreen on muslin, 48 x 91 in. © Sanford Biggers
Estrellita, 2013. Antique quilt, embroidery, acrylic, 90 x 90 in. © Sanford Biggers
Harlem Blue, 2013. Antique quilt, assorted textile, acrylic, spray paint, 88 x 88 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 16 (Buddha Bless), 2013. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, silkscreen on muslin, 94.5 x 78.5 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 23, 2013. Antique quilt, spray paint 67 x 81 1/3 in. © Sanford Biggers
Blossom Study, 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, 86.5 x 84.5 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 35 (Vex), 2014. Antique quilt, acrylic, spray paint, silkscreen on muslin, oil stick, tar, glitter, QR code with sound and video element, 82 x 88 in. © Sanford Biggers
Cheshire (Guapa), 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, 76 x 75 in. © Sanford Biggers
Incognito, 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, oil stick, glitter, 44 x 45 in. © Sanford Biggers
Lloottuuss, 2014, Antique quilt, assorted textiles, spray paint, tar, glitter, 64 x 75 in. © Sanford Biggers
Sakura, 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, 70 x 65 in. © Sanford Biggers
Shifter, 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, 80 x 76 in. © Sanford Biggers
Wrinkle, 2015. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, spray paint, oil stick, tar, glitter, 69 x 77 in. © Sanford Biggers
Banneker, 2016. Antique quilt, plywood, gold leaf, 44 x 62.25 x 15 in. © Sanford Biggers
Pas de Deux, 2016. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, burnt cork, charcoal, 83 x 75 in. © Sanford Biggers
Luna Medicina, 2016. Antique quilt, gold leaf, acrylic, spray paint, 39 x 17 1/4 in. © Sanford Biggers
The Talk, 2016. Antique quilt, fabric, tar, glitter, 80 x 84 in. © Sanford Biggers and Massimo De Carlo. Photo: Todd White Art Photograph
Free Radical, 2017. Antique quilt, birch plywood, gold leaf, 48 x 17 x 22 in. © Sanford Biggers
Tyranny of Mirrors, 2017. Antique quilts, assorted textiles, silver leaf, 75 x 73 in. © Sanford Biggers
Floral Seated Warrior, 2017. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, burnt cork, 64 x 72 in. © Sanford Biggers
100 Years Too Soon, 2017. Antique futon cover, assorted textiles, acrylic, tar, charcoal, 40 x 38 in. © Sanford Biggers
Ooo Oui, 2017. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, sequins, 74 x 59 in. © Sanford Biggers
Parallaxadaisical, 2017. Antique quilt, birch plywood, gold leaf, 29 x 52 x 16 in. © Sanford Biggers
Vista Trastevere, 2018, Antique quilts, 29 x 69.5 in. © Sanford Biggers
Moonrising, 2014 (Film still). HD video, color sound, 6:46 minutes Directed by Terence Nance. Photo direction by Shawn. Peters Music by Moon Medicin. Performances by Fanon Wilkins and San Dolo. © Sanford Biggers
Nomad, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, tar, charcoal, 66 x 76 in
Reconstruction, 2019. Antique quilt, birch plywood, gold leaf, 38 x 72 x 19 in. © Sanford Biggers and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. Photo: RCH Photography
Moon River, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, charcoal, 43.5 x 34 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quo Vadis?, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, gold leaf, acrylic, charcoal, 47.25 x 38.25 in. © Sanford Biggers
Nyabinghi, 2017. Antique quilts, assorted textiles, wood, aluminum, glass, Plexiglas, acrylic, burnt cork, 90 x 75 in. © Sanford Biggers
Big Dada, 2018. Antique quilt, birch plywood, gold leaf, 66 x 96 x 7 in. © Sanford Biggers and Monique Meloche Gallery
Harlequin, 2017. Antique quilt, birch plywood, gold leaf, 48 x 17 x 22 in. © Sanford Biggers
Nonsuch, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, oil stick, pastel, Aquaphalt, 68 × 80 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Massimo De Carlo
Quilt 10, 2012. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, 71 x 86 in. © Sanford Biggers and Monique Meloche Gallery. Photo: Alessandro Zambianchi
Quilt 11, 2012. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, cotton, graphite, 66 x 83 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 15 (Harmonics 2), 2012, Antique quilt, acrylic, spray paint, 79.5 x 80.72 in. © Sanford Biggers and Paula Cooper Gallery
Quilt 17 (Sugar, Pork, Bourbon), 2013. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint and silkscreen on muslin, 71 1/3 x 79 1/6 in. © Sanford Biggers
Quilt 2, UGRR: US2.2, 2009. Antique quilt, oil stick, pastel, charcoal, silkscreen on muslin, 90 x 80 in. © Sanford Biggers and Michael Klein Arts
Quilt 25 (Tsunami Mami), 2013, Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, spray paint, 79 x 94 in. © Sanford Biggers and Monique Meloche Gallery
Quilt 29 (Dark Star), 2013. Antique quilt, acrylic, spray paint, Mylar, 68.5 x 77 in. © Sanford Biggers and Eric Firestone Gallery
Somethin’ Close to Nothin’, 2019. Antique quilt, aqua-resin, charcoal, 85 x 72 in. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo Gallery
Sueño Errático, 2014. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, spray paint, oil stick, tar, 85 x 85 in. © Sanford Biggers and Alex Friedman
Transition, 2018. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, acrylic, oil stick, sequins, 80 x 67 in. © Sanford Biggers and Alex Friedman
Venusian Strut, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, gold leaf, acrylic, Aquaphalt, 80 x 66 in. Courtesy of the artist and Massimo De Carlo
Yo-Yo, 2019. Antique quilt, assorted textiles, archival paper, birch plywood, 14.25 x 23.75 x 14.25 in. © Sanford Biggers
Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch, exhibition catalogue edited by Andrea Andersson and Antonio Sergio Bessa, Yale University Press, 2020
Mother Patchwerk, a digital publication by John Jennings for Sanford Biggers’s exhibition Codeswitch, published by Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought
Sanford Biggers: A Fractal Approach, a digital navigation of Biggers’ quilts produced by Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought
Codex as Index
Reviews and Press
“Sanford Biggers Cracks the Code of Quilts”
By Natalie Weis
Hyperallergic.com
June 19, 2022
“New Layers of Meaning: In Conversation with Sanford Biggers”
By Natalie Weis
Burnaway.org
April 7, 2022
“Do you see the smile? Why Sanford Biggers’ paintings will put one on your face”
By Christopher Knight
LA Times
August 10, 2021
“Sanford Biggers Returns to California With a Homespun Medium”
By Allison Berg
Cultured
July 29, 2021
“Dubious Origins: A Conversation with Sanford Biggers”
By Jan Garden Castro
Sculpture Magazine
May 4, 2021
“History Remixed: An Interview with Sanford Biggers”
By Paul Laster
Art & Object
January 12, 2021
“Top Ten Shows in the US of 2020”
By Terence Trouillot
Frieze
December 9, 2020
“Code-Switching in Art and Craft: Sanford Biggers in Conversation with Diedrick Brackens”
Interview Magazine
October 27, 2020
“25 Shows To See Across the US”
By Sarah Cascone & Caroline Goldstein
Artnet
September 18, 2020
“First Survey of Sanford Biggers’ Quilts on View at Bronx Museum”
By Kristen Tauer
Women’s Wear Daily
Published September 10, 2020
“Sanford Biggers is Weaving New Narratives into American History”
By Harriet Lloyd Smith
Wallpaper
Published September 10, 2020
“Sanford Biggers/The Interplay of Narrative and Linguistics”
By Joshen Mantai
Flaunt
Published September 9, 2020
“Sanford Biggers show will highlight the unlikely role played by quilts in helping slaves flee to free states:
Retrospective at the Bronx Museum in New York will also include the artist’s mandala pieces”
By Gabriella Angeleti
The Art Newspaper
Publisher September 8, 2020
“In His New Works, Sanford Biggers Finds a Future Ethnography”
By Seph Rodney
Hyperallergic
Published September 8, 2020
“Sanford Biggers’ Quilts Carry Secret Messages”
By Amy Crawford
Smithsonian Magazine
September 2020
“Cracking Codes With Sanford Biggers”
By Siddhartha Mitter
The New York Times
Published Aug. 14, 2020, Updated Aug. 20, 2020