Overlap

Name/Title

Overlap

Entry/Object ID

2016.150

Description

a brown base multi-colored quilt

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum, gift of Jerrold and Madelyn Seckler

Made/Created

Artist

Ramberg, Christina

Date made

1985 - 1986

Ethnography

Notes

North America United States

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Location

bottom left corner

Transcription

Ramberg

Notes

Inscription Type: brown thread

Lexicon

Legacy Lexicon

Class

DECORATIVE ARTS

Dimensions

Dimension Description

3D

Width

70 in

Length

84 in

Exhibition

DPAM Collects: Happy Little Trees and Other Recent Acquisitions

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Christina Ramberg (American, 1946 – 1995) Overlap, 1985-86 Wool and cotton Collection of DePaul Art Museum, gift of Jerrold and Madelyn Seckler 2016.150 Christina Ramberg was one of the few women included in the Chicago Imagists, a group of artists whose representational work was influenced by Surrealism, reference comics, and popular culture. She is best known for her impeccably detailed paintings of sexualized objects, from women in garter belts and bodices, to curvilinear urns and silky-smooth locks of hair. Ramberg started quilting in the 1970s during a period of “painter’s block” in her work. Quite different from her painting, the quilts featured bold colors and loose patterning. She specifically sites African-American quilts from the south as influences. “They’re the equivalent of jazz...they break the rules, and the result is some of the most exuberant things you’ve ever seen. Making these quilts taught me that you can do what you want, you don’t have to control everything.” Stigmatized by critics as a strictly “female” or “craft practice,” Ramberg’s quilts were rarely exhibited. Today, however, quilting has exploded in popularity, with museums across the world adding exquisite examples to their collections.