Mary Lee Bendolph quilts on exhibition in Gee’s Bend gallery

Marking the first major artist spotlight exhibition at the River Gallery in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, Just Look Where He Brought Me From: The Family Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph is now on view through July 2025. Curated by Souls Grown Deep in collaboration with the Bendolph family, this exhibition brings together quilts, intaglio prints, archival images, and multimedia storytelling to reveal the richness of Bendolph’s practice and her family’s artistic traditions.

While Mary Lee Bendolph’s works have been exhibited at leading museums around the world from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to the Royal Academy of Arts and Tate Modern in London, Just Look Where He Brought Me From features quilts and art prints—some of which have never been on public view—in a uniquely personal presentation that illuminates Bendolph’s artistry and influence against the backdrop of her lifelong creative community.

Mary Lee Bendolph was born in Gee’s Bend in 1935, the daughter of farmer Wisdom Mosely, Sr. and quiltmaker, farmer, and community healer Aolar Mosely. Bendolph was surrounded by the rich tradition of quiltmaking from a young age and crafted her first quilt at 12 out of old clothes and feed and fertilizer sacks.

Bendolph has since created 150 more quilts throughout her lifetime, gaining international recognition for her distinctive style—characterized by striking patterns, vivid color palettes, and dynamic asymmetry—which has influenced the evolution of contemporary quiltmaking and textile art while promoting the Gee’s Bend quilt tradition worldwide. Despite now having access to any materials she desires, she continues to prefer reusing leftover fabrics, a practice rooted in her mother’s teachings which she has passed down to her daughter.

Just Look Where He Brought Me From presents works by Bendolph in conversation with quilts made by her mother, Aolar Mosely, and her daughter, Essie Bendolph Pettway; the thematic journey is driven by Bendolph’s own words, with quotes by the artist throughout, interwoven with archival images and a documentary produced by her son Rubin Bendolph, Jr., called “Out of the Darkness and Into the Light.” The exhibition features three of Bendolph’s original quilts, image reproductions of 17 others—some of which have never been publicly displayed—and a selection of limited-edition intaglio prints that she created in 2005 as a resident artist at Paulson Fontaine Press in Berkeley, California, expanding her multimedia practice.

Showcasing the family’s living and evolving traditions, a section of the exhibition curated by Rubin and Essie includes a work-in-progress quilt that will be completed over the course of the exhibition.

“This exhibition highlights the significance of passing down aesthetic knowledge and skills from one generation to the next, and unveils Bendolph’s artistic intentions and visual vocabulary behind the seemingly abstract work,” Raina Lampkins-Fielder, curator of Souls Grown Deep, said. “We are grateful to have had the opportunity to curate this exhibition in partnership with Mary Lee and her children Rubin and Essie, whose input has made Just Look Where He Brought Me From an exhibition of powerful multigenerational storytelling.”

Located in the Gee’s Bend Welcome Center, the River Gallery presents year-round exhibitions curated by Souls Grown Deep that explore the history and artistic heritage of Gee’s Bend. The gallery opened in 2022 as part of SGD’s ongoing efforts to expand cultural tourism in the region and advance economic empowerment for artists, creating new opportunities for visitors to learn about the Bend, engage with the quilting tradition, and support the community directly. Other initiatives supported by SGD include the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail, a self-guided tour showcasing significant quilts, their makers, and sites around the area; the annual Airing of the Quilts Festival, where visitors can celebrate and purchase the quilters’ work directly; and the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, a quilter-led museum and cultural center celebrating the civil and labor rights history of Gee’s Bend that aims to further expand the area’s community infrastructure with dining, lodging, studio space, workshops, and events.

“Through our exhibitions and programs, we seek not only to promote art world recognition for essential American artists whose impact has for too long been overlooked, but also to see that recognition reflected in material benefits to artists and their communities,” Maxwell L. Anderson, president of Souls Grown Deep, said. “The first major artist spotlight at the River Gallery marks an exciting next chapter in our work to bridge the gap between museum spaces and the artistic traditions they showcase, encouraging all to visit and support the Gee’s Bend community.”

To learn more about the exhibition, please visit geesbend.org/river-gallery.

About Souls Grown Deep

Souls Grown Deep (SGD) advocates the artistic recognition and empowerment of Black artists from the American South, promoting visibility, scholarship, and education about their contributions to art history and fostering economic development and racial and social justice in their communities. Founded in 2010, the organization derives its name from a 1921 poem by Langston Hughes (1901-67) titled The Negro Speaks of Rivers, the last line of which is “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

Souls Grown Deep stewards the foremost collection of works by Black artists from the Southern United States, and advances recognition for artists through collection transfers, research, loans, exhibitions, education, public programs, and publications. More than 500 works from SGD’s collection have been acquired by over 40 museums in the U.S. and around the globe, creating new opportunities for public access and scholarship. A leading voice for equitable practices in the art world, SGD works collaboratively with artists and communities to advance their stated needs and goals through support for the creative economy, intellectual property rights, fair compensation models, economic and political empowerment, and values-aligned investing.

For more information, please visit soulsgrowndeep.org.