Exhibit Review: Painted Bride “TEXTILE FOR REMEMBRING”
I recently had a chance to visit the Painted Bride Project space to view Textiles for Remembering, which first opened on January 7th of this year. The concept of the exhibition captured my attention because it showcased two artists I have long admired. Richie Lopez and DeJeonge Reese, both based in Philadelphia, utilize fabrics as their medium to illustrate what memories appear like through every stitch in their creations.
DeJeonge Reese Tignon Law, 2024
As I entered the quaint gallery space, located in West Philly, the first thing that caught my eye was a large tapestry featuring head scarf pieces, bonnets, hair wraps, and other forms of protection used to cover Black women's hairstyle. When viewing this piece I instantly was hit with nostalgia of getting my hair done as a child (before my big chop) and knowing the values of protecting our crowns, whether it was locs, curls or braids. Like the large tapestry work entitled, “Tignon Law”, 2024, DeJeonge Reese work showcases the beauty in Black women’s hair rituals of protection and identity. Through cloth collages using colorful and bold printed hair scarves, hair beads, accessories and synthetic hair, they have the ability to quilt beautiful imagery celebrating Black women’s resistance and innovation while showcasing the cultural relevance of Black hair styles and protection rituals dating back to our ancestors.
On the other hand, Richie Lopez's work is a testament that a home is not just a place to live but a space for creating memories and reflection. When looking at his work which featured a lot of found objects, materials like straw, wool, linen and silk paper, the imagery provoked a sense of intimacy as we learn more about the artist's upbringing and his struggles with his own identity. Using home objects ensures the work is not purely decorative but rooted in family stories and arching narratives of home — and the many meanings home has to us.
Richie Wilde Lopez
These Are Just Rags, 2025
Indigo Dyed Silk Paper, Linen on canvas
With both artists, the usage of textile and fabric is used as an archive of life we can touch and hold. The exhibition, much like the fibers it represents, highlights strength and adaptability in how we present ourselves to the world. It emphasizes that with proper care for the memories we create, these experiences can endure for a lifetime. We spend most of our lived experiences in the cloth that we wear, so it would only make sense to use them as a medium to chronicle our cultural legacy and how it has shaped us to be the people we are today.
Textiles for Remembering is now on view until April 25th, 2026, at Painted Bride Center. This exhibition was curated by Lori Waselchuk and Qiaira Riley
