BISA BUTLER
Bisa Butler, Southside Sunday Morning, 2018. cotton, silk, and wool quilted and appliquéd. Photo by Margaret Fox. Courtesy of the artist.
RMCAD + PUBLIC EVENTS
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Through her dynamic, celebratory quilted portraits of people of African descent, Bisa Butler (b. 1973, Orange, NJ) investigates the purposes and potential of portraiture within the Black historical narrative. Butler's influences range widely from personal family scrapbooks to American folk traditions and AfriCOBRA philosophies. Although her finished works are made entirely of textiles, Butler approaches the medium from a painterly perspective. Sourcing imagery mainly from photographs, she uses layered fabrics and quilting to create unique compositions, psychological depth, and detailed textures that she found missing from her paintings. By returning to textiles, Butler has reconnected with her family's history since it was her grandmother and mother who taught her to sew.
Bisa Butler lives in South Orange, New Jersey and has a studio in Jersey City. Butler earned her BFA in painting at Howard University, Washington, D.C. in 1995 and holds a MAT in teaching art from Montclair State University, New Jersey. Her work has been exhibited widely, both domestically and internationally. In 2020, Butler had her first institutional solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Pérez Art Museum, Miami. The World Is Yours, Butler’s first solo exhibition with Jeffrey Deitch, in 2023 in New York, was enthusiastically received and attracted thousands of visitors.
ARTIST TALK
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
5:30 pm MST | Doors Open at 5:00 pm
Mary Harris Auditorium
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
1600 Pierce Street, Denver, CO 80214
Free and open to the public. Both in-person and livestreamed.
Free refreshments for in-person attendees.
Pre-event registration is highly encouraged.
PRIVATE RMCAD events
STUDENT-LED Q+A SESSION
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Location TBA
Lunch is provided
Student-Led Q + A Sessions are casual, in-person conversations open to RMCAD students, faculty, and staff. Guided by student voices, these discussions generate valuable professional advice for all students.
Students! Apply to lead the conversation HERE. The deadline to apply is Monday, March 24, 2025
Bisa Butler. People Darker Than Blue, 2024. Cotton, silk, velvet, and wool Quilted and appliquéd. Photo by Image Works. Courtesy of the artist.
exclusive student event
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Details to be announced.
Bisa Butler. The Passion of Questlove, 2023. Cotton, silk, wool, glass beads, and velvet Quilted and appliquéd. Photo by John Butler. Courtesy of the artist.
Recommendation List
VASD Program visiting artists and designers provide a recommendation list that gives insight into their work, practice, and research. Artist Bisa Butler’s list will be coming soon.