Race and Social Justice in Art
CHAPTER 9: Diedrick Brackens
Chapters
Diedrick Brackens: darling divined
October 17, 2020 – May 16, 2021
Diedrick Brackens constructs intricately woven textiles that speak to the complexities of Black and queer identity in the United States. Interlacing diverse traditions, including West African weaving, European tapestries, and quilting from the American south, Brackens creates cosmographic abstractions and figurative narratives that lyrically merge lived experience, commemoration, and allegory. He uses both commercial dyes and unconventional colorants such as wine, tea, and bleach, and foregrounds the loaded symbolism of materials like cotton, with its links to the transatlantic slave trade.
Brackens was born in Mexia, Texas in 1989. He received a BFA from the University of North Texas in Denton (2011) and an MFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco (2014). He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
This exhibition is organized by Margot Norton, Curator, and Francesca Altamura, Curatorial Assistant at the New Museum in New York. The Blanton presentation is organized by Veronica Roberts, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art
Feature Image Credit: Diedrick Brackens: darling divined, 2019. Exhibition view: New Museum, New York. Photo by Dario Lasagni.