Amish art brightens Fowler

By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Contributor

Deep greens, bright reds, lively pinks and vibrant yellows
pulsate, reaching across a bold sea of solid blue. The intense
colors and unique geometric shapes filling the walls of Fowler’s
gallery, contrast the simple, humble and pragmatic lives of their
makers.

"A Quiet Spirit: Amish quilts from the collection of Cindy
Tietze and Stuart Hodosh," which opened Sunday at the UCLA Fowler
Museum, is a selection of 50 Amish quilts dating from the 1880s to
the 1940s. "Views of an Amish Community: Photographs by Susan
Einstein" accompanies the exhibition which was developed by
director Doran H. Ross, director of education Betsy D. Quick and
exhibition designer David Mayo.

Mayo explains that because of the quilts’ striking visual
elements the museum replaced the traditional chronological order
with a more visually-based organization. The quilts, filled with
vibrant colors and distinct shapes, are arranged in a way that is
more eye-pleasing than organized.

The majority of the quilts are composed of solid patterns of
rich color.

In fact, it is the vivid colors and abstract designs that
distinguish Amish quilting from other quilting traditions.

Photographer Einstein adds, "What makes the Amish quilts
distinctive is that they are only allowed to use plain colors. They
are not allowed to use prints. Little, tiny, flowery print softens
the entire thing. When you use solid colors, real contrasting
colors, it gets a really bold graphic look right away."

The combinations of rich colors with interesting patterns create
bold works with uniquely modern looks. "The resemblance to
contemporary painting is pretty apparent. I find it fascinating,"
Mayo says.

"These are terrific compositions, pure aesthetics, pure designs.
The sense of proportions and color interaction as well as the
textural qualities that they add are brilliant," he says.

Brilliance of colors and boldness of shapes seem to contradict
the collection’s title, "A Quiet Spirit."

Surprisingly, the name, which comes from an Amish hymn, suits
the collection in many ways. Mayo says that, when selecting the
title, they wanted to be sensitive to the Amish perspective of not
drawing attention to themselves. Yet, they also wanted to address
the contemporary nature of the quilts. "We wanted to convey the
fact that these are very spirited pieces. At the same time, it
ís done so quietly by the people," Mayo says.

The lifestyle of the Amish can indeed be considered "quiet."
Their community is filled with values like obedience, humility,
simplicity, hard work and esteem for tradition. They have created a
separation from the world through plain dress, home worship, the
use of horses and mules for fieldwork and the rejection of
electricity from public utility lines. "It’s a very structured
life, really orderly and very pragmatic," says Einstein, who lived
near an Amish community for several years. "They are a very simple
people that are family and community oriented. They keep themselves
separate from the rest of our culture."

Living with Amish neighbors, Einstein learned a lot about their
community, including the fact that posing for photographs is not
allowed. "The reason I took pictures at all was because there were
such fascinating things going on around me," Einstein says.

Even though Einstein did take pictures, there were many rules
she had to follow. "I had to be extremely restricted as to what I
could and couldn’t photograph. What I am presenting is in no way a
comprehensive overview of what Amish life is like. There are a lot
of gaps, but I think it does give some kind of a flavor of it,"
says Einstein.

Although attending the exhibit may not provide students with a
full understanding of the Amish, it will clear up some
misconceptions. Einstein says that one of the most common
misconceptions of the Amish is people’s views about their communal
life.

"They are communal in the sense that they have a sense of mutual
aid. They will drop everything if one of their friends needs some
help, if someone is sick or if their barn burns down, but they have
their own independent economies. The families are economically
independent," Einstein says. Mayo agrees that viewing the quilts
will also help students to learn more about the Amish. "I think
that any student would benefit by seeing something that they’ve
only seen in movies," Mayo says.

"They’ve only seen the Amish community depicted in films as
these sort of provincial, buggy-riding group of folks that are on
the back roads. And not that they don’t drive buggies and don’t
live in rural areas, but the fact of the matter is they produce art
that would be competitive in any highly urban art environment."

EXHIBIT: "A Quiet Spirit" and "Views from an
Amish community" will be in the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural
History through Feb. 16, 1997. For more information call (310)
825-4361.