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Basil Kincaid, a multi-genre artist from St. Louis, Mo., known for his quilted artwork, was one of three artists selected for the 2024 Great Rivers Biennial Art Award. The winners received $20,000 and are highlighted in the exhibit “Great Rivers Biennial 2024” at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, which runs until Feb. 9, 2025.
Kincaid’s quilts feature a hodgepodge of different colors and textures depicting scenes or abstract objects. They are made from fabrics given to Kincaid, such as shirts, bedsheets and curtains as well as locally sourced fabrics and handwoven Ashanti kente cloth from Ghana. His methods include patchwork, applique, embroidery and beading.
Quilting is a long-established practice on both sides of Kincaid’s family, dating back more than seven generations. He pays homage to his heritage through his artistic practice.
“Quilting, within the black cultural tradition, has always served as a revolutionary space of joy, courage,” reads his website. “It’s a way to honor my predecessors while addressing the questions and concerns of where I am—we are—today. It’s a way toward restoring and reconstructing with the resourcefulness born within us.”
Kincaid’s quilted pieces in the exhibit include Loose Frequencies, You Can’t Get to It Without Giving to It, Within This Seed Is the Gift of a Thousand Forests and Warm in My Arms Around Me.
In 2021, he became a United States Artist Fellow and joined the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection in Washington, D.C. He currently resides in Klagon, Ghana.
“Great Rivers Biennial 2024” also featured artwork by Saj Issa and Ronald Young. The Great Rivers Biennial Art Award is a collaborative initiative between Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and the Gateway Foundation, a St. Louis-based nonprofit dedicated to funding emerging artists in the greater St. Louis region.