Race in America: Giving Voice with Bisa Butler

Bisa Butler is a textile artist known for her large and vibrant quilted portraits celebrating Black life. She has also portrayed historical and contemporary figures from Harriet Tubman to Chadwick Boseman. Join Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin Givhan for a conversation with Butler about her latest work depicting an all-Black segregated infantry division during World War I and reckoning with history through art.

Highlights

“When I looked at that title, ‘The Harlem Hellfighters,’ and that’s such an audacious title… Just by the name and looking at the faces of the young men, I realized that this was a huge story that I had completely missed.” – Bisa Butler (Video: Washington Post Live)

“I’m using the color not only reflect my upbringing at Howard University and my philosophy as far as having an African American color palette, but I’m also using color to express who I think these men are on the inside.” – Bisa Butler (Video: Washington Post Live)

"If by me creating a piece of artwork that lets you see the humanity of a person, the soul of a person and feel that this person in the artwork is valuable therefore the person that I am passing on the street is valuable, then that is what I can contribute." – Bisa Butler (Video: Washington Post Live)

Bisa Butler

Artist