Quimetta Perle creates images of empowered women in luminous beads and reflective sequins who are of diverse races, ethnicities, and ages in the exhibition The More Things Change. Perle began using beads, sequins, and embroidery in the 1970s to make a statement about women’s traditional art materials and their beauty and visual power; in her newest work the figure is heroic, and in motion. Her works are pieces of the present moment, snapshots of our culture, which casually incorporates technology in every aspect of our lives. Process is integral to Perle’s pieces, with larger works taking hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of beads to create.
Quimetta Perle was born in Washington, DC in 1954 to an artist and a poet. Perle received her MFA in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts and her BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has had over a dozen solo shows in galleries, nonprofit spaces, and universities. In 2013, her historic work from the 1970's was featured in "The House We Built," a national show of feminist art over the last 40 years at the University of Minnesota.
She has been in numerous group shows in galleries and museums over the last 35 years. In the late 70's and early 80's, Perle was a member of WARM Gallery, a women's cooperative in Minneapolis. Perle taught at Pratt Institute in the Digital Design and Foundation Departments from 1998-2005. She oversees an arts workshop program for people with mental disabilities and the HAI Art Studio for artists with mental illness through Healing Arts Initiative in Long Island City, NY.