Pace Gallery in New York City is presenting STITCHED, a landmark exhibition of works by Sam Gilliam, offering new insight into a pivotal moment in the artist’s practice. Bringing together a rarely seen body of work from 1993, the show foregrounds Gilliam’s experimental approach to material, process, and spatial form.
A residency shaped by constraint and innovation
Sam Gilliam’s STITCHED exhibition at Pace Gallery in New York presents a remarkable body of work created during his 1993 residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland. This landmark exhibition marks the US debut of this unique body of work, as the series was born from a shipping crisis when his highly flammable petroleum-based paints were barred from overseas transport.
As a result, Gilliam adapted his process in response to logistical limitations. Rather than abandoning the project, he stained large canvases in his Washington, D.C. studio, folded them, and transported them as raw material. Consequently, the constraints of travel became a catalyst for a new mode of production that blurred boundaries between painting, textile, and sculpture.
Stitching painting into three-dimensional form
Upon arriving in Ireland, Gilliam extended this experimental approach through collaboration. Gilliam innovated by staining monumental canvases in his Washington, D.C. studio, folding them, and shipping them to Ireland to be used as raw material. Once on site, he collaborated with a local seamstress to cut and sew these pre-painted fabrics into dynamic, three-dimensional compositions.
Therefore, the resulting works challenge conventional definitions of painting as a flat surface. Instead, they occupy space with a sculptural presence, emphasizing movement, color, and structure. At Pace, audiences encounter both the stitched wall works and previously unseen hanging forms, including volumetric, balloon-like sculptures. In addition, several of these pieces are being shown publicly for the first time, expanding the historical understanding of Gilliam’s practice.
Expanding abstraction through material and process
These works highlight Gilliam’s ability to transform limitations into opportunities, producing vibrant compositions of colliding geometries and colors that resist easy categorization. Moreover, they reflect a broader trajectory within his career, where experimentation with draped canvases and unconventional supports redefined postwar abstraction.
By integrating stitching, folding, and suspension, Gilliam extends painting into an architectural and performative dimension. Consequently, STITCHED situates his work within ongoing dialogues around material innovation and cross-disciplinary practice in contemporary art.
Sam Gilliam’s STITCHED exhibition is currently on view at Pace in New York until April 25, 2026.