1.-30. aprill 2009 Pärnu Kunstihallis (Esplanaadi 10)
Southern Folk Art and American Outsider Art Collection
Pidulik esitlus ja kuraator Steve Vanoni aktsioon toimub
neljapäeval, 9. aprillil kl 18.00.
Steve Vanoni (sündinud 1956) elab ja töötab Kalifornias, Sacramentos. Ta on kogunud Ameerika lõunaosariikide rahvakunsti ja USA autsaider kunsti viimased kakskümmend aastat. Tema kogus on üle paarisaja teose poolesajalt kunstnikult. Näitus kirjeldab seda kirjut kooslust videodokumentatsioonide ja originaalteoste kujul. Eksponeeritud on ka läänekalda DIY kunsti püha lehm – ikonoloogilises staatuses “art car”, mida esindab Steve Vanoni 2007. aastal Tammistu workshopi käigus valminud sõidumobiil, mis sõidutati Pärnu kesklinna sireenide huilates ja trahvikviitungite krõbisedes. See kunstivorm on Maarjamaal alles pioneeristaatuses.
Steve Vanoni on ise eelkõige maali- ja performancekunstnik, kes lõikab ka plasmalõikuriga metallist suuri objekte ja korraldab Sacramento undergroundi oma Horse Cow kommuunist, kuhu kuulub üle 15 stuudio.
Näitusel osalevad: Howard Finster, John Henry Toney, Mose Tolliver, R.A. Miller, Annie Girgich, David Olson, Dwight Mackintosh, William Thomas Thompson, Ken Brown, Norbert Kox, Ted Gordon.
Howard Finster
Howard Finster(1916 – 2002) The Reverend Howard Finster was perhaps the most famous Southern Folk artist of them all. It is said that Howard had been in more art shows then any other American artist… Howard resided in Summerville , Georgia building an amazing folk art environment known as “Paradise Garden”, as well as having created some forty thousand plus works of art; each individually numbered.
Howard used his art as a vehicle to preach the word of God. His brightly colored paintings are filled with angels, landscapes, cityscapes and portraits as well as cars, coca cola and other imagery he appropriated from our American pop culture.
Most of his works also contain writing: quotes from the scriptures; making sure to convey “the message” to you just in case you stray from “the path.” (the lord’s that is).
John Henry Toney
John Henry Toney(B. 1929) John Henry lives in a trailer on the edge of a swamp in Pittsview , Alabama . A deeply religious and prolific artist, John Henry’s artworks have become highly sought after. This year he sold out of all his works at the annual Kentuck Festival. He draws men and women of a rather dubious nature, mostly using paint pens on paper. His use of line and color is simple and bright. He embellishes the figures, making them somewhat decorative.
Mose Tolliver
Mose Tolliver(B. 1919) Mose began painting in the 1960’s following a tragic accident. Mose taught himself how to paint after his former employer encouraged him to give it a try. His colorful figures, animals and trees are painted in a flat, simple and direct way. In 1982, his art was included in the landmark exhibition hosted by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. : “BLACK FOLK ART.” He is one of the preeminent folk artists in America today; and has exhibited his art both nationally and internationally.
R.A. Miller
R.A. Miller (B.1912 – 2004) R.A. resided in Rabbitown , Georgia , on the land where he was born. R.A. he was a retired preacher, who created drawings, paintings, tin cut outs and whirlygigs; mostly based on religious themes. His most famous tin cut out is his “Blow Oscar.” Oscar is a cousin of his who drives by and honks his horn when he passes by R.A.’s house. He also painted devils, angels, dinosaurs, Elvis’s, flags and assorted animals. R.A. gained national notoriety back in the early 80’s when R.E.M. shot a rock video on his whirlygig filled environment. He was prolific and was often assisted in making artworks by his daughter and son.
Annie Girgich
Annie Girgich (B. 1961) One of the younger stars of the Contemporary Outsider Art World; Annie resides in the Pacific Northwest …. Former Cult member and VooDooist; Annie began drawing on the pages of her families books at home… This didn’t go over well with her folks. But years later she’s still at it: painting in books, on globes, surf boards, puzzles and just about any interesting surface that could hold a good Grgich image… Her portraits have a rich built up surface made up of layers and layers of paint/color…. Her artworks are highly sought after and are exhibited both nationally and abroad. She gets a Horse Cow High Hoof. She really doesn’t do voodoo, that I know about.
David Olson
David OlsonDavid attends an arts based adult program in Northern California. He likes to draw on both sides of the paper using primarily color pencils. He will often draw a self portrait character in his art, identified by the white cone shaped hat he wears on his head. His drawings are highly detailed and intricate. He was once represented by the Modern Primitive Gallery in New York City .
Dwight Mackintosh
Dwight Mackintosh (1906 – 1999) Dwight, known in the Outsider Art World as “The Boy who time forgot,” was born in Hayward , California . A resident of Northern California ; Dwight spent most of his life institutionalized. In 1978, Dwight settled back in the Bay Area and began attending an arts based day program for adults, where he became an active and prolific artist for the remainder of his life. Dwight’s drawings and watercolors of men and vehicles are included in the prestigious Art Brut Museum Collection in Lausanne, Switzerland. His artworks were also featured in the “Flying Free” Exhibition, and are included in the permanent collection of the National Museum of American Art. March 26, 2004 “The Eyes Have It”
William Thomas Thompson
Willam Thomas Thompson (B. 1935) William is a painter of religious imagery based out of Greeneville, South Carolina . He began his career as an artist in 1989. William was on vacation in Hawaii and attended a church service; during the sermon William suddenly had an apocalyptic vision of the Earth engulfed in flames. This inspired him to return to his friend’s house, get some art supplies and begin painting what he had witnessed. Most of William’s paintings are based on the Book of Revelations. William had never painted before or read the Book of Revelations.
Some of his most recent works are based on what he believes to be government conspiracies and corporate greed. William created two major canvases; the largest being eight feet tall by three hundred feet long, based on the Book of Revelations.
William’s artwork was featured on the cover of RAW VISION Magazine in 2001.His paintings have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. He is a prolific artist, a gentleman and is truly an artist on a mission.
Ken Brown
Ken Brown Kenny resides in Northern California , where he attends an arts based day program for adults. His colorful prismacolor drawings are inventive, intricate and highly detailed. Ken likes to create figurative artworks. His subjects are usually placed in architectural surroundings that are composed of abstracted colorful rectilinear shapes. Ken is highly religious and draws on his Christian beliefs for his subject matter: angels, crucified people, Christ, etc. He also enjoys drawing friends and his teachers at the program he attends. Former Curator for The Art Brut Museum in Lausanne , Michel Thevoz, included several drawings of Ken’s in the Collection and enjoys Ken’s art.
Norbert Kox
“Contemporary religious painter Norbert Kox is one of America’s most important Visionary artists. His selfdescribed ‘apocalyptic visual parables’ utilize powerful symbolic metaphors aiming to shake modern man from his spiritual malaise and clear away centuries worth of mistranslations of the Bible.” (Richard Metzger, Disinformation: The Interviews, p. 116).
Norbert H. Kox, born 1945, has painted in oils since 1963 and acrylic with oil since 1975. His works have been exhibited internationally (United States, The Bahamas, Australia, Germany, and England) and have appeared in the New York Outsider Art Fair every year since 1994. He has participated in more than 75 juried group exhibitions, and over a dozen solo shows since 1989. In 1999, his solo exhibit To Hell and Back, at the Neville Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, attracted national media attention with many television broadcasts. For a short time it became the “Top Story”, and remained in the news for 3.5 months. It also became the topic of several radio talk shows and was protested and picketed by fanatics. By 2003, his works were exhibited in six of the eight shows at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore (since its opening in 1995). AVAM is number four on the list of the top 25 museums in America.
His artworks and writings promote research into religious traditions and spiritual matters. Kox’s Apocalyptic Visual Parables present a prophetic revelation, or apocalypse of the end times. They expose falsehoods and reveal facts, while denouncing idolatry and hypocrisy as sins of organized religion: much of modern Christianity has become the religion of Antichrist. Many of the works contain his own poetry and writings, along with Bible verses and Bible Codes (the “Torah Code”) written within the work for reference.