American Folk Art Museum Presents
Vision and Vernacular: Eight African American Artists in Venice
Four Self-Taught Visionaries: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson
American culture, values and spirituality cannot fully be understood without looking into the mirror of the black experience. Not only have the unique contributions of African Americans enriched American cultural life, but black artists have played a vital role in distinguishing our culture throughout the world. Indeed the black experience is so interwoven in our larger culture that it defines much of what the world perceives today as American.
African American culture has deep roots in both ancient Africa’s visual traditions and heritage, and in the suffering inflicted through slavery and segregation in the Americas. The Yoruba principle of self-realization, àshe honors the link between people, ancestors and gods. Within its hierarchy, creative people are not called artists but are descended from gods as kings, chiefs, diviners, witch doctors, shamans and priests. They have the power to heal and to mediate between the divine and the human through the worship of ancestors. The other abiding principle, iwa respects tradition, generosity and character over beauty, and is visually manifested in balance and symmetry. These fundamental African values of right living have enabled African Americans to endure great hardship that has strengthened their spirit.
This gift of profound insight is embodied in the art of four virtuoso Self-taught artists: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Charlie Lucas (Tin Man), and Kevin Sampson. Born in the mid 20th century, they grew up during the Civil Rights era and experienced racial discrimination. Lacking opportunities, education, and artist role models, these men became artists against great odds given their social and economic circumstances. Each one has acknowledged that divine intervention played an essential role in showing them the way. With the conviction of their African legacy, they began making art that honored their ancestors as an antidote to death and private grief. To witness Kevin Sampson’s shrines to deceased friends and relatives; the ancestor thrones of Lonnie Holley and Mr. Imagination; and Charlie Lucas’ metal sculptures that honor his grandparents by their material and method is seeing through the eyes of the artists’ ancestors. Art is their testament to memory, healing and ultimately spiritual renewal.
Viewing themselves as caretakers of the earth, they make art from harvesting the overflowing debris of contemporary civilization, preserving the rescued materials to teach future generations. Out of the enormous variety of free materials ready to be recycled, the artists choose the ones that show an inner potential which they can instill with new purpose and meaning. The processes of assemblage, construction and found object sculpture allow their restless minds many expressions ranging from seriousness to playfulness. Open to the spirit of imagination and with a desire to entertain, these artists build immersive, layered environments in their yards and inside their homes that need to be experienced to understand the artist’s oeuvre.
Although they share similar artistic values, each artist has developed an individual style clearly seen in their Fondaco dei Tedeschi installations. Lonnie Holley and Charlie Lucas have created smaller versions of their Alabama environments. Lonnie Holley approaches his material from improvisation resulting in sculpture distinguished for its elegant restraint, austerity and unexpected wit. From Earth the Mother to the Black Mother and Back Again, Holley acknowledges that “we take all this stuff from Mother Earth and throw it right back at her and she recycles it again. The earth recycles all our junk, trash and debris.” Charlie Lucas also improvises when he welds his scrap metal into sculptures of giants, dinosaurs, animals and people existing in a temporary environment titled Struggling with the Ancestors. “The idea is to show peoples coming together in harmony.” I want to share my vision of “working within the spirit and of living inside my art.” Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) is renowned for making cheerful bottle cap covered sculpture, furniture and clothing. He also has a thriving public art career building organic-shaped, densely embedded structures like Mr. Imagination’s Arch of Unity. “The statue of me standing under the arch is symbolic of pulling together with the people who donated personal items that I embedded into the arch.” A biting socio-political commentary on the current U.S. political situation, Kevin Sampson’s U.S.S. Palin is “another vessel, part boat, part auto that symbolizes the difficult and complicated times that my country has gone and is going through. This vessel focuses on the presence of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America and the resurgence of far right wing political activists.”
That Self-taught African American artists Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas and Kevin Sampson are exhibiting during the 54th Venice Biennale, positions them within the wider context of the international contemporary art world. Practicing assemblage, found object sculpture and installation, their creations invite comparisons to contemporary art practices that began at the beginning of the 20th century when Picasso and Braque, inspired by African art, began to use found objects in their work. Their ideas were further developed by many artists including Tinguely, Arman, Beuys, Rauschenberg, and continue to be expanded today by Willie Cole, David Hammons and many others. Regular use of recycled materials puts them at the heart of the Eco Art movement, and Kevin Sampson’s sculptures, loaded with political and social commentary, places him in a long line of U.S. sociopolitical artists. As boundaries break down between self-taught and formally educated artists, we celebrate the achievements of these four, who emerged from the depths of personal despair to make valuable contributions to the American visual experience.
American Folk Art Museum Presents
Vision and Vernacular: Eight African American Artists in Venice
Four Self-Taught Visionaries: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson
American culture, values and spirituality cannot fully be understood without looking into the mirror of the black experience. Not only have the unique contributions of African Americans enriched American cultural life, but black artists have played a vital role in distinguishing our culture throughout the world. Indeed the black experience is so interwoven in our larger culture that it defines much of what the world perceives today as American.
African American culture has deep roots in both ancient Africa’s visual traditions and heritage, and in the suffering inflicted through slavery and segregation in the Americas. The Yoruba principle of self-realization, àshe honors the link between people, ancestors and gods. Within its hierarchy, creative people are not called artists but are descended from gods as kings, chiefs, diviners, witch doctors, shamans and priests. They have the power to heal and to mediate between the divine and the human through the worship of ancestors. The other abiding principle, iwa respects tradition, generosity and character over beauty, and is visually manifested in balance and symmetry. These fundamental African values of right living have enabled African Americans to endure great hardship that has strengthened their spirit.
This gift of profound insight is embodied in the art of four virtuoso Self-taught artists: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Charlie Lucas (Tin Man), and Kevin Sampson. Born in the mid 20th century, they grew up during the Civil Rights era and experienced racial discrimination. Lacking opportunities, education, and artist role models, these men became artists against great odds given their social and economic circumstances. Each one has acknowledged that divine intervention played an essential role in showing them the way. With the conviction of their African legacy, they began making art that honored their ancestors as an antidote to death and private grief. To witness Kevin Sampson’s shrines to deceased friends and relatives; the ancestor thrones of Lonnie Holley and Mr. Imagination; and Charlie Lucas’ metal sculptures that honor his grandparents by their material and method is seeing through the eyes of the artists’ ancestors. Art is their testament to memory, healing and ultimately spiritual renewal.
Viewing themselves as caretakers of the earth, they make art from harvesting the overflowing debris of contemporary civilization, preserving the rescued materials to teach future generations. Out of the enormous variety of free materials ready to be recycled, the artists choose the ones that show an inner potential which they can instill with new purpose and meaning. The processes of assemblage, construction and found object sculpture allow their restless minds many expressions ranging from seriousness to playfulness. Open to the spirit of imagination and with a desire to entertain, these artists build immersive, layered environments in their yards and inside their homes that need to be experienced to understand the artist’s oeuvre.
Although they share similar artistic values, each artist has developed an individual style clearly seen in their Fondaco dei Tedeschi installations. Lonnie Holley and Charlie Lucas have created smaller versions of their Alabama environments. Lonnie Holley approaches his material from improvisation resulting in sculpture distinguished for its elegant restraint, austerity and unexpected wit. From Earth the Mother to the Black Mother and Back Again, Holley acknowledges that “we take all this stuff from Mother Earth and throw it right back at her and she recycles it again. The earth recycles all our junk, trash and debris.” Charlie Lucas also improvises when he welds his scrap metal into sculptures of giants, dinosaurs, animals and people existing in a temporary environment titled Struggling with the Ancestors. “The idea is to show peoples coming together in harmony.” I want to share my vision of “working within the spirit and of living inside my art.” Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) is renowned for making cheerful bottle cap covered sculpture, furniture and clothing. He also has a thriving public art career building organic-shaped, densely embedded structures like Mr. Imagination’s Arch of Unity. “The statue of me standing under the arch is symbolic of pulling together with the people who donated personal items that I embedded into the arch.” A biting socio-political commentary on the current U.S. political situation, Kevin Sampson’s U.S.S. Palin is “another vessel, part boat, part auto that symbolizes the difficult and complicated times that my country has gone and is going through. This vessel focuses on the presence of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America and the resurgence of far right wing political activists.”
That Self-taught African American artists Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas and Kevin Sampson are exhibiting during the 54th Venice Biennale, positions them within the wider context of the international contemporary art world. Practicing assemblage, found object sculpture and installation, their creations invite comparisons to contemporary art practices that began at the beginning of the 20th century when Picasso and Braque, inspired by African art, began to use found objects in their work. Their ideas were further developed by many artists including Tinguely, Arman, Beuys, Rauschenberg, and continue to be expanded today by Willie Cole, David Hammons and many others. Regular use of recycled materials puts them at the heart of the Eco Art movement, and Kevin Sampson’s sculptures, loaded with political and social commentary, places him in a long line of U.S. sociopolitical artists. As boundaries break down between self-taught and formally educated artists, we celebrate the achievements of these four, who emerged from the depths of personal despair to make valuable contributions to the American visual experience.