Envisioning Howard Finster: The Religion and Art of a Stranger from Another World, by Norman J. Girardot, University of California Press, 304 pages, 16 color plates and 20 b/w illustrations, 2015. ISBN 978-0520261105. Paperback, $29.95 The prolific southern visionary Howard Finster was something of an enigma. How much of his colorful output was a matter of vision vs. showmanship? How important are his paintings vs. his Paradise Garden environment? Crazy, or crazy like a fox? The flood of work (some 46,000 numbered pieces, nearly all with spiritual messages) and his loquacious sermonizing raise another key question: Are we obligated to
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Tour the Lakefront Stone Carvings: Oct. 11
Chicago is home to the greatest collection of outdoor stone carvings in urban America. Generations of beach-going carvers whiling away the hours left their marks on huge limestone blocks installed during the Depression to improve and protect the city’s park-lined lakefront. Many of these anonymous carvings have been destroyed as part of more recent anti-erosion projects. But the stretch of shoreline between Bryn Mawr and Montrose Avenues still boasts dozens of these small wonders — animals, bathing beauties, presidents, deities, buildings and, of course, initials, names and eternal professions of love. It’s the best public art that no one sees. They’re
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RIP Ionel Talpazan, UFO Artist
It was sad to hear of the death of Ionel Talpazan, the fabulous Romanian artist who created a world of UFOs in his paintings, drawings and sculpture. Read his New York Times obituary
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The Stanley Szwarc Boxes
Stanley Szwarc (1928-2011) was a prolific artist, and boxes were his most frequent creation. There are thousands of these floating around the Chicago area, ranging from tiny ones barely a couple of inches wide to bruisers that could take up the corner of a desk. In his basement were closets and trunks filled with layers of boxes stacked up and divided by sheets of cardboard. “No two alike,” he would always say. As with all his work, the ornamentation is brilliantly creative. Recently acquired early work Visit the Stanley Szwarc visionary cross gallery Visit the Stanley Szwarc portrait gallery View Stanley Szwarc’s vases Stanley
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Stanley Szwarc’s Visionary Vases
Vases by Stanley Szwarc, master of stainless steel, who died in 2011. Stanley complained that his vases took too much effort to make, but he kept creating them nonetheless. They are among his most elegant works. Recently acquired early work Visit the Stanley Szwarc visionary cross gallery Visit the Stanley Szwarc portrait gallery The Stanley Szwarc boxes Stanley Szwarc in color 2016 show at Intuit in Chicago Read The Stanley Szwarc story
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Stanley Szwarc Portrait Gallery
Stanley Szwarc’s most typical creations are marvels of decoration, stainless steel boxes lathered in abstract ornamentation. But he also applied his geometric talent to creating faces, some ominous, some cartoony, some robotic, and some quite dressy. When the book keeper turned metal worker took up representational imagery, his imagination was stunning. Recently acquired early work Visit the Stanley Szwarc visionary cross gallery View Stanley Szwarc’s vases The Stanley Szwarc boxes Stanley Szwarc in color 2016 show at Intuit in Chicago Read The Stanley Szwarc story Invalid Displayed Gallery
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Stanley Szwarc’s Visionary Cross Purposes
Stanley Szwarc (1928-2011), a Polish book keeper turned metal worker and then artist after arriving in the United States, gave no indication of being particularly religious, but he did like making crosses. A prolific creator of objects from scrap stainless steel, always demonstrating over-the-top imagination, Szwarc made hundreds of crosses, if not thousands. He produced jewelry, he made crosses to be hung on the wall, and he crafted cruciform objects with no apparent use other than to be carriers of his endless combinations of geometric shapes. Szwarc liked to say that no two of his objects, be they crosses, vases, key fobs or boxes, were alike. The evidence plainly supports that contention while demonstrating a virtuosic artistic vision
Continue readingB.F. Perkins and Jimmy Lee Sudduth
Two fine artists: B.F. Perkins and Jimmy Lee Sudduth at Perkins’ environment in Bankston, Alabama. Sudduth gave me this Polaroid in 1990 or thereabouts, along with directions to Perkins’ place. Sudduth was a genius with mud. Perkins’ environment was continuous with his art. He repeated himself, but his best themes, like the “Cherokee Lovebirds,” were quite nice.
Continue readingVivian Maier: A Framing Narrative
With Maier, like Henry Darger, it’s hard to separate the work from the story What does it take to be a successful artist? More often than not: 1. Exceptional talent 2. Obsessive production 3. Savvy promotion 4. Great luck Vivian Maier, the “nanny photographer,” eventually checked all these boxes, even if
Continue readingBook Review: Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments
Jo Farb Hernandez’s study of Spanish art environments is so epic that even a large-format volume of nearly 600 pages can’t get the job done, so a bonus CD adds thousands more thumbnail pictures and hundreds more pages of text. If creating a world-class art environment requires obsessive devotion, Hernandez is a match for the creators she studies. Her devotion demonstrates Spain is a match for the rest of the world, even if its environments have not received the same attention as the great sites in France or Wisconsin.
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