Sunday, June 9, 2013

Sunday Pick: Bill Traylor







Yesterday, I went to see the Outsider Art show at the Museum.  I had heard good things and was not disappointed.  The show is organized well and felt just the right size -- each artist had a small alcove that held their work, so each artist's individual vision (which was so different and poignant from one to the next) could be engaged with.  

There were quite a few artists whose work I responded to -- but I have loved Bill Traylor's drawings for a long time and seeing them in person was a treat.  The piece at the top and its inky blue washes and tension at the top was exquisite.  Traylor apparently started drawing suddenly in his mid -eighties and made many drawings.  He was born a slave and remained on that land as a farmhand most of his life.  

Contemplating each artists' daily life (of which many were extremely interesting and bordering on bizarre) and the notion that they made work purely for themselves, with no intention of showing it or selling it kept popping into my mind.  The human urge to make things and how varied that expression can be was incredibly present.  More on Traylor and this show can be seen here.

1 comments:

Peggi Kroll-Roberts said...

Saw the work also. So original. Loved it!

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