More Lessons from the Folk

On Monday I began looking at some of the folk/outsider/untrained artists’ work at the Tubman Museum in Macon, GA; today I have more.

Untitled (1993), J.T. “Jake” McCord

Jake McCord was a maintenance worker for the city of Thomson, GA, and — pay attention here, Lichtenbergians — “took up painting after being inspired by a television show that he watched on Saturdays.” I’d love to know which show he watched. The obvious answer is Bob Ross, but McCord’s work is more Rothko or Basquiat than Ross. At any rate, go on over to The Home Depot and buy up some acrylic house paint. Decorate your front yard with your work.

Two White Ladies Chasing a Bird That Was Bigger Than They Thought (1989), Thornton Dial

First of all, don’t you love the title? Thornton Dial didn’t even start making art until he retired from building boxcars for the Pullman Standard factory in Bessemer, AL, and if you didn’t know that fact, you would assume the artist got an MFA in painting from some conservatory. Great quote from him: “Art ain’t about paint. It ain’t about canvas. It’s about ideas. Too many died without ever getting their mind out of the world. I have found how to get my ideas out and I won’t stop. I got ten thousand left.” Perfect.

Untitled (Jesus with Crown of Thorns) (1993), Vincent L. Hall

Is this not beautiful? I love most folk art for its unpolished quality, the very fact of its existence due to the artist’s desire to Make the Thing That Is Not rather than their skill or training, but this piece is exquisitely executed. And did you notice…?

Untitled, Vincent L. Hall, detail

HE MADE THESE OUT OF MILK JUGS, PEOPLE. Any excuses you make about not being able to afford “REAL ART SUPPLIES” are pitiful. Make stuff out of other stuff.

This piece really took me aback:

Untitled (Janus Head Figure), Mr. Imagination

Untitled here is one of those pieces that put the lie to the idea that outsider art is by definition unsophisticated. Mr. Imagination, born Gregory Warmack, was self-trained as an artist, but it is obvious that he knew exactly what he was doing every step of this piece. The references to African masks, the use of discarded items from our industrial society, the use of traditional organic materials, and even the use of rope-like strands of bottle caps — all point to a mind that was consciously creating Art with a capital A.

Yes, this untitled Janus figure has a rear view:

Here’s my point: None of these people went to art school. None of them took art classes. They were “self-trained,” as the exhibit has it, and yet they made art that now hangs in museums and collections worldwide. (Some even became professional artists.) From the primitive aspects of the work of Jake McCord or Jimmy Sudduth to the extremely sophisticated pieces of Mr. Imagination or Thornton Dial, they all show you that the only thing keeping you from making art, from “getting the ideas out of your head,” is your unwillingness to risk failure.

Nothing else matters: Not your income, your workspace, your training, or your skill. The only thing stopping you from creating art is your fear of failure.

ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS. Get started.