Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
"Indian" Vessel
Burgess and his brother-in-law, Jock, used to spend time digging in a nearby mound and midden site, unearthing pottery sherds and various Native American utilitarian vessels. These pottery pieces were, no doubt, the influence for some of the vessels Burgess made over the years. This piece, once in the collection of Warren and Sylvia Lowe, bears stricking resemblence to documented work of the Native Americans who lived in North Eastern Mississippi some 300 - 400 years ago.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Galleries handling Dulaney's work.
Cargo Folk Art Gallery http://www.cargofolkart.com/
Webb Gallery http://www.webbartgallery.com
Yard Dog Gallery http://www.yarddog.com/
If anyone else handles these pieces, let me know, I'll be glad to post a link.
Webb Gallery http://www.webbartgallery.com
Yard Dog Gallery http://www.yarddog.com/
If anyone else handles these pieces, let me know, I'll be glad to post a link.
More
As folks started to collect Burgess's work, and as they began to visit him, it seems some tried to offer suggestions as to ways Burgess could make his work more permanent. He decided to apply Elmer's Glue as a "fixer" on some of the clay works, as can be noted in this great two-sided bust. Another collector had suggested to him that he start with wire armatures within the pieces - this was such an awful idea. Most all the pieces with wire inside them cracked horribly. Burgess seemed to know all the tricks for getting his works to look, feel and remain as he intended, and in my opinion, he should have been left alone to create exactly as he felt moved to do so.
Exhibit pics
This great standing devil was stored in a shed in Mississippi for about 10 years. The lower portion was surrounded by crumpled newspaper and the top, darker, portion was exposed to air. This clay has a high concentration of iron oxide which, over time, darkens the mud, lending a great eerie look.
Last pic I took of him.
This is the last pic I took of Burgess - he was in a wheelchair for the last year or so before he died.
Earlier pics of Burgess
Burgess working on a sculpture at his house in Fulton Mississippi. This pic was taken around 1990. After gathering the mud from the creek side behind his house, Burgess would spend hours picking through the mud to remove any impurities such as gravel, pebbles, pine straw or other debris which might cause the piece to crack. He would them form the piece by hand and when finished, he would attend to it periodically assuring no cracks formed during the drying process.
Free Dulaney Catalogues
If you would like to have a catalogue or two about the life and work of Burgess, please just let me know - I'll be more than happy to send you one or two - no charge.
nowell1@flash.net
nowell1@flash.net
Background on Burgess Dulaney
Some Bio info on Burgess -
Burgess Dulaney was born 16 December 1914 just outside Fulton Mississippi and continued to live on the family property his entire 86 years, dying there 27 June 2001. He spent his life farming simple subsistence crops and had no formal art training, no schooling and never learned to read or write.
He began to fashion clay or "mud" gathered from the local surroundings, into a seemingly unending menagerie of human busts, human-like forms, animals and fantasy creatures ranging in size from about that of a soda can to basketball size and larger. His work bears much resemblance to Pre-Columbian pottery, though Dulaney had never traveled or studied such art forms.
The unfired clay figures were mostly made of solid clay throughout, although he made some vessel-like pieces which were hollow and thin walled. Many of the pieces had marbles added for eyes, and all were dried slowly outdoors or during colder times brought inside to dry near the wood stove. Dulaney attended to the pieces meticulously during the drying period to insure any cracks in the clay would be mended allowing for amazing strong bonds in the clay.
The clay or "mud", as it was referred to by Dulaney, was dug from 3 separate pits near his home. A high concentration of iron in some of this clay, causes darkening of the clay over time, adding a great patina to the older works.
He experimented briefly with cement and concrete mix, fashioning some much taller human like forms and ghostly concrete face tablets weighing 40 -50 lbs each.
He began giving the sculptures to local merchants and friends around his home in the mid-late 1970’s which led to the discovery of his work.
Collections are held at Department of Archives - Mississippi State Historical Museum, Jackson Mississippi, The Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson Mississippi and The Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont Texas, Museum of American Folk Art, New York.
Publications:
"Baking in the Sun: Visionary Images from the South" 1987 - University of Southwestern Louisiana
"Contemporary American Folk Art - A Collector’s Guide" 1996 - Chuck and Jan Rosenak
"Raw Vision" - Journal of Intuitive and Visionary Art #19 - 1997 - Wilfrid Wood, London England
"Light of the Spirit - Portraits of Southern Outsider Artists" - 1998 - Karekin Goekjian
"Mississippi Mud - The Creative Life of Burgess Dulaney" - 2003 - Terry Nowell
Exhibits:
"Old Friends, New Faces: Folk Images From the Deep South" 1993-1994
"Baking in the Sun: Visionary Images From the South" 1987
"Mississippi Mud: The Creative Life of Burgess Dulaney" 2003 - Center of Contempary Art, St. Louis MO
He began to fashion clay or "mud" gathered from the local surroundings, into a seemingly unending menagerie of human busts, human-like forms, animals and fantasy creatures ranging in size from about that of a soda can to basketball size and larger. His work bears much resemblance to Pre-Columbian pottery, though Dulaney had never traveled or studied such art forms.
The unfired clay figures were mostly made of solid clay throughout, although he made some vessel-like pieces which were hollow and thin walled. Many of the pieces had marbles added for eyes, and all were dried slowly outdoors or during colder times brought inside to dry near the wood stove. Dulaney attended to the pieces meticulously during the drying period to insure any cracks in the clay would be mended allowing for amazing strong bonds in the clay.
The clay or "mud", as it was referred to by Dulaney, was dug from 3 separate pits near his home. A high concentration of iron in some of this clay, causes darkening of the clay over time, adding a great patina to the older works.
He experimented briefly with cement and concrete mix, fashioning some much taller human like forms and ghostly concrete face tablets weighing 40 -50 lbs each.
He began giving the sculptures to local merchants and friends around his home in the mid-late 1970’s which led to the discovery of his work.
Collections are held at Department of Archives - Mississippi State Historical Museum, Jackson Mississippi, The Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson Mississippi and The Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont Texas, Museum of American Folk Art, New York.
Publications:
"Baking in the Sun: Visionary Images from the South" 1987 - University of Southwestern Louisiana
"Contemporary American Folk Art - A Collector’s Guide" 1996 - Chuck and Jan Rosenak
"Raw Vision" - Journal of Intuitive and Visionary Art #19 - 1997 - Wilfrid Wood, London England
"Light of the Spirit - Portraits of Southern Outsider Artists" - 1998 - Karekin Goekjian
"Mississippi Mud - The Creative Life of Burgess Dulaney" - 2003 - Terry Nowell
Exhibits:
"Old Friends, New Faces: Folk Images From the Deep South" 1993-1994
"Baking in the Sun: Visionary Images From the South" 1987
"Mississippi Mud: The Creative Life of Burgess Dulaney" 2003 - Center of Contempary Art, St. Louis MO
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