Artist Lonnie Holley on view in NYC thru 4/28

Lifting Me Over, image courtesy the artist and Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York

Jeff Bailey Gallery in Chelsea is exhibiting the work of Alabama artist Lonnie Holley again, this time in a group show entitled Pitch, with two other artists, Fabienne Lasserre and Halsey Rodman. Mr. Bailey was gracious enough to speak with Southernist via email about Mr. Holley's work and the place of Southern artists in our city.

How did you first become familiar with Mr. Holley’s work?

I have known of Lonnie's work since the 1990s. I am originally from Birmingham, AL, where Lonnie is from.  His work is part of the Birmingham Museum of Art's collection, and he is well known in the Birmingham community. His work is also part of the Folk Art Museum's collection here in New York and other museums throughout the country.

What about his work made you want to represent him?

The work is both original and compelling. Lonnie transforms found materials into assemblages and sculptures that evoke everyday life.

Where does Mr. Holley’s work fit in with current offerings in contemporary art?

Many artists make assemblages and sculpture. What is important is to make work that is unique.

In what ways does the work of each of the three artists in the current show relate to each other (if at all)?

Each artist combines disparate materials in innovative ways, resulting in works that hover between painting, drawing and sculpture. 

How has Mr. Holley’s work (both in this show and his solo show in 2010) been received by the New York art audience?

It has been very well received, both critically and commercially.  Time Out New York and The New Yorker reviewed his solo show [in 2010] and the work has been acquired by both contemporary and folk art/outsider art collectors and by the The Progressive Art Collection.

What, if any, challenges are there in representing a Southern artist in New York City?

I don't think the challenges are any different in representing a Southern artist or one that is from any other part of the country. 

My impression is that Southern writers have reached a level of respect/acceptance beyond the region faster than other types of arts and culture being produced. What is your response to that?

That might be explained by the larger audiences that literature and music inherently have, compared to the visual arts. 

Has art made by Southerners had a harder time being seen as being beyond folk, craft or outsider? 

I would say no.  There are and have been many successful non outsider artists from the South, although the older ones usually left in early adulthood, like Robert Rauschenberg, and moved to New York.  The photographer William Eggleston has had great success and I believe he still lives in Tennessee. I show two other artists from the South, Amy Pleasant (Birmingham) and Jim Richard (New Orleans) and they have strong careers, although they are not yet well known. It's not as important for an artist to move to New York as it used to be. 


Pitch is on view at Jeff Bailey Gallery through April 28.

  

ART: Lonnie Holley

On exhibit thru August 6 at Jeff Bailey Gallery in Chelsea:

Lonnie Holley: Assemblages and Drawings.

Holley, a self-taught artist, is a sixty year old native Alabamian whose work has been exhibited widely throughout the United States. This is Holley’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and his first in New York in sixteen years.

Holley’s unique combinations of found materials and everyday detritus result in mysterious and powerful objects. They reference spirituality, African American art forms and history, nature, and family relationships. Simultaneously, the visual impact of Holley’s work invites comparisons to the work of other contemporary artists, and therefore continues to break down the distinctions often made between self-taught artists and those with an art education background.

Holley’s assemblages can be simple or complex in their composition. Along the Rails combines old wire, iron, wood, colored paper, cardboard, plastic and other materials. Assembled with both delicacy and verve, its title suggests a journey, escape or hardship. Molting Lonnie is composed of three parts: found concrete with a rebar that serves as the vertical support for a piece of molten iron. The top of the concrete base is splashed with red paint, dripping down the sides. The materials and their deft organization evoke a raw and formal beauty, while the title of the work suggests impending growth, a recurring theme in Holley’s art.

Featured prominently in Holley’s work is a facial profile, found in drawings, wire sculptures and carved sandstone pieces. Small or large, single or in layers, the profiles have open and expressive eyes. In the drawing I in the Teacher’s Chair, profiles face left and right, while one large eye dominates the center. A kneeling figure cradles a child, watched from above. It is a family or community of sorts, observing and caring for one another.

These faces and figures function as characters in an ongoing story. Indeed, Holley’s vivid descriptions of his art stress the interconnectedness of all people and things, both past and present.

Lonnie Holley was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and is the seventh of twenty-seven children. Against significant obstacles he has been a working artist for over thirty years. In Birmingham, he created a unique outdoor installation of his art on the acre of property where he lived, until a forced relocation seventeen years later. Holley lives and works in Harpersville, Alabama.

Holley’s work is included in numerous public collections: American Folk Art Museum, New York; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Milwaukee Museum of Art, Wisconsin; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., among others.

(source)