Purvis Young
(1943-2010) Florida
"Simply Iconic"
September 2 - October 3, 2011
Artist Reception: Friday, September 2nd; 8-11 PM
"I paint what I see…I paint the problems of the world." said Purvis Young simply. He often wore dark glasses to "hide his tears" at the injustice and sadness he witnessed. He was born in Liberty City on the outskirts of Miami. As a wayward youth, he was convicted of breaking and entering and spent time in prison, where he began drawing again and perusing art books. "I didn't have anything going for myself," he explained. "That's the only thing I could mostly do. I was just looking through art books, looking at guys painting their feelings."
In the mid 1960s he was inspired to make art by Vietnam War demonstrations and by protest art, notably the Wall of Respect mural in Chicago, painted by members of the Black Arts Movement. In the early 1970s he created a mural of his own, plastering a wall along a deserted stretch of Overtown's Goodbread Alley with dozens of his artworks. The mural drew attention from the news media and from Miami's art establishment, including an eccentric millionaire, Bernard Davis, who owned the Miami Museum of Modern Art and briefly became Mr. Young's patron, providing him with painting supplies until his death 1973. From then on, Young grew into something of an urban legend, an international celebrity, a frequent interview subject and an art-world star.
In the award winning feature length documentary about his life, Purvis of Overtown, famed actress and Young collector, Jane Fonda, describes her reaction to his evocative art: "All I knew was that there's something really powerful and profound going on here. But the first thing that struck me was the hopefulness of the work." At the time of filming, hopefulness for Young was in short supply. Ironically, as international acclaim was coming his way, he was on the losing end of ten-year battle with diabetes; surviving thanks to three-times-a-week dialysis treatments before a life-prolonging kidney transplant. Despite the fatigue induced by the treatments Young continued to paint.
In November 2006 he was the subject of a major retrospective at the Boca Raton Museum. In January 2007 he was the Director's Choice Artist at Art Miami, and a monumental archway of his work greeted visitors to the Miami Convention center. Even though Young's work was exhibited in more than fifty museums including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Corcoran, and Atlanta's High Museum and collected by numerous members of the fine art cognoscenti such as Don and Mera Rubell and Lenny Kravitz, the artist never considered leaving Overtown. For over forty years he created art with scavenged plywood, nails, books, cardboard, Masonite board, broken doors and mirrors. Of his own work Purvis Young had this to say: "I want people to know that I wish there would be peace in the world, and I will paint the way I paint until there is, and then one day maybe I could just hang up my brush and not paint any more."
For information on additional works by this artist contact gallery director Matt Kennedy at (323) 547-3227
or E-mail us at info@laluzdejesus.com
