Doug MacCash’s article in today’s Times-Picayune “What’s Cool Under the White Tents” is about the art at Jazz Fest (going on this coming weekend too) and among others, he mentions my new friend Chris Beck:
He gets a *great* review:
Based on preview photographs, Georgia artist Chris Beck’s recycled sheet-metal clothing is my favorite of Jazz Fest 2010 crafts.
Beck, a carpenter by trade, was renovating houses in Dalton, Ga., in 2008 when the housing market crashed. With time on his hands, he turned to art. Inspired by folk artists such as Charlie Lucas and Mose Toliver, Beck began combing dumps for cast-off metal to shape into sculpture.
When his mother gave him an old ironing board, Beck began creating a sheet-metal shirt to place atop it, and a style was born. Beck, 36, prefers rusted sheet iron from the roofs of old chicken coops and barns, which he bangs and wrinkles, then cuts and welds into full-size suit coats, waitress uniforms, coveralls….
He colors his creations with recycled house paint, seals them with automotive clear coat, and assigns them names such as “Wes, ” “Tiffany, ” and “Mrs. Patterson” to reflect the real folks whose wardrobes inspired them.
Beck’s sculpture seems to stitch together pop and folk art perfectly. Look for his work in Contemporary Crafts tent J. Prices range from $400 to $2,200.
Yes!!
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There are three main areas of art at Jazz Fest – Congo Square, Contemporary, and Louisiana Marketplace. There are sample pics of each of the artists’ works at those links.