Lonnie and Charlie In Venice, And At Vulcan

The American Folk Art Museum has sent out a press release about partnering with Benetton (oh gosh the way I loved Benetton clothes in middle school…) for an exhibit in Venice for the Biennale, June 1-15 of this year. It’s called ‘Vision and Vernacular: Eight African-American Artists in Venice, installations by contemporary self-taught African American Artists’.

Here’s part of it:

Luciano Benetton, chairman of the Benetton Group, said “It gives me great pleasure that our first use of Fondaco dei Tedeschi will be an exhibition with an American Museum of such importance that has not been seen in Venice during the Biennale before…”

“The inclusion of these African-American self-taught and graffiti artists at the Venice Biennale will be revolutionary. These artists have never had the opportunity to situate themselves within a broader contemporary art dialogue— but their time has arrived” said Dr. Laura Parsons, president of The American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) board.

Eight artists have been chosen by AFAM to be showed in Venice. Each will execute an original site-specific installation for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Lonnie Holley, Gregory Warmack (a.k.a. Mr. Imagination), Charlie Lucas (a.k.a. Tin Man) and Kevin Sampson represent the virtuosity of African American Contemporary Outsider artists. Steven Ogburn (a.k.a. Blade), Chris Ellis (a.k.a. Daze), Lin Felton (a.k.a. Quik), and Aaron Goodstone (a.k.a. Sharp) will represent different aspects of the urban vernacular of Graffiti. This exhibition showcases the diversity of contemporary African American self-taught artists by pairing two distinctive yet complementary approaches to art making, using the building’s architecture as inspiration for the work itself.

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I’m hoping to see Lonnie and Charlie this Thursday evening at the opening for Music Lives On: Folk Song Traditions Told by Alabama Artists exhibit at Vulcan in B’ham. It’s on view from April 15 – August 26 of this year, and is described this way:

In celebration of the Year of Alabama Music, Vulcan Park and Museum presents The Music Lives On: Folk Song Traditions Told by Alabama Artists, an exhibition of works depicting the region’s great musical traditions created by the state’s most celebrated folk artists. Those represented in this colorful exhibition include such acclaimed artists as Lonnie Holley, Joe Minter, Charlie Lucas, and Thornton Dial. Through the creations of these great artists, visitors to Vulcan Park and Museum will encounter a parallel artistic universe – the world of blues, jazz, bluegrass, country, and other popular forms of music that define Birmingham, the state, and the region.