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PURVIS YOUNG
BORN 1943
MIAMI (LIBERTY CITY) FL
PURVIS YOUNG IS DIFFERENT. HE IS SELF-TAUGHT AND SELF-EDUCATED. HE WORKS WITHIN HIS OWN SYSTEM AND IT IS NO LESS VALUABLE THAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS USED BY OTHER ARTISTS. UNLIKE MANY OTHER SELF-TRAINED PERSONALITIES WHO ARE COINED AS "OUTSIDER" ARTISTS BECAUSE THEY WORK WITHOUT THE BENEFITS OF ACADEMIC TRAINING, PURVIS YOUNG HAS SUBSTITUTED A LACK OF FORMAL EDUCATION WITH INTENSIVE READING AND STUDY AND IS INCREDIBLY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND SOPHISTICATED ABOUT THE HISTORY OF ART. HE APPLIES HIS OWN PERSONAL IDEOLOGY AND UNIQUE WORLD-VIEW TO THE MEDIA OF PAINT TO CREATE A VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT EXPRESSES HIS CONCERNS AS MUCH AS IT CAPTURES THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE AND CITY THAT SURROUND HIM.,
AFTER LEARNING OF THE "FREEDOM WALLS" CREATED BY ARTISTS IN DETROIT AND CHICAGO, YOUNG DECIDED IN 1972, TO CREATE HIS OWN PUBLIC MURAL AT THE INTERSECTION OF NORTHWEST THIRD AVENUE AND 14TH STREET IN OVERTONE, MIAMI'S INNER-CITY. COINED, "GOODBREAD ALLEY," THE INSTALLATION WAS VISIBLE FROM THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED INTERSTATE 95, WHICH HAD ALL BUT DISSECTED AND CONSEQUENTLY ISOLATED HIS COMMUNITY FROM THE REST OF SOUTH FLORIDA.
THIS REMARKABLE COMPLEX WORK, BORN OF A COLOSSAL OUTPOURING OF SPONTANEOUS CREATIVE ENERGY, WAS DIRECTLY ATTACHED IN A COLLAGE MANNER TO THE SIDES OF THREE DEFUNCT, ABANDONED BUILDINGS (FORMERLY IN 1975, SERVING TO HOUSE THE BAHAMIAN BAKING INDUSTRY) WHICH YOUNG MANAGED AS SUPERINTENDENT. THE ENTIRE PROJECT WAS THREATENED WITH DESTRUCTION IN 1975, WHEN HUD CONDEMNED THE BUILDINGS IN ORDER TO USE THE SITE FOR PUBLIC HOUSING. MOST OF THE WORK WAS LOST OR DESTROYED AS HUD CREWS TORE THE BUILDINGS DOWN. HOWEVER, A FEW SELECT PANELS SURVIVE TODAY, SAVED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF ALERT MIAMI RESIDENTS.
TODAY, YOUNG CONTINUES TO EXECUTE MURAL PAINTINGS IN BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SETTINGS. ONE OF HIS MOST RECENT INSTALLATIONS IS LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE LATEST HOUSE OF BLUES, ADJACENT TO PLANET HOLLYWOOD, ORLANDO'S DISNEY WORLD. THE MONSTROUS UNDERTAKING IS AN 80 FOOT-PLUS CONTINUOUS PAINTING ON BARN BOARD FENCE WHICH GREETS THE VISITOR, ALMOST SERVING AS A "WAILING WALL" TO THE HOUSE OF BLUES SHRINE SEEKERS.
REPRESENTING YOUNG'S UNIQUE VIEW ON LIFE IS A SYMBOLIC VOCABULARY WHERE CITY STREET SCENES MOVE TO THE RHYTHM OF LIFE, WILD HORSES ROAM FREE, "EYES OF THE ESTABLISHMENT" LOOM OVER, ANCIENT WARRIORS DO BATTLE, IMMIGRANT-LADEN BOATS SET SAIL, LEGENDARY JAZZ AND BLUES PERFORMERS RIP. IT IS HERE THAT PURVIS YOUNG EASILY, YET EFFECTIVELY, EXPRESSES HIS TRUE FEELINGS.
Our Art Gallery also has work by Reverend Howard Finster, Inez Nathaniel Walker, William Edmondson, Thornton Dial, Missionary Mary Proctor, Miz Thang, Nancy Valelly, R A Miller, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver, folk pottery and all the great outsiders new or old.
Any and all sales are final - no refunds.
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