American Folk Art Museum

02/16/2021

Valentin Simankov left home to register at the art school in St. Petersburg, where he studied photography, theater, film, and art directing. After two years he was having profound disagreements with his professors and left school, feeling that the academic framework killed the artist and creativity. He then chose to "unlearn."

As a result of family problems, Simankov's life began to fall apart, and he became engulfed in drugs and alcohol. In 1993, he turned to religion, through which he was able to calm his inner torment. He took a new, personal artistic path, creating photocollages in which he manipulated signs and symbols of society. He works a great deal with superimposition, playing with different kinds of paper. A search for aesthetic is evident-no doubt, the result of his time spent with artworks.

See this work in "PHOTO BRUT : Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagnie," which is on view now at the Museum

image: Valentin Simankov (1962, Smolensk, Russian Federation), Untitled, Between 1993 and 2015, Felt tip pen, ink, gelatin silver prints, various pieces of paper, and book cover collaged on paper, 32 1/8 x 5 3/8 in., Collection Bruno Decharme, Photo by Ilan Weiss
© Valentin Simankov

#AFAM #PHOTOBRUT #ValentinSimankov

02/15/2021

Assemblage of Crowd Scenes is a large piece that recalls Robert Rauschenberg’s Combine paintings. Many small elements make a whole, tied together by similarly colored, rough-hewn frames. Not presenting an overall narrative, the various images are turned at different angles, though the entire piece is weighted by the large green rectangular painting at the base, which anchors the otherwise quiet palette. The activity within the painting, however, stands in stark contrast to the muted colors. Seething figures gather with upraised arms, hips cocked, in a stance that is simultaneously celebratory and urgent. This contradiction creates an energy in each “snapshot” and unifies the whole.

Assemblage of Crowd Scenes presents a tremendous visual cacophony that underscores the often fast, loud, and cluttered life of its maker’s urban environs.

image: Assemblage of Crowd Scenes, Purvis Young (1943–2010), Miami, Florida, United States, Late 1970s, Paint on found wood, 98 1/2 × 58 × 2 1/2", Gift of T. Marshall Hahn Jr., 1995.22.2
Photo Credit: Gavin Ashworth

#AFAM #SelfTaughtArt #FolkArt

02/14/2021

Happy Valentine's Day! ⁠
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Spread the love by creating a handmade heart-and-hand token. Click the link below for instructions for creating your own card inspired by a traditional 19th-century love token from the Museum's collection, inscribed with this sweet sentiment: “Hand and heart shall never part / When this you see / Remember me.”⁠

http://folkartmuseum.org/content/uploads/2021/01/Heart_and_Hand-Activity.pdf

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⁠Image: Heart-and-Hand Love Token, Artist unidentified; possibly Connecticut, 1840–1860. Ink and varnish on cut paper, 12 x 14 in. Museum purchase, 1981.12.15. Photo by John Parnell.⁠
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#AFAMfromHome #AFAMedu #FolkArt #SelfTaughtArt #ArtMakingActivities #ValentinesDay

02/13/2021

“PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagnie” is a @nytimes Critic’s Pick.

Read the lavishly illustrated catalogue and learn more about the exhibition with essays and contributions by Bruno Decharme, Valérie Rousseau, Barbara Safarova, Sam Stourdzé, Michel Thévoz, and Brian Wallis.

#PHOTOBRUT #ArtBook #AFAMShop

02/13/2021

Join Asmaa Walton, Founder and Curator of the Black Art Library @blackartlibrary in one week on Friday, February 19 at noon for a virtual reading and dialogue exploring both the library and the American Folk Art Museum's collections in honor of Black History Month. Listen to Asmaa read aloud from Art From Her Heart, an illustrated biography of celebrated artist Clementine Hunter, and learn more about how she is creating an ever-expanding catalog of books and resources on Black visual art and culture. Families and individuals of all ages welcome!

Find out more and register with the link in our bio.

All public programs are free and donations are greatly appreciated.

Images: Courtesy of Asmaa Walton and the Black Art Library.

Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-insights-a-reading-from-the-black-art-library-tickets-136298182533

02/13/2021

Treya Lam - Free Music Fridays

tbd

02/12/2021

02/12/2021

02/12/2021

Free Music Fridays Facebook Live returns February 12th from 6-7:30 pm. The evening features performances by Ra Le Bu, E.W. Harris, and Treya Lam, and is hosted by Lara Ewen. Your donation and RSVP are gratefully appreciated.⁠
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Register: ⁠https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-tickets-135443000661?aff=

02/12/2021

Happy Lunar New Year! We wish you good health and luck as we celebrate the Year of the Ox, one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

image: Two Oxen and Cart, Felipe Benito Archuleta (1910–1991), Tesuque, New Mexico, United States, 1964, Cottonwood, 8 1/4 × 9 1/4 × 16"
Gift of Barbara and Tracy Cate, 2002.6.1.
Photo Credit: Kristine Larsen

02/09/2021

Join us each Thursday at 1 pm (ET), beginning February 11th for a free, virtual tour of PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagnie. The Closer-Look tour series is led by a Museum Educator, and takes participants through the current exhibition to experience different perspectives of the works on view. Space is limited; advance registration is required. After registering for the program, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions and the Zoom link to join via computer or mobile device. To RSVP, please email [email protected]. We hope to see you there!

image:
Lee Godie (1908, Chicago, Illinois⁠ — 1994, Plato Center, Illinois; Untitled; n.d.⁠; Gelatin silver print (from photo booth) retouched with ink, 4 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.⁠ Collection Bruno Decharme⁠
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Unidentified artist, Untitled (spirit photograph), August 5, 1941, Silver print, 4 5/8 x 3 1/2 in. Institut Métapsychique International, Paris

Steve Ashby; (1904, Delaplane, Virginia, United States—⁠1980, Delaplane, Virginia, United States); Untitled; n.d. wood, magazine clippings, lace, and metal;10 3/8 x 5 5/8 x 2 5/8 in.;⁠ Collection of Robert A. Roth. Photo by John Faier⁠⠀⁠

Photo credit: Olya Vysotskaya.⁠

Paul D. Humphrey (1931, Poultney, Vermont, United States—1999, Vermont, United States), Claudette Asleep, 1987–1999,
Crayon, ink, and colored pencil on photocopied paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.
American Folk Art Museum, New York, gift of James Prez, Brooklyn, New York, 2009.7.5
Photo by Gavin Ashworth, American Folk Art Museum, New York

02/08/2021

Free Music Fridays Facebook Live returns February 12th from 6-7:30 pm. The evening features performances by Ra Le Bu, E.W. Harris, and Treya Lam, and is hosted by Lara Ewen. Your donation and RSVP are gratefully appreciated.⁠
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Register: ⁠https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-tickets-135443000661?aff=

02/07/2021

Did some say something about bowls? We've got quite a few in our collection — one might even call them super! Ranging from punch bowls to pipe bowls, our collection features bowls for every special occasion.
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#AFAM #AFAMfromHome #Bowls⁠⁠
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image: Covered Sugar Bowl with Applied Birds and Flowers, Attributed to Anthony Wise Baecher (1824–1889), The Big Hunting Creek Pottery (act. 1881-1883), owned by Joseph E. Simons (1838-1893) (act. 1881-1883), Mechanicstown, Frederick County, Maryland, 1881 - 1883, Glazed red earthenware, 6 3/4 × 6 × 5 1/4", Gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2002.38.3.⁠⁠
Photo Credit: John Bigelow Taylor⁠⁠
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Punch Bowl, Attributed to John Crolius Jr. (1755 - 1841), New York City, New York, United States, 1811, Salt-glazed gray stoneware with cobalt decoration, 7 3/4 × 15 1/2" diam., Gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2005.8.21.⁠⁠
Photo Credit: John Bigelow Taylor⁠⁠
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Pipe Bowl, Artist unidentified, Probably Virginia or New York, United States, After 1863, Wood, 3 1/4 × 3 5/8 × 5 3/8. Gift of Mary Sposeto in memory of her parents, Frank and Victoria Sposeto, 1992.23.1.⁠⁠ Photo Credit: John Parnell

02/06/2021

In a life marked by tragedy and upheaval, Marcel Bascoulard developed a prolific art practice that involved performance, photography, poetry, and drawing (he drew the town’s monuments and deserted areas from vertiginous perspectives in a detail-rich realist style). ⁠
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In Bourges, where he lived in shacks, he was an antisocial and eccentric local character, both admired and outcast. He sometimes appeared in public wearing dresses that he made or ordered to measure. “For the purpose of art, when I put on women’s clothing, I take my camera with me and have people I know take snapshots of me.” His expression is always the same with his face slightly tilted, no makeup, as he holds⁠
a mirror. ⁠
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Works by Bascoulard and many other artists are on view in "PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme & Company." Reserve a ticket: afamtickets.eventbrite.com. Admission is always free. ⁠
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Marcel Bascoulard (1913, Vallenay, France—1978, Asnières-lès-Bourges, France); 3 janvier 74, January 3, 1974. Gelatin silver print, 5 1/8 x 3 1/2 in. American Folk Art Museum, New York, museum purchase, with the support of Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Paris, 2019.19.4. ⁠
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#PHOTOBRUT #MarcelBascoulard #AFAM ⁠

02/05/2021

The settled life of Lee Godie seems to have been overturned by the death of two of her children. In 1968, she was homeless, living on the streets of downtown Chicago, and sleeping in cheap hotels. Despite her circumstances, she reinvented herself to become a full-fledged artists. Both pictorial and photographic self-portraits form the core of Godie's work. Starting in the 1970s, she took hundreds of black-and-white photographs of herself in photo booths in the Greyhound bus station.

During these private sessions, Godie transformed herself. In striking contrast with her rough living conditions, she became a femme fatale, a celebrity, or a seductress. Her gallery of characters revisited the social stereotypes and attributes of feminine beauty, supported by a clever orchestration of gesture, pose, wardrobe, and hairstyle.

image: Untitled, Lee Godie (1908, Chicago, Illinois,,
United States — 1994, Plato Center, Illinois, United States), c. 1950, Gelatin silver print (from photo booth), 4 3/4 x 3 3/4 in., Collection Kevin O’Rourke
Photo credit: Adam Reich, American Folk Art Museum, New York

#AFAM #PHOTOBRUT #LeeGodie

02/04/2021

Join curators Brian Wallis of The Walther Collection, New York/Ulm, Joel Smith of the Morgan Library & Museum, and Nelson Santos of Queer|Art for a conversation on photography and varied visual expressions of desire, sexuality, intimacy, gender expansiveness and other concerns that inform photographs in PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagnie alongside those of artists Peter Hujar, Alvin Baltrop, Zach Grear, and others on Tuesday, February 9th, at 6:00 p.m. ET. A Q&A session will follow the conversation.

All public programs are free and donations are greatly appreciated!⁠

Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-insights-objects-of-desire-tickets-132561634417

Images: Zach Grear, David Wojnarowicz, 2018, and Miroslav Tichý (1926, Nětčice, Czech Republic—2011, Kyjov, Czech Republic), Untitled, Between 1960 and 1995, Silver print, 5 1/8 x 3”, Collection Bruno Decharme.

02/04/2021

"This jaw-dropping, sometimes heart-rending show is a cornucopia of established and unfamiliar names, from the celebrated Henry Darger to the all-but-unknown Ichiwo Sugino; improvised mediums and often painful stories of isolated lives." - Roberta Smith in "The New York Times" on "PHOTO | BRUT: Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagnie," which is now on view at the Museum: http://bit.ly/NYTPHOTOBRUT
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Henry Darger (1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States—1973, Chicago, Illinois, United States); Untitled (“These Little Children...”), Mid-twentieth century. Hand-tinted photograph and ink on cardboard, 7 x 9 in. American Folk Art Museum, New York, gift of Kiyoko Lerner, 2003.7.60. © 2021 Kiyoko Lerner. ⁠
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#PHOTOBRUT #HenryDarger #AFAM ⁠

02/03/2021

Luboš Plný is constantly exploring the body through anatomical studies from multiple points of view. His works are executed in ink and retouched with acrylics. He incorporates organic materials (e.g., blood, bristles, hairs, pieces of skin, and sometimes teeth), photographs from nineteenth-century atlases, pictures of anatomical wax models, and clippings of models from fashion magazines. These images form the foundation from his compositions: the drawing is indirectly constructed around them through interplays of associative thought. He transforms their original context by adding his personal story.

See this work in " PHOTO BRUT : Collection Bruno Decharme & Compagine," which is on view now at the Museum.⁠

image: Luboš Plný (1961, Česká Lípa, Czech Republic), Untitled, 2011, Ink, gouache, and clippings from newspapers and books collaged on paper, 33 1/8 x 23 1/2 in., Collection Bruno Decharme, Photo by César Decharme, © Luboš Plný

#AFAM #PHOTOBRUT #LubošPlný

02/02/2021

Elke Tangeten grew up in the German-speaking part of Belgum. Since 2006, she has lived in Vielsalm, Belgum, where she has attended the "S" Grand Atelier workshops. ⁠
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Tangeten is passionate about textile creation. At the "S" Grand Atelier, she has experimented with several techniques, including, embroidery, knitting, and weaving. Over time, she seems to have found the medium that suits her the best: embroidering on photographs and chromo images, as can be seen in her works executed with ex-votos and religious images in Ave Luïa, a project executed by the workshop between 2013 and 2015 on the topic of Catholicism.⁠

image: Elke Tangeten (1968, Waimes,
Belgium), Untitled, 2013, Embroidery on chromolithograph adhered to paper, 15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in., Collection Bruno Decharme and Antoine de Galbert
Photo by A. Nandrin, La “S” Grand Atelier
© La “S” Grand Atelier, Vielsalm B

#AFAM #PHOTOBRUT #ElkeTangeten

02/01/2021

Anyone down to do some ice skating?

image: Rockefeller Center, Vestie Davis, New York City, New York, United States, 1965, Oil on canvas, Bequest of Gloria Bley Miller, 2008.5.22.
Photo Credit: Gavin Ashworth

01/30/2021

Today is the birthday of the artist Martín Ramírez. A struggling rancher from Jalisco, Mexico, Martín Ramírez moved to the United States in 1925 to find better work opportunities, leaving his wife and children behind. He found railroad jobs, but the Great Depression left him unemployed. Ramírez was arrested in Sacramento in 1931, and spent the last thirty-two years of his life in various mental hospitals—notably, fifteen years (1948–1963) at the Dewitt State Hospital. ⁠⁠ He drew from the mid-1930s, but his 450 surviving drawings were mainly created from 1950 to 1956 and range in size from two feet to twenty feet long.
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His works of art feature repetitive motifs: first and foremost, his signature wave-like lines or stripes, hypnotic and vibrant, with its illusion of movement, depth, and space; lots of horses and riders (of which he made about eighty versions); and trains emerging from tunnels, boats, trucks, and cars—all means of transportation that somehow counterweight the immobility of his hospitalization. ⁠⁠
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Martín Ramírez (1895–1963); Untitled (Horse and Rider); Auburn, California, United States, c. 1948–1963; crayon and pencil on pieced paper,17 3/4 × 23 1/8 in. Gift of David L. Davies and Jack Weeden © Estate of Martín Ramírez, 2013.4.1.⁠⁠
Photo Credit: Adam Reich

01/30/2021

Looking for a unique Valentine’s Day gift? Find romantic and fun gift ideas at the Museum Shop. We are stocked with home decor items, cards, pillows, and sculptures at prices you will love. ⁠
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#ShopAFAM #ShopSaturday #AFAM #ValentinesDay

01/29/2021

Celebrate Black History Month with AFAM and the Black Art Library on Friday, February 19 and join us on Zoom for a reading and dialogue presented by the library's founder Asmaa Walton. Asmaa will read aloud from Art From Her Heart, an illustrated biography of celebrated artist Clementine Hunter, and share books from the library that address other artists from the museum’s collection. Families and individuals of all ages are welcome!

All public programs are free and donations are greatly appreciated.

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-insights-a-reading-from-the-black-art-library-tickets-136298182533

Images: Courtesy of Asmaa Walton and the Black Art Library.

01/28/2021

The coverlet woven for Ann Carll is the earliest known American coverlet that is named and dated in the border. It is attributed to the Mott family of weavers, Quakers who worked in the Long Island town of Westbury. Several of the twenty-one extant named and dated double-cloth coverlets produced between 1810 and 1825 were made by the Motts. The name "Ann Carll" appears clearly twice—at the center and at the bottom of a single border. The date March 31, 1810, can be read at the center and at the top. In between, the name and date appear to be stretched out and are illegible.

image: Ann Carll Coverlet: Blazing Star and Snowballs, Attributed to the Mott Mill (act. 1810–c. 1850), Westbury, New York, United States, 1810, Indigo-dyed wool, natural cotton, 93 × 79", Gift of Margot Paul Ernst in memory of Susan B. Ernst, 1989.16.11
Photo Credit: Schecter Lee

#AFAM #FolkArt #AnnCarllCoverletBlazingStarandSnowballs