T H O R N T O N
D I A L
(1928 - 2016)
“If everybody understand one another, wouldn’t nobody make art. Art is something to open your eyes. Art is for understanding. “ Thornton Dial
Born in Emelle, Alabama in 1928, artistic giant Thornton Dial - who never learned to read or write - rose to the pinnacle of contemporary art history over a thirty year trajectory that began as he approached 60 years of age. He died in 2016 at the age of 87. Dial’s much-heralded retrospective, Hard Truths, launched from the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2011 and subsequently traveled to the New Orleans Museum of Art, Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, and the High Museum of Art Atlanta. The exhibition met with immense curatorial and critical acclaim and aroused a swell of high-profile media commentary, including Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, as well as features on CNN and Al Jazeera. His recent and upcoming exhibitions at the esteemed Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, San Francisco’s De Young Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Atlanta’s High Museum of Art underscore the acknowledgement of Dial as a cornerstone of a new view of Western art history. These shows position Dial’s magisterial assemblages and delicately finessed works on paper as pillars of a new, more complete investigation of art and culture. Having received the sanction of America’s premier curatorial, critical and collector communities, Thornton Dial is now ranked in the pantheon of artistic titans that include Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
“ I am the Tiger. We is the Tiger. You is the Tiger. My sons and daughters. My brothers. My sisters. My parents. My people. Your people. The ones that fight. The ones that struggle. The ones that struggle and lurk and survive. We is all, who feels this, the tiger. -Thornton Dial, Image of The Tiger, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publication, 1993
Lady In The Tiger’s Tail (1990) Carpet, Molding Paste, Enamel, Spray Paint, and Industrial Sealing Compound on Wood Panel (71 x 90 inches)
“Lady In The Tiger’s Tail” (Detail)
Dial’s works, no mattter what unlikely materials, are always well constructed. They are mainly sculptural, not only from the build up of paint, the heavy impasto, but also from a direct “hands on” the surface. You always see the evidence of Dial taking the matter into his own hands. The hard-as-ironironworker-for-thirty-years-hands. As Arnett says, “The guy’s a builder.” And that’s the way he approaches the works, like works of construction. Layer after layer- of either paint, carpet, wood, metal-directly applied and under the direct feel of the hands.
The Dreamer: The Hills & Mountains (1994)
(previous page & right plate)
Enamel, Tin, Burlap, Wood, Found Objects (toys, appliances, and metal scraps), and industrial sealing compound on wood frame (81 x 143 x 15 Inches)
The Dreamer: The Hills & Mountains (1994)
Details
The “posing movie star” figure, subject of numerous Dial works, acknowledges woman’s ability to use her physical attributes as a form of power. In 1990, Dial created a series of three pieces describing women’s struggle for equality in terms of stages of women’s lives: discovering her sexuality, selecting a mate, and accepting the responsibility that comes with freedom. -Thornton Dial, Image of The Tiger, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publication, 1993
Movie Star Ladies and The Tiger That Sees Everything (1997) Rope, Carpet, Cloth, Enamel, and Mixed Media on Wood Panel. (71 x 85 x 4 Inches)
In Dial’s youth, the road was the connection between the countryside and the rest of the world. Depending on one’s outlook, it was a symbol of status quo or hope for change. Throughout his work, Dial conceives African American history as an ongoing, unfinished migration whose only constant is the path and obstacles. An aging, white whiskered tiger made of rusting tin is silhouetted against the skyline of a contemporary city. A scene from his past is frozen in his memory. African American’s walk in both directions along a dirt road to destinations known only to themselves. Each participant in the procession touches the next, as if forming a secret bond. An Elderly woman, chest puffed with pride, strides on decomposing legs. She holds the hand of her son “the basketball player, trying to go further,” Dial says, “his mother whispering, ‘Go Ahead.’” (Major League baseball was among the first color barriers broken during Dial’s Lifetime.)
“Remembering The Road” - Detail
In the center is the “hard-headed goat,” a symbol of sure-footed tenacity. “The hard-headed goat will go anywhere,” Dial says, “to the top of the mountain where the other animals are afraid.” On the left two young girls are “high-stepping” in unison, emulating old woman’s manner. They are, Dial explains, “Hard-headed girls following the hard-headed goat. They ain’t ashamed and they ain’t afraid.” An abstract tiger, forming the road, crouches across the bottom. Recalling the sacrificial cat from Roosevelt, this tiger’s body supports the walkers. The white haze encompassing the entire tableau conceals nesting and flying birds that affirm the walkers’ eventual success.
“Remembering The Road” - Detail
Remembering The Road (1992) Enamel, Tin, Rope carpet, Cloth, Vinyl, Carpet, Wire Screen, Livestock Feed Sacks, and Industrial Sealing Compound on Canvas Mounted on Wood.
Icons repeated from “Roosevelt” – the man’s head re-creates the convict’s, and the suitcase invokes the worker straining to tow his sack – reflect the larger sense of impermanence, hardship, and fear Dial remembers about growing up at a time when he was “Just a Negro … The Negro always used to have his stuff packed, ready to run … running from trouble, running when he hear about higher-paying job.” The painted frame represents both railroad tracks and stylized prisoner’s stripes.
“Running Negro” - Detail
Running Negro (1992) Enamel, Tin, Burlap, Wood, Satchel, and Industrial Sealing Compound on Wood with Wood Frame. (49 x 61 x 2 Inches)
Scrambling Tiger Carpet, Acrylic, Enamel, Modeling Paste, and Mixed Media on Wood (72 x 78 x 2 Inches)
Everything Scrambles For Life (1990) Carpet, Acrylic, Cloth, Plaster, Modeling Paste and Collage on Wood Panel (60 x 90 x 2 Inches)
Untitled 4 Scrap Metal, Hat, Fabric, Found Object, and Mixed Media on Panel (82 x 47 x 7 Inches) This work features a rare self portrait of Thornton Dial himself.
“Untitled 4” - Self Portrait Detail
Untitled 6 Carpet, House Paint, Cloth, Found Object, and Mixed Media on Wood Panel (36 x 48 x 2 Inches)
Coming In From The Background Boots, Metal Rod, Plastic, Carpet, Found Objects, and Mixed Media on Panel(54 x 62 x 8 Inches)
Little Dog Pinned In (2002) Carpet, Wire Screen, Wood, Spray Paint, and Mixed Media on Panel (23 x 47 Inches)
Howlin’ Wolf (1992) Fabric, Carpet, Oil Paint, Mixed Media, and Modeling Paste on Wood Panel (67 x 66 Inches)
Strange Things (1989) Metal Rod, Fabric, Found Object, Enamel, and Mixed Media on Canvas (26 x 80 x 3 Inches)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 History Refused to Die, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (forthcoming) Mr. Dial’s America, David Lewis Gallery, New York Thornton Dial: Selected Works, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2017 Revelations: Art From the African American South, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA Thornton Dial: Selected Works, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2016 Green Pastures: In Memory of Thornton Dial, Sr., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA 2013 Daybreak: New Assemblages, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2011-13 Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial. Indianapolis Museum of Art New Orleans Museum of Art Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC High Museum of Art, Atlanta
2012-13 Thoughts on Paper. Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont, Burlington Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts 2012 Thornton Dial: Viewpoint of the Foundry Man, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York Thornton Dial. Virginia Union University and Art Gallery, Richmond, VA 2011 Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York Disaster Areas. Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta 2005 Thornton Dial in the 21st Century. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1999 Thornton Dial: His Spoken Dreams. Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York 1993 Thornton Dial: Image of the Tiger. New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York American Folk Art Museum, New York American Center, Paris, France Milwaukee Art Museum
1992 Thornton Dial: Works on Paper. Luise Ross Gallery, New York 1991 Thornton Dial, Sr.: Works on Paper. Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York 1990 Thornton Dial: Strategy of the World, Southern Queens Park Association/AfricanAmerican Hall of Fame, Jamaica, New York Thornton Dial. Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta Thornton Dial: Ladies of the United States. Library Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, Marietta, Georgia
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2013 Thornton Dial: Daybreak. Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta (*with works by Dial family members) 2013 Seismic Shifts: Ten Visionaries in Contemporary Art and Architecture. National Academy Museum & School, New York, NY
2012 Thornton Dial: Viewpoint of the Foundry Man, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY (solo) 2012 Thornton Dial and Lizzi Bougatsos, James Fuentes, New York, NY 2012 The Soul of a City: Memphis Collects African American Art. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
2012 Creation Story: Gee’s Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial. The Frist Center for Visual Arts, Nashville, TN 2011 The Armory Show, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY 2002–2004 In the Spirit of Martin, Smithsonian Institution, traveling 2000 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY 1998 Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology, Philadelphia Museum, PA
BOOKS & CATALOGUES Thornton Dial: Viewpoint of the Foundry Man. catalogue, Andrew Edlin Gallery, 2012 Creation Story: Gee’s Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial. catalogue, Frist Center for the Visual Arts and Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, 2012 Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper. edited by Bernard L. Herman, Ackland Art Museum and University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill, 2012 Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial. Catalogue, Prestel, 2012 Outsider Art Sourcebook. Raw Vision, 2009 Thornton Dial in the 21st Century. catalogue, Tinwood, 2005 American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, Catalogue, 2001 Souls Grown Deep. Volumes 1 & 2, Arnett et al, 2000 & 2001 Passionate Visions of the American South, Self Taught Artists from1940 to the Present. New Orleans Museum of Art, 1993 American Self-Taught. Maresca & Ricco, 1993 Thornton Dial: Image of the Tiger. Baraka & McEvilley,1993 20th Century American Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Art, Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1993 Museum of Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art & Artists, Abbeville Press, 1990
MEDIA 2011 | “Thornton Dial is Not An Outsider Artist” - Studio 360/Public Radio International 2007 | “Mr. Dial Has Something to Say” - Alabama Public Television 2005 | “Thornton Dial” - Alabama Public Television
ARTICLES 2011 Kuspit, Donald. Review, Art Forum, Summer Wilkin, Karen. “Biography, History, Self-Evident Beauty.” The Wall Street Journal, April 21 Doran, Anne. Review, Time Out New York, April 14-20 Review, The New Yorker, April 11 Lacayo, Richard. “Outside the Lines.” Time, March 14 Kino, Carol. “Letting His Life’s Work Do the Talking.” New York Times, February 20 Gómez, Edward M. “On the Border.” Art & Antiques Magazine, February 2010 Jones, Phillip March. “Thornton Dial, Sr.” Whitehot Magazine, February 2002 Giovanni, Nikki; Chassman, Gary Miles; Leonard, Walter. In the Spirit of Martin. Tinwood Books
1997 Smith, Dinitia, “Bits, Pieces and a Drive To Turn Them Into Art.” New York Times, February 5 1993 Smith, Roberta. “A Young Style for an Old Story.” New York Times, December 19 Scott, Sue. “Thornton Dial [exhibition review].” ARTnews 92, April Lloyd, Ann Wilson. “Thornton Dial at Luise Ross.” Art in America, May 1991 Kuspit, Donald. “The Appropriation of Marginal Art in the 1980s.” American Art, Winter/ Spring 1987 Kroll, Jack. “The Outsiders Are In: American Folk Artists Move into the World of Money and Fame.” Newsweek, December 2
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA High Museum, Atlanta, GA Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA American Folk Art Museum, New York Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL The Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA High Museum of Art, Atlanta Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Indianapolis Museum of Art Intuit, Chicago, IL Milwaukee Art Museum Museum of Fine Arts, Houston New Orleans Museum of Art Philadelphia Museum of Art Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
CONTACT Pricing and Availability contact@lowegallery.com Address 764 Miami Circle Dr. Suite 210 Atlanta, GA 30317 Phone 404.352.8114 Links Webpage- https://lowegallery.com/thornton-dial/ Essays and Critical Reviews- https://lowegallery.com/about-thornton-dial Video- https://lowegallery.com/thornton-dial/#thornton-dial-video Installations- https://lowegallery.com/thornton-dial/#thornton-dial-installation