Bio
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 Revernd Howard Finster, 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.
Selected Publications:
2003, January, � Art in America, �Urban Expressionist�, p. 37, by Paula Harper
2003, February 3, Miami Herald, "Young American", by Elisa Turner
2001, Vol. #36, Raw Vision, feature article: "Purvis Young�s Predicament", by Gean Moreno
2000, Summer � Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Art Magazine, feature article: "Going Urban: American Folk Art and the Great Migration", Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, chief curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
2000, Feb 27 � New York Times, Art/Architecture; "The Scene Heats Up Under the Miami Sun", by David Hay
1999, Dec � ARTnews, National Reviews, "Purvis Young, Frederick Snitzer" pp 178,180, by Elisa Turner
1999, Nov � Art in America, "Report from Miami: Part II - Miami Heats Up", pp 58-59, by Roni Feinstein
1999, Nov 19 � South Florida Business Journal, "Rubells Buy a Building From Liberty City" to house their Purvis Young Collection, Darcie Lunsford
1999, Nov 18 � Miami Herald, "New Art Director" for the Rubell Collection, Gail Meadows
1999, Jan � Museum of Contemporary Art-Palm Beach, "Art as Raison d�Etre", Ingrid Evans
1998, Jun 10 � City Link, p 65
1998, Feb 5 � Miami Today, pp 8-9
1998 � The Museum of American Folk Art, "Self Taught Artists of the 20th Century - an American Anthology", pp 180-186, Gary J. Schwindler
1997, May � Art in America, "The Missing Tradition", Thomas Mceuilley
1997, Mar 5 � East Sider, "Art Beat", p21, Arnold Simon
1997 � Museum of New Arts-Fort Lauderdale, "Purvis Young: The Unofficial Storyteller", Carol Damian
1997 � Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, "Flying Free"
1996, Jan 26 � The New York Times, The Living Arts, "Eager Collectors Bring Outsider Art Inside"
1996, Jul/Aug � Southern Accents, p 148
1993 � Birmingham Museum of Art, "Pictures in My Mind: Contemporary American Self-Taught Art, from the Collection of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen", Gail Andrews Treschel, editor & Assistant Director
1993 � Joy Moos Gallery, Inc. "Purvis Young"
1993 � New Orleans Museum of Art, "Passionate Views of the American South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present
1992 � Paula Harper, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Miami, also printed in an exhibition catalogue for Joy Moos Gallery, Miami, FL
1987, Dec � ARTnews, "Miami: Purvis Young", Elisa Turner
1986, Sep � Andy Warhol�s Interview "Creating a Scene - Art: Urban Renewal"
Selected Exhibtions:
2003 Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Miami Public Library, "Young at Sixty", Miami, Fl
2003, Skot Foreman Fine Art," At 60", Atlanta, GA
2002, Ft Lauderdale Museum of Art, "Urban Outsider"
2002, Bass Museum, Miami Beach, "The Life I See"
2002, Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada
2002 Art Miami, Miami Beach, FL
2002 Smithsonian Collection: Contemporary Folk Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
2001 Smithsonian Collection: Contemporary Folk Art, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
2001 Texas International Art Fair, Dallas, TX
2001 The Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada
2001 Smithsonian Collection: Contemporary Folk Art, The Art Museum at FIU, Miami, FL
2001 Holland Art Fair, Den Hague, Netherlands
2001 Art Miami, Miami Beach, FL
2000 Skot Foreman Fine Art, Ltd., Dania Beach, FL "A Convergent Voyage"
2000 Smithsonian Collection: Contemporary Folk Art, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
2000 artfit.com/Twilo, Chelsea, NY
2000 Kunst Koln, "Purvis Young", Karsten Greves, Cologne, Germany
2000 Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
1999 Museum of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, FL "Purvis Young: Walking Among the Peoples"
1999 Frederic Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1999 Museum of American Folk Art, New York City, NY "Self Taught Artists of the 20th Century: an American Anthology"
1999 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, ibid
1999 Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH ibid
1999 Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY ibid
1998/99 Modern Art Museum/Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX ibid
1998 High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA ibid
1998 Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH "Purvis Young: Painting the Blues"
1998 Skot Foreman Fine Arts, Ltd., Dania Beach, FL Ongoing Exhibition
1997 Schomberg Museum, New York City, NY "Bearing Witness"
1997 Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, VA "Flying Free"
1997 Pelegro Gallery, New Orleans, LA "Purvis Young: Paintings"
1997 Leslie Muth Gallery, Santa Fe, NM ibid
1996 Emory University Museum, Atlanta City Hall, Atlanta, GA "Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art of the South - The Arnett Collection"
1996 American Primitive Gallery, New York City, NY "Purvis Young: Paintings"
1996 Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, PA "Purvis Young: Paintings, Drawings, Constructions and Books"
1996 Bernard Baruch College of The City University Of New York, Sidney Myhkin Gallery, New York City, NY "Wrestling With History: Selections from the Shelp Collection"
1995 Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL "Passionate Views of the American South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present"
1995 Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL "Pictured In My Mind"
1995 Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL "The Outside Eye: Contemporary Art of the South, from the Collection Of George Lowe"
1994 Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, PA "Purvis Young: Books and Works on Paper"
1993 Karsten Greves, Paris, France "Purvis Young"
1993 New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA "Passionate Visions of the American South"
1993 Galerie Moos, Toronto, Canada "Purvis Young: New Works"
1993 Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York City, NY "Purvis Young"
1992 Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York City, NY "Sam Doyle, William Hawkins, Purvis Young"
1991 Karsten Greves, Cologne, German Federal Republic "Purvis Young"
1991 Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York City, NY "Purvis Young: Paintings"
1991 Joy Moos Gallery, Miami, FL "Purvis Young: Paintings, Books, Sculptures"
1988 Joy Moos Gallery, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1988 Miami Dade Community College Library, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1988 Artists Space, New York City, NY "Purvis Young: Me and My Work"
1988 Miami Lakes Branch Library, Miami Lakes, FL "Purvis Young: Books & Paintings"
1987 Homestead Branch Library, Homestead, FL "Purvis Young: Books & Paintings"
1986 Exit Art, New York City, NY "Transculture Media"
1986 Artifacts Salon, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1985 Joy Moos Gallery, Miami, FL "Burnt Toast"
1985 Culmer/Ovterton Branch Library, Miami, FL "Images of Everyday Life"
1984 Katherine Markel, New York City, NY "Book Exhibition"
1984 Joy Moss Gallery, Miami, FL "Get Fresh"
1983 Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, FL Mural for the Main Library
1981 Miami Branch Library, Miami, FL "Purvis Young: Books"
1977 Florida International University Art Gallery, Miami, FL "Contemporary Black Art: A Selected Sampling"
1973 Miami-Dade Community College North Campus, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1972 Miami Museum of American Art, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
1972 Miami Museum of Modern Art, Miami, FL "Purvis Young"
Education:
1943-Present (Alive)
1961-64 Florida State Penitentiary
1968--Present Miami-Dade Public Library System
Selected Public Collections:
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
City of Miami, Florida
Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C.
Federal Reserve Board, Atlanta, GA
Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale,FL
High Museum of Arts, Atlanta, GA
House of Blues, Chicago, IL
House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
House of Blues, Orlando, FL
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL
Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, FL
Miami Art Museum, Miami,FL
Motorola Corporation, USA
Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Rubell Collection, Miami, FL
Sackner Archves, University of Oregon, Portland, OR
Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA