Influences From the Untaught: Contemporary Drawings

Influences From the Untaught: Contemporary Drawings featured the work of nine artists selected from the four corners of the country. The exhibition presented the work of Trena Banks, Beverly Buchanan, Tom Duncan, Denis Gaston, Bert L. Long, Jr., Aminah Brenda L. Robinson, Alison Saar, Josette Urso, and Jeff Way. Benny Andrews was the curator of this exhibition. Born in 1930 in Madison, Georgia, Benny Andrews painted and taught in New York City and Athens, Georgia. His works, held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, reflected his experiences as a young black artist. Mr. Andrews found that the work of his father — a naive artist — was a primal source for his own paintings and collages.

This exhibition was timed to coincide with an exhibition of Mr. Andrews' work at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Advertising was shared by the two institutions. Vignelli Associates designed a booklet specifically for the exhibition. Each artist's entry included a statement by the artist. A brief biography of the artist as well as full catalog information for each work was included. A symposium with all the artists as well as the curator was held on Tuesday evening October 18, 1988 at The Drawing Center.

Benny Andrews wrote of the exhibition, saying the following:

“The nine artists in this exhibition credit folk, primitive and naive art and artists as a wellspring of inspiration for the creation of their work. They often cite family members, or creative but untrained individuals in the community, and in several instances, even the presence of artworks from earlier cultures as influences. Jeff Way finds inspiration in the presence of ancient burial mounds of Native Americans in his native state of Ohio. Beverly Buchanan speaks of returning to her southern home and being inspired by the simplicity of the "shacks," as people called the outhouses and wood frame houses in which they lived. This led her to seek out the folk artist Nellie Mae Rowe, and visiting her home "was like being engulfed in a magic forest of her work."

The insights and foibles of his father, an untaught artist, were a major influence on Denis Gaston's art. Tom Duncan makes use of tramp art and was surprised to discover many years later, upon returning to his native home in Scotland, that "this decorative design I have been using in my art work for many years was from a church in the community with a Celtic design carved around the doorway."

Josette Urso was born and raised in Tampa, Florida and, through the influences of her Sicilian born father, was not only intrigued by her heritage but found her works influenced by colors, native made products, and customs of nearby Ybor City, a "city" within the city of Tampa populated mostly by immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy. Bert L. Long, Jr. sees the personal visions of the untrained as a source of inspiration and he strives for the intensity that he feels emanates from those works. Alison Saar tells about a visit to the Watts towers in Los Angeles. "I recall how I was impressed that Simon Rodia had built these beautiful lace-like structures from scraps of tile and a variety of found objects and materials. It was this experience that taught me that art was something independent of the art market and techniques."

Both Aminah Brenda L. Robinson and Trena Banks draw heavily on their southern roots, steeped in both religion and Black culture. Robinson almost sings when she says "My life is lived from within. From within I find the celebration of familyhood and communityhood." She expresses this in works drawing upon sources from the islands off the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas. In the same reverential spirit, Trena Banks infuses her strong religious beliefs into the fabric of her artistic creations until they are practically inseparable. One could see her as being formally trained in art almost by accident, especially when Trena talks about how committed she is to this little town in Georgia and its community. "I enjoy the freedom I have when I paint and I hope to share these feelings with the young people of Scottdale. As a child I wanted to be a ballerina but we could not afford the lessons."

Overall I think these nine artists show that while formal art training contributed greatly to their craft, the influence of the works by untaught artists greatly enhances and elevates their creations and is the true source of their inspiration.”