the good weird

this week in outsider art includes drawn by professor zeis, a horny toad, a cat litter box, plus a shout out to william hawkins and the greatest opening ceremony ever

Jul 28, 2024

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

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Drawings by tattoo artist Milton Zeis from the book "Drawn by Prof Zeis" by *Blue Letter Books*, presenting a collection of art and tattoo flash once distributed by Milton Zeis in the 1930’s.

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Horny toad (date unknown) // Wood, paint; 8 7/8 × 9 1/16 × 13 3/4 in. (22.5 × 23 × 35 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**HENRY DARGER** 175 at Jennie Richee. Everything Is Allright Though Storm Continues (no date) // Credit: © Kiyoko Lerner

**ELIZABETH "GRANDMA" LAYTON** Garden of Eden (1977) // Pencil and colored pencil on paper; 24 × 18" via *American Folk Art Museum*

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**STEVE ASHBY** Two Girls (date unknown) // Paint on wood with fabric, paper, plastic with metal attachments via Faces and Figures in Self-taught Art / The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College

**BILL TRAYLOR** Running Man (Jesse Owens) (c. 1939-42) // Crayon and graphite on found cardboard; 9 1/2 × 7 in (24.1 × 17.8 cm) via *artsy*

**FELIPE BENITO ARCHULETA** "My Cat" (1983) // Incised wood; 16 x 25 in. (40.6 x 63.5 cm.) via *Santa Fe Art Auction*

**WILLIAM H. JOHNSON** Mom and Dad (1944) // Oil on paperboard; 31 x 25 3⁄8 in. (78.7 x 64.5 cm.) via *Smithsonian American Art Museum*

**VERED GERSZTENKORN** Yellow Cat (2018) // Acrylic and gouache on paper; 40x50cm via *The Fourth Wall Gallery*

**LINDA CARMELLA SIBIO** Economic Paradigm of Life (2018) // Gouache on paper on dibond; 13 x 20 inches via *Andrew Edlin Gallery*

**WILLIAM HAWKINS** Black Panther (date unknown) // Enamel on masonite; 44 inches x 48 inches via Estate of William Hawkins, from the Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University

**SARAH LEE** Three birthday brats (2024) // Acrylic paint on wood; 11.69 inches x 8.27 inches -- *available for purchase via the artist in the FolkArtwork Collective shop*

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

**DAVID PEARCE** Dandelions (2022) // 26 cm x 20 cm; mixed media on panel via *Padstow Gallery*

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WATCHING AND READING

Here are a few things I’ve been watching this past week:

Here are a few things I’ve been reading this past week:

OH WORD?

» Olympics Opening Ceremony Goes Hard «

I’m not a big fan of the Olympics Opening Ceremony. It’s kinda long, kinda boring and in this particular case, I’ve taken four years of French — I think I get it. Look, I’m not a fan of Gojira either (the band not Godzilla), I’m clearly not a fan of Marie Antoinette, but put them together and what we got?! I need to call up my 8th grade French teacher and apologize because this was the best Opening Ceremony ever!

If you haven’t seen it yet, or even if you have seen it a dozen times like me and my children — do yourselves a favor and take a look:

How could you hate that? We need to make the Olympics, other major sporting events, and all highly televised weird again! And not the J.D. Vance kinda weird, the kinda weird where 18th century Queens are holding onto their heads weird while a French heavy metal band who lives in Brookyln are blasting a cover of a popular French Revolution song. That’s the kinda weird I’m looking for!

My son asks me for a good dream every night before bed and tonight I think I’m just going to remind him of this.

SHOUT OUT

» 5 Fast Facts About William Hawkins «

Shout out to William Hawkins, born July 27th, 1895 in Union City, Kentucky. One of, if not my favorite artists of all-time, and the reason I started FolkArtwork — after stumbling into an exhibit of his work in 2018 at the Figge Art Museum, I have never looked at art the same way and vowed to learn as much as I could about this self-taught master, and self-taught, folk and outsider artists alike. Happy birthday to the GOAT!

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FROM THE COLLECTIVE

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

» MEET THE COLLECTOR SERIES PART SIXTY-NINE — Adam Oestreich, Iowa «

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