❥ the spirit world

this week in outsider art features other worldly ledger art, nellie mae rowe's clean house, a gravestone and why jordan sullivan's artwork is devoted to the "underbelly"

Oct 20, 2024

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

for daily postings of outsider art visit folkartwork.art or follow on Instagram

Drawing by Black Hawk (Sans Arc Lakota) c. 1880 depicting a horned Thunder Being (Haokah) on a horse-like creature with eagle talons and buffalo horns via *Wikimedia*

The creature's tail forms a rainbow that represents the entrance to the Spirit World, and the dots represent hail. Accompanying the picture on the page were the words: "Dream or vision of himself changed to a destroyer and riding a buffalo eagle."

**NELLIE MAE ROWE** My house is Clean Enought to Be healty and it dirty Enought to Be happy (1978–1982) // Crayon and pencil on paper; 18 x 24 inches via *High Museum of Art*

Gravestone of John Adams, carved by John New of Massachusetts in 1754 via Farber Gravestone Collection from *American Antiquarian*

» free preview of this week’s B-B-Bonus This Week in Outsider Art newsletter «

**ARTIST UNKNOWN (Likely a "schoolgirl")** Green Cat and Tussling Kittens (19th century; Pennsylvania) // Watercolor in Period Frame via *Critical EYE Finds*

**GAYLE UYAGAQI KABLOONA** Surfacing (2023) // Clay, underglaze, glaze via *Feheley Fine Arts*

Unidentified wooden fish decoys from the early 1900s via *American Folk Art Museum*

Catch Des Moines: "Faces In The Crowd" Art Exhibit Opening Reception

**LEROY ALMON** Life (date unknown) // Paint and mirror on carved wood; 24 x 11.5 inches via *Artwork Archive*

**PHILIP WEINTRAUB** Untitled (c. 1950–1970) // Oil canvas; 25 × 31" via *American Folk Art Museum*

MARIA PRYMACHEHNKO A she-bear with a cub in the resorts, and a bear at home sucking his paw in pain... (1988) via *She Museum*

Des Moines Register: Things To Do // "Faces In The Crowd" Art Exhibit

**DINAH HANSON-CARRILLO** Blue Moon: The Tired Princess Tarot (2024) // Acrylic on Canvas; 16”x20” courtesy the artist -- *see this only at the “Faces In The Crowd” FolkArtwork exhibit in Des Moines, Iowa opening Saturday, November 9th!*

"This was painted as a reflection of my grief over the loss of my 14 year old cat, Meatball (here depicted in ghostly form), and it grew into more of a card about universal experience of loss, and the cycle of mourning. I have spent most of my life as a skeptic and a cynic, but I have changed and my life has changed a lot over the past decade and I have searched for clarity instead of running from it. Now tarot is something I use to think about my life and the lives of my friends from different angles and new perspectives. I also lazily use it as a Vibe Check for daily readings. I refer to guides and I also apply my own interpretation and feelings when I do readings. There are many personal experiences baked into this… I think you can take what you want from it." — Dinah Hanson-Carrillo

**MAMIE DESCHILLIE** Alligator mud toy (c. 1980-90s) // Unfired (sun-baked) clay, paint; 1 ½ x 2 x 5 ½ inches via *Two Graces*

**SHINICHI SAWADA** Untitled (169) (2020) // Wood fired ceramic; 6 3/4 x 13 3/8 x 8 in. (17 x 34 x 20.2 cm) via *James Cohan Gallery*

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

**KIYAVASH DANESH** Untitled drawing (c. 2024) courtesy and many thanks to Morteza Zahedi and Sarvenaz Farsian of Gallery Outsiderinn

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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?

» Jordan Sullivan’s “Devotional Art” is Now Devoted to “The Underbelly” «

*Jordan Sullivan in his home studio via the artist*

As the first-ever FolkArtwork exhibit, 'Faces In The Crowd,' gets closer and closer (less than 3 weeks way until the opening reception!) — I am excited to continue to share the stories of the artists I am fortunate enough to work alongside.

This week, I had the privilege of learning more about Jordan Sullivan, why he makes the art he makes and why he feels at home with “the underbelly”. Spoiler: partly because he knows that world pretty well.

*Artwork by Jordan Sullivan available for purchase*

Excerpts from my interview with Jordan Sullivan:

FolkArtwork: Some of your artworks tell stories of what people may see as the “seedy underbelly of society”. Despite that, you pull them off in a calming and beautiful way. What is it about these stories that fascinates you and why are you so interested in telling these stories, sometimes blending multiple realities together in your artwork?

Jordan Sullivan: I’ve always been drawn to that underbelly. I’ve lived in that underbelly. Most people in this world are outsiders and that’s really what I’m drawn to — risked lives, lives on the edge.

FA: In this phase of your self-taught art making career, do you remember what those first works were like and how have you seen your art evolve over the past few years?

JS: I think I made some copies of paintings I had seen in the Catholic church where my family and I went every Sunday when I was a kid. I think in some ways I’m still painting devotional art, but I’m not a Catholic and I’m not painting madonnas and saints — I paint drug addicts and sex workers and people just grinding it out — those are the sorts of people I feel devoted to.

FA: Are there any artists, either self-taught or traditional fine artists that inspire you or you look to in your art making practice?

JS: At the moment Roy Ferdinand.

Roy Ferdinand (1959-2004) was a self-taught artist who chronicled life on the backstreets of New Orleans in the years before Hurricane Katrina. Composed on poster board with drug store art materials-ink pens and markers, colored pencils, and children's water colors. Ferdinand, who died at age 45, often drew on events he saw firsthand, heard about, or read in the pages of the local newspaper. Addressing issues such as gun violence and crime, income inequality, drugs and the war on drugs. — RoyFerdinandArt.com

Jordan Sullivan's work can be purchased in the FolkArtwork Collective shop and you can see her work on November 9th at the "Faces In The Crowd" FolkArtwork exhibit in Des Moines, Iowa.

read the full interview here

SHOUT OUT

Shout out to the folks at KIOSK, a new gallery space in Chicago who just last night opened up their first show. These works come all the way from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with the help of “Art School Jerry” his students create some beautiful mystical and traditional works of art. If you can, don’t miss this show! And if you can, grab yourself a work — I have one — and I love it!

BONUS SHOUT OUT: Contemporary artist Michael McGrath is also selling artworks from “Art School Jerry” on his website, 100% of the proceeds going directly back to the school and the artists during this turbulent time in Haiti.

FROM THE COLLECTIVE

available for purchase

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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

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