Some artists refuse to sign the face of their paintings, finding it intrusive to the overall image. William Hawkins (1895-1990) clearly did not participate in that dialogue of modernist painting, as each of his paintings features his name and birth date in bold, large font. Their prominence evokes the creator’s pride; despite his old age (Hawkins was in his eighties when he created these works), lack of formal training and possession of little more than a single brush, his creative vision surfaces in brightly colored paintings of American cities, religious motifs and natural themes.
Jan Petry, chair of Intuit’s exhibits committee, has paired William with another Hawkins: Hawkins Bolden (1914-2005), a Memphis outsider artist who became blind in childhood and felt his way through life by creating works from discarded materials. His sculptures combine metal, pierced pots and pans, and belt and carpet scraps. Bolden titled these “Scarecrows”—with holes for eyes and cloth fragments for tongues—and did use them to keep birds from his garden.
The two Hawkinses shared a few things besides a name. African-American males with Southern roots, both are master self-taught artists who used everyday materials to create affective and raw visions of the world. Their output, however, varied considerably: brightly colored paintings on cardboard and Masonite versus totem-sculptures assembled from hole-littered metal, occasional wood parts, and multiple leather and carpet “tongues.” One visual, the other tactile. The two artists’ works co-exist surprisingly harmoniously in Intuit’s gallery space. (Anastasia Karpova)
Through January 5 at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, 756 North Milwaukee
For Us: A Review of "Something from Something" at Engage Projects Kushala Vora and Adia Sykes’ collaboration "Something from Something" tells us as viewers that knowledge, art, creation, inspiration, love—really anything you can think of—has a place of origin.
Women Behind the Lens: A Review of "From Her to Eternity" Courtney Love curates on the street. Just west of Wabash on the corner of Eighth Street, there is a wall of stellar rock star images that includes a special collection made by women photographers over the years.
Microcosm: A Review of “Dialogues” at Patron Through each artist-relationship, "Dialogues" offers the viewer a rare opportunity to witness the direct connections that flow through the electric nervous system that both infiltrates and generates Chicago's art world.
Looking Down: A Review of Bob Tanner at Perspective After the loss of his wife, Bob Tanner made two photography series, “At Ocean’s Edge” and “At Winter’s Edge,” that are shown in this meditative show filled with graceful visual poetry.
