Good Morning Obots! Happy “damn next day ham sho taste good in a sammich” day!
Today’s featured artist is Leon Kennedy
Leon Kennedy’s (b.1945, Houston TX) spiritually inspired pieces are also his “sermons.” It may be particularly fitting that his choice of materials runs the gamut of redeemed cast-offs. Kennedy’s Biblical texts appear on bed sheets, window panes, pie tins and chairs. His eagerness to spread the word seems to consume him.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCrYFfYT9Vk]
In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution purchased 200 significant works from the renowned Rosenak collection for an undisclosed sum estimated to be near $2M. This acquisition included a bed-sheet by Kennedy. The 1997 Folk Art Messenger, Vol. 10, No.3, reported that the acquisition makes the Smithsonian American Art Museum the world’s preeminent repository for American self-taught art. “It is our desire to see them as part of the history of 20th-century American art,” said Chuck Rosenak.
Mentioning Kennedy, the article notes these works were the first American collection exhibited at the Collection de l’Art Brut, Switzerland, which “testifies to its quality and uniqueness.” The Leon Kennedy masterwork now resides at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, while photos of Kennedy and other materials of Kennedy’s are available for study at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
(below) Extraordinary visionary folk artist Leon Kennedy draws President Barack Obama. Leon is renown for his historical portraits of black Americans. Two of his famous portraits, of Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, were featured in the year long exhibit recently at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore: Race, Class, Gender ≠ Character from October 1, 2005- September 3, 2006. “Throughout history, visionaries have dreamed of a world where their characters are not judged, their creative potential is not limited, or their livelihoods are not proscribed by factors of race, gender, or economic circumstance.” Leon draws a spirited portrait of Americas 44th President, posted here on the day of his historic inauguration.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3bpOO-x5Lg]