Experience Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden, site of a one-person creative flowering like few the world has ever seen. Also, see the Sidewalks of Paradise Garden. Read a review of Norman Girardot’s enlightening exploration of Finster’s art and theology. Visit my archival Howard Finster page.
Continue readingCross and Snowflake Sculptures by Stanley Szwarc
At Intuit through Jan. 8, 2017 — Cross Purposes: Cross and Snowflake Sculptures by Stanley Szwarc, curated by Rich Bowen and William Swislow. Stanley Szwarc, a Polish book keeper turned metal worker and then artist after arriving in the United States, gave no indication of being particularly religious, but in his world crosses were powerful.
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The Sidewalks of Paradise Garden
Among the most stunning features of Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia, are its sidewalks. Some bear representational images of buildings, others are abstract aggregations of potsherds. Some bear text messages, others are virtual encyclopedias of Finster’s tools. These mosaic ribbons threading through the garden are a potent representation of how his creativity found expression in every aspect of the environment around him.
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Inside The Land of Pasaquan
Pasaquan, one of the world’s great art sites, lies tucked away in rural west central Georgia, near the little town of Buena Vista. Pasquan was the creation of Eddie Owens Martin, a local boy who went away to live the low life in New York City (by his own account), but came back and created a masterpiece. That Martin was a bit of a crackpot is hard to deny. A fortune-telling ex-street-hustler, he created a personal religion, enshrined himself as a saint and turned his family farm into a holy place. The strength of his vision is so great, though,
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A World in Salt & Pepper Shakers
Salt and pepper shakers pack concentrated meanings into tiny packages — miniature appliances, little foods, dwarf monuments, pint-size people, tiny bits of abstraction. They can be elegant or kitschy, modern or backward looking, but at best they resonate in a myriad of ways. Visit the Gallery
Continue readingOpen House Chicago 2016
Some highlights from the October 16, 2016, Open House Chicago.
Continue readingPrairie Style Masterpiece
Carl Schurz High School is one of Chicago’s most beautiful school buildings and was included on the 2016 Open House Chicago tour.
Continue readingLlangollen’s Carved Wonderland
Wales’ Plas Newydd was the seat of the famous Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby. Inside is their collection of old wood carvings from the 18th century and earlier (but no photos allowed!). Outside the house is covered with carvings, some placed after the ladies lived there and coated with heavy black paint. It’s a spectacular home in a spectacular setting. Plus, the story of the ladies themselves is fascinating — Anglo-Irish gentry who eloped twice (they were caught both times but only forced apart the first) and settled together in the Welsh countryside, where they lived a
Continue readingThe Decorated Gyros
The painter of this sign for the Kebab Centre, Camden Passage, London, was not concerned with rendering a realistic gyros but rather embellishing it with grillwork-style details. Unique among the 500-plus images in The Gyros Project.
Continue readingBizarre Bazaars: Yet More Crazy Store Names
One more installment (for now) from my backlog of crazy store names. Find more than 500 other great names at the main Bizarre Bazaars hall of fame. Also: The Angry Chair hair salon, Newington, Connecticut Babies and Brats, Pawling, NY Bad Design, Switzerland Cafe Bong, Clark Street Card ‘N All, Closter, NJ Dead People’s Things, Denver, Colorado Heal N Cure, Northbrook, Illinois Here We Grow garden supplies, Hadley, Mass. Last Resort RV Park and Campground, Nashville, Indiana No Pork, Brooklyn, NY Stuff-It Storage, Hadley, Mass.
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