copywrite A. Izzaria
Rougette Gallery
Purvis Young Biography
copywrite A. Izzaria
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Purvis young is a good example of an outsider artist whose art is well received by the general public, critically acclaimed, and well represented by mainstream galleries. Purvis, however, still lives much as he did when he famously protested the city of Miami's plans to level part of Overtown, the disenfranchised neighborhood that has always been his home. It's a fair debate, is he or is he not an outsider?
Purvis' story is well known: In the early 1970s Miami Purvis's work has been
shown in galleries and museums consistently for over 30 years. He was the
subject of a recent documentary (2006). And, despite serious
health problems he continues to create art. We are fortunate
to work with an old and dear friend of Purvis' to make his art available
here in Maine.
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city officials planned to
knock down an area of Overtown called Goodbread Alley, a
neighborhood street that had housed bakeries which fed the local
Black community. Outraged, Purvis plastered the alley with
painting to let the world know there were people living there. The
street was nonetheless destroyed to make way for a highway, but
local art lovers took notice of Purvis.
Purvis continued to
express his anger, frustration, and other thoughts and feelings
through his art. Art in America (Jan 2003) described his work as
"expressive, figurative paintings...that are passionately engaged
with the political, social and emotional environment of his
community." Raw Vision (issue 36) refers to his work as a result of
"careful and constant observation" which allow him to produce gritty
unpolished paintings that are "full of joy and tragedy", "ambiguity
and ambivalence" and "full of poignant simplicity". William Arnet in
Souls Grown Deep describes Purvis' work as "equal parts
calligraphy, music, and graffiti...which unite to reveal the chaotic
and cacophonous dance of birth, death, and all that transpires in"
Purvis' world. An essential element
of his work is that it is produced on what is discarded around where
he lives. 