A trip to the Southeastern United States, specifically through Georgia and Alabama, pokes a hole in the theory that art environments are avante-garde, presenting art environments along the roads. Also known as yard art, these have been around for more than half a century if not longer.
Summerville, Georgia is a tiny town two hours northwest of Atlanta and home to Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens. This four-acre environment includes freestanding sculptures, meandering mosaic walkways, a spectacular chapel, a building made of glass bottles, biblical messages and a tremendous sense of place and history.
Howard Finster Artist and Preacher
Howard Finster, a Baptist preacher, was born in Valley Head, Alabama on December 2, 1916. Before his death in October 2001, at the age of 85, his oeuvre included more than 46,000 paintings in addition to Paradise Gardens’ buildings, sculptures and mixed media works. His wife Pauline, with whom he raised 5 children, survives Howard but does not, and has never, shared in his desire for public attention.
The Art World has anointed Finster with many labels including Folk Artist, Outsider Artist and Naïve Artist. The one moniker that is most apt is Visionary Artist, the only genre in this group that does not include derogatory allusions to the artist’s mental state, level of education or race. This is a subject that rankles the soul of the liberal thinker and one that is so broad of scope that it calls for an essay of its own.
In short, Anglo males of European descent are known simply as artists – perhaps with a modifying word that links them to a particular school of thought and style. Women are always referred to as female artists with little regard to genre and formal or informal training. Those who do not fit neatly into one of the aforementioned groups are most often categorized by a variety of attributes, most of which were beyond their control such as race, lack of formal training and education or where they were born or the area that they reside in.
Visionary Art
Visionary Art is defined as transcending the physical realm through a wider lens of awareness with an emphasis on spiritual or mystical subject matter. According to Finster, he had his first vision at the age of 3. His deceased sister, Abbie Rose, appeared to him and told him that he would be a “man of visions.” This first played out in the form of country preacher – Finster was “born again” at a Baptist revival at the age of 13 when his years of formal education had come to an end and he began preaching at the age of 16. His career as a full-time pastor started in 1940 at Rock Bridge Baptist Church, he then led the parish at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Fort Payne (Alabama).
As lore has it, his epiphany came in 1976 when he realized that by Sunday evening his followers had forgotten his sermon but they didn’t forget his art. Not wanting to forfeit his avocation as a man of god, he preached through his art. This is not a unique vision but one shared by artists of many genres. George Balanchine, renowned choreographer and creator of New York City Ballet, once said, “God creates, I do not create.” Colorful, detailed and painted on a flat plane without perspective, Finster’s paintings are covered with words and Bible verses. He felt people would absorb the scripture “better” that way.
Finster was known to have stated, “Christians were not supposed to be famous, they were supposed to be servants of God.” However, in serving God through his art Finster achieved an unrivaled level of fame for a Visionary Artist. He was profiled in Esquire magazine in 1975 when the reporter (after an exhaustive search the name of the reporter is still a mystery) dubbed Finster’s environment Paradise Gardens.
He appeared on the Johnny Carson show in 1983 and has a league of followers that continue to create in his style and support the restoration of Paradise Gardens today. An R.E.M. video was filmed at the Gardens and his cover art for a Talking Heads album garnered awards and accolades. In addition to many books about Finster, one he co-authored, there are YouTube videos featuring the Garden and well worth viewing.
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