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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > From 1900
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Elijah Pierce's America (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R1,231
Discovery Miles 12 310
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Elijah Pierce's America (Hardcover)
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Elijah Pierce (1892-1984) was born the youngest son of a former
slave on a Mississippi farm. He began carving at an early age when
his father gave him his first pocketknife. Pierce became known for
his wood carvings nationally and then internationally for the first
time in the 1970s. Accompanying a major exhibition at the Barnes
Foundation, Philadelphia, this publication seeks to revisit the art
of Elijah Pierce and see it in its own right, not simply as
'naive'. Elijah Pierce made his living as a barber; he was also a
qualified preacher. Just as his barber shop was a place for gossip
and meeting, so his art reflects his own and his community's
concerns, but also universal themes. Through his carvings Pierce
told his own life story and chronicled the African-American
experience. His subjects ranged from politics to religious stories
but he seldom distinguished the race of his figures - he thought of
them as everyman. His secular carvings show his love of baseball,
boxing, comics and the movies, and also reflect his appreciation
for American heroes who fought for justice and liberty. In 1932,
Pierce completed 'the Book of Wood', which he considered his best
work. Originally carved as individual scenes, the completed 'Book'
tells the story of Jesus carved in bas-relief. He and his wife
Cornelia held "sacred art demonstrations" to explain the meaning of
the Book of Wood. Pierce's work was first appreciated in the art
world thanks to a fellow sculptor, Boris Gruenwald, who saw the
expressive power of his work. As a later critic wrote, "There are
500 woodcarvers working today in the United States who are
technically as proficient as Pierce, but none can equal the power
of Pierce's personal vision". Pierce became known primarily in
circles promoting 'naive' art, winning first prize at the
International Meeting of Naive Art in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in 1973.
The vast majority of his work is now held in Columbus, Ohio, which
had become his home town. This book revisits Pierce's art seeking
to see it in its own right, and not simply as 'naive'. Another
critic wrote: "He reduces what he wants to say to the simplest
forms and compositions. They are decorative, direct, bold and
amusing. He uses glitter and all kinds of devices to make his
message clear. It gives his work an immediacy that's very
appealing" - an appeal arising from a sophisticated art with its
own particular voice.
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