PURVIS YOUNG

1943-PURVIS YOUNG

Purvis makes his home in the run-down section of Miami known as Overtown where he creates massive murals on the sides of dilapidated buildings and construction site fences.He studies about the old masters, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Hiroshigi, in Miami's Main Library, but he is a self-taught artist of the streets.Purvis paints life as he lives it, for better or worse. He depicts the plight of the underpriviledged and their redemption through the God who watches over them, and the fanciful imagery of horses, some with warriorlike riders bearing spears, some simply grouped without riders. His angels and faces, and erotica are amoung his most sought after images, although some prefer his more busy pieces, filled with bustling cities and countless small figures.

His expressionistic renderings are painted on the refuse of this poor community; old tables, scrap wood with nails still protruding from it, plastic lids and old books.Though his images seem repetitious, each painting carries it's own merit, value and even loveliness. The more one knows about Purvis's life the more one can marvel at the beauty he gleans from it.

For those of you who are familiar with his work, we don't have to explain the imperfections, cracks, creases and other imperfections that add informal beauty to these paintings. For those of you with more refined taste , we have taken several smaller pieces and mounted them with frames to show off the beauty of Purvis' style in a more conventional fashion.

#3ANGEL WITH PRAYING IMAGES

21 X 26" WITH scrap wood framing SOLD