Clyde Connell: The Art and Life of a Louisiana Woman

9780292711051

0292711050

"Moser's [book] does a splendid job reconstructing Connell's artistic pilgrimage in stunning color photographs of sculptural groups and separate pieces and in the thoughtful, succinctly-written text that places the sculptor's life and work within a cultural context . . . what Moser has offered us is a sensitive and comprehensive study of an artist whose work is as deeply rooted in region as it is in contemporary international art."--Southern Quarterly"Clyde Connell is no naive Grandma Self-Taught-Artist. This study of her work will be quite essential for the art world to see how significant work can be produced outside the myopic world of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles . . ."--Lowery S. Sims,Metropolitan Museum of ArtLouisiana sculptor Clyde Connell observes, "I don't stay still in art, in life, in thinking, in feeling." In this study of her life and work, Charlotte Moser traces the changes that have led Connell from a proper plantation upbringing to civil rights activism and to the creation of nationally recognized art.Influenced by such modern movements as abstract expressionism and minimalism but also by black culture and religion and by primitive art, Connell's work reveals a mystical relationship with nature and a southerner's strong sense of place. Her growing national reputation has brought numerous awards and inclusion in several prestigious exhibits, including the exhibit Different Drummers at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in 1988.