Thornton Dial Notes
Repression, refuse, Redemption
THE DOGWOOD TREE, 2003
Beneath the central figure of the black Messiah in this crucifixon image is a piece of real dogwood, that according to "fable?", was use to construct Christ's cross.
-REDEMPTION: MUSINGS ON THE SPIRITUAL-
(1) Surving the Frost, 2007
(2) Construction of the Victoru, 1997
(3) The Beginning of Life in the Yellow Jungle, 2003 ("coding for the coming together of the races)
(4) First Butterflies 2002 (a prayer for the worlds recovery after 9/11)
CLOUDS MOVING IN THE SKY, WE WAKE UP IN DARKESS AND LOOK FOR DAYLIGHT, 2006
In this atmospheric work of bronzes and pale blue, Dial uses industrial plastic stretched and mounted over crumped demin pants and canvas scraps to create a space and moment between light and dark, life and death and hope and despair.
CROSSING WATERS, 2011
In this vast blue abstaction Dial brings to life the African American lore, "crossing water" as a metaphor for deliverance. It recalls the Isrealites dross of the River Jordan but also the Underground Railroad to Ohio, and the infamous Middle Passage. In the center of this 14 ft x 7 ft ocean of blue lined in wire fencing is a tiny white-faced character carrying a headless black figure, a reference to the slave trade.
----
"Out of the Darkness, The Lords Gave us Light (2003)
In this painting of green on black, Dial envisions the birth of the universe and the cataclysmic moment when the world exploded into existence.
Crosses to Bear (Armageddon), 2001-2004
Here Dial captures a visiion of the world in shambles after 9/11. Within the skeleton of ben, rusty metal are hanging pieces of shredded tire that resember burnt flesh. Parts of the assemblad are wrapped in red-stain cloth, dressings ona wounded humanity ravaged by violdence and aggression. Martyrdom, suffering, and ultimately salvation are also reflected in the line of metal crosses that rise hauntingly out of the ruins. A scarecrow-like metal figure of Osama bin Laden lurks behind Dial's assemblage, but the piece is a lament aumed at the entire history of human conflict.
"Seasoned," (2004)
A fiery composition is a parody of Abstract Expressionist painting, in which Dial paints a blazing inferno.
"You can't harden the iron without the fire."
I was impressed by
"Give the artist his due...Who have not yet been adopted by the marketplace." "This museum anyway is not the compass point."
- Maxwell Anderson
"Art is like a bright star up ahead in the darkness of the world. It can lead peoples through the darkness...Art is a guide for every person who is looking for something."-TD
"Heave and Hell on Earth" (1995)
For Dial, who has lived in both urban and rural spaces, the debate remains unresolved. Regarding hell versus heaven, he notes, "They're always together. We're living in both all the time."
"It was hard times I had coming up. We just didn't habe anything...wasn't nothing easy. Trying to survice, that's the experience of life."
"Lost Cows" 2000-2001
The assemblage is also a meditation on the endless cyle of life and death. Rising above the spectral scene are the triangular rooflines of a symbolic slaughter house, and hanging at the very center of the tableau is a leather gold bag. Dial's slights commic symbol for the cow's transformation into another stage of life, its rebirth.
"New Light" 2004
In a larger philosophical sense, this piece also expressed Dial's belief in the promise of enlightment and higher understanding, the hope for humanity's political and spiritual illumination.
"Blood and Meat: Survival for the World (1992)
Vague portrait of social heroes peer our from amidst the gruesome scene, including MLK (at upper left) and JFK (at upper right). Near the center of the composition is an image of Christ crucified on the cross, which serve as a further icome of their martyrdom.
(Close, all you see if color and ropes garshily connected like a vulture eating live meat)
"The Last Day of Martin Luther King, Jr (11992)
Here MLK is shown on the day of his assassination. Using the story of Christ's Last Supper and Crucifixion as a metaphor for King's impening murder, Dial combines sacred and secular events. At botton left, a table setting of real pots and pans signifies the Biblical mean. A representation of Jesus comforts a likeness of King's widow at upper left.
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THE DOGWOOD TREE, 2003
Beneath the central figure of the black Messiah in this crucifixon image is a piece of real dogwood, that according to "fable?", was use to construct Christ's cross.
-REDEMPTION: MUSINGS ON THE SPIRITUAL-
(1) Surving the Frost, 2007
(2) Construction of the Victoru, 1997
(3) The Beginning of Life in the Yellow Jungle, 2003 ("coding for the coming together of the races)
(4) First Butterflies 2002 (a prayer for the worlds recovery after 9/11)
CLOUDS MOVING IN THE SKY, WE WAKE UP IN DARKESS AND LOOK FOR DAYLIGHT, 2006
In this atmospheric work of bronzes and pale blue, Dial uses industrial plastic stretched and mounted over crumped demin pants and canvas scraps to create a space and moment between light and dark, life and death and hope and despair.
CROSSING WATERS, 2011
In this vast blue abstaction Dial brings to life the African American lore, "crossing water" as a metaphor for deliverance. It recalls the Isrealites dross of the River Jordan but also the Underground Railroad to Ohio, and the infamous Middle Passage. In the center of this 14 ft x 7 ft ocean of blue lined in wire fencing is a tiny white-faced character carrying a headless black figure, a reference to the slave trade.
----
"Out of the Darkness, The Lords Gave us Light (2003)
In this painting of green on black, Dial envisions the birth of the universe and the cataclysmic moment when the world exploded into existence.
Crosses to Bear (Armageddon), 2001-2004
Here Dial captures a visiion of the world in shambles after 9/11. Within the skeleton of ben, rusty metal are hanging pieces of shredded tire that resember burnt flesh. Parts of the assemblad are wrapped in red-stain cloth, dressings ona wounded humanity ravaged by violdence and aggression. Martyrdom, suffering, and ultimately salvation are also reflected in the line of metal crosses that rise hauntingly out of the ruins. A scarecrow-like metal figure of Osama bin Laden lurks behind Dial's assemblage, but the piece is a lament aumed at the entire history of human conflict.
"Seasoned," (2004)
A fiery composition is a parody of Abstract Expressionist painting, in which Dial paints a blazing inferno.
"You can't harden the iron without the fire."
I was impressed by
"Give the artist his due...Who have not yet been adopted by the marketplace." "This museum anyway is not the compass point."
- Maxwell Anderson
"Art is like a bright star up ahead in the darkness of the world. It can lead peoples through the darkness...Art is a guide for every person who is looking for something."-TD
"Heave and Hell on Earth" (1995)
For Dial, who has lived in both urban and rural spaces, the debate remains unresolved. Regarding hell versus heaven, he notes, "They're always together. We're living in both all the time."
"It was hard times I had coming up. We just didn't habe anything...wasn't nothing easy. Trying to survice, that's the experience of life."
"Lost Cows" 2000-2001
The assemblage is also a meditation on the endless cyle of life and death. Rising above the spectral scene are the triangular rooflines of a symbolic slaughter house, and hanging at the very center of the tableau is a leather gold bag. Dial's slights commic symbol for the cow's transformation into another stage of life, its rebirth.
"New Light" 2004
In a larger philosophical sense, this piece also expressed Dial's belief in the promise of enlightment and higher understanding, the hope for humanity's political and spiritual illumination.
"Blood and Meat: Survival for the World (1992)
Vague portrait of social heroes peer our from amidst the gruesome scene, including MLK (at upper left) and JFK (at upper right). Near the center of the composition is an image of Christ crucified on the cross, which serve as a further icome of their martyrdom.
(Close, all you see if color and ropes garshily connected like a vulture eating live meat)
"The Last Day of Martin Luther King, Jr (11992)
Here MLK is shown on the day of his assassination. Using the story of Christ's Last Supper and Crucifixion as a metaphor for King's impening murder, Dial combines sacred and secular events. At botton left, a table setting of real pots and pans signifies the Biblical mean. A representation of Jesus comforts a likeness of King's widow at upper left.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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