News Scrapbook 1979

J_q79

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-Stoff PM1os DV 'ony Doubet

Th~ late John Hoff of El Cajon created old- fashroned classroom scene, above, to be included in monthlong exhibit of Deloss McGraw's folk art collection to open in Los Angeles. Lo"Ve of detail characteristic of American folk artists, is seen in such features as teeth, tongue and claws of panda bear, ~eft. _McGraw, below, checks figure of trapeze artist m rncus scene by the fate John Hoff. Innocent Charm, Careful Detail Folk Art Captures Individual's Flare By BETH MOHR Stoff Wr !tr, TIie Son Dlt90 un,on It is childhk That is the first reaction to sculptures, carvings and pfctures m DeI;-0 • c: uo · folk art .collection Then, the innocent charm and concern with detail the variety of materials and individuality or each artist's approach becomes captivating. -~' an art teacher at the University of San Otego. was struck by the real essence of American primitive works about eight years ago when he walked into a gallery where a folk art exhibit happened to be an attraction. "It was art communicating directly. Whimslca:, natural, naive and honest, it said somethi . The beauty of folk arl is mthe eye of the collector. Some of it is very good, a lot of it is bad. For every good piece, you find about 25 bad ones." (Continued on D-3, Col. 1)

SAN DIEGO CLIPPING SERVICE

SAN DIEGO CLIPPING SERVICE

SAN DIEGO UNION

JUL 21 1979 2 Considered For S.D. Transit Post

EVENING TRIBUNE

day of Dr. Author E. Hughes, USD president, and attorney Dame! Mon- zingo to fill the spot former- ly held by iarc Sandstrom. Hughes was nominated by Mayor WiJson and Mo - zingo by Councilman Larry Stirling.

The president of the Uni, versity or San Diego and a quadriplegic attorney have been nominated to fill a vacancy on the San Diego Transit Corp.'s board of directors. The City Council will con- sider the nominations Mon-

JU~ 21 1979

(N•II Morgon Is on ossignm•nt. This column Is wrltt•n by his assist- ant, Tom llolr.J LIFE IN THE CITY: Ted Giannoulas has given tacit ap- proval to the name "Chicken a la King," supplied by KFMB Radio after its name-the-bird contest. The winner, chosen from 1200 entries, was submitted 'ty Matthew Poiset, 11, of El Cajon. But what about a court order forbidding Giannoulas to appear as a chicken here? "The judge's order, as I understand it, says I can't call myself a chicken " says Giannoulas. 'It doesn't s~y other people can't call me a chicken." . . . Bats across the border: San Diego and Tijuana police will go after each other tomorrow afternoon in friendly competition: They've scheduled a softball game at San Ysidro's Larsen Field.... USD President Author Hughes and businessman Dan Monzingo have been nomi- nated to fill the vacancy on the Transit Board left by Marc Sandstrom's exit. The City Coun- cil could vote Monday to appoint both men; a second vacancy looms with the resignation of George Scott.

D-3

THE SAN DIEGO UNION

Monday, July 16. 1979

Folk Works Show Artist Individuality, Charm

Inez Walker's portraits, done with black and colored ballpoint pens, stress detail along with a love for design. . Her women's hair is waved strand-by-strand, the prints m their dresses are in carefully drawn patterns, facial features are clearly outlined and the hat worn by one is top stitched in precisely spaced lines. the most skillfully carve(,l obJects in the McGraw collection are a pair of oxen by Arch Uletta a New '.'dexico artist. ' He will feature California artists in the works he takes for the Los Angeles exhibition. It also is charactistic of the area in which it was made, McGraw explained. Among

common because of indigenous limbs, roots and vines." One of the unexpected finds made by McGraw and his wife is a long slender gourd brightly painted in diamond patterns. "On a trip to Oklahoma, someone suggested that we go through the town of Eufaula to see things being done by an artist named Irene Hall," McGraw saiil. "Her front yard was filled with gourds and cow skulls painted in all sorts of designs. She also had decorated her fence with dolls' heads." "When we asked to buy a gourd, Mrs. Hall hesitated. She said that her yard was important to the community, that people enjoyed it. Many folk artists feel that way. They know that people like their work and they want it to be enjoyed. They are not too interested in making money from the art." While Hall uses a great deal of color in her work, wood carver, Ernest Goad, uses none at all. He is blind and so are his simple and appealing figures. McGraw has his well-proportioned angel, with wings spread from shoul- ders to thighs, and his crucifix, with a short-limbed Christ nailed to a plain cross. Both figures have closed eyes and gentle expressions. The angel has a slight smile and Christ seems more resigned than anquished. Calling attention to the angel's legs, McGraw said· "All of Ernest Goad's standing figures have bent knees. That is very typical of tribal art, but not seen too often in work by American folk a1tists."" The folk artists attention to detail especially striking in some of McGraw's animal figures. An otherwise sweet panda bear is made ferocious by a fuH set of individually set teeth, a rabbit has bristle whiskers and a sheep is covered with fleece.

"Everything )fr. Hoff did showed his deep interest in detail," ~cGraw said. "He devised his own work meth· ods and the materials he used could be found around the house. These are the characteristics of a true primitive. 'Tribal art is not primitive, as usually supposed. It is done by the most-talented people mthe various cultures. The artists also have been trained and usually appren- ticed to masters in their tribes. In that sense tribal art is sophisticated. "American folk artists work in their own way with whatever material they choose and are unschooled in art. They do not want to learn about new materials or techniques." Art, per se, does not interest the primitive artists. They enjoy what they do and repeat the same themes, and sometimes the same objects, over and over again, McGraw added. Ben Miller, a Breathitt County, Ky., coal miner, is an example. He has been carving serpent canes for 25 years. Some of the canes are designed as serpents, with heads carved at the ends of the handles, and some have snakes coiled around the shaft. The one in McGraw's collection has the serpent coiling toward a spider at the top of the shaft. Afrog sits on the handle waiting to pounce on the spider. "The snake, of course, gets both spider and frog," McGraw said He pointed out that Miller carved the cane from one piece of root and tinted the serpent, spider and frog with pamt and felt-tipped pens before varnishing. ' The canes are a good example or the folk artists' p 1 actice or using themes and materials around them. One would never find a snake or cane carver in the Kansas plains, but, in the Appalachian mountains and other heavily wooded areas, these objects are fairly

(Continued from D-1) McGraw has chosen 50 of the 20th century American works m his collection for a monthlong exhibit to open July 31 at the Bamesdale Park Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles In McGraw's collection are a blind artist's wood carvmg of blind figures, portraits by a woman who 'handles pen and pencil detail with the painstaking care used in fine embroidery, sculptures of animals with carefully applied teeth and claws, paintings in religious themes and other pieces based on morality messages. McGraw and his wife, Diane, have searched out works on tnps, heard about them from friends or found them unexpectedly The late John Hoff an El Cajon folk artist, created scenes with doll. in carefully designed settings complet- ed with handmade furniture. 1cGraw heard about Hoff's work from a friend who saw the artist's widow Eula discussing Hoff's work on KPBS-T\ Hoff's cenes now in McGraw's collection include a three-ring circus with animals and trainers, ring master, trapeze artists, clowns, gladiators, trained horses, all appropnately costumed An old-fashioned sehoolroom is complete with teacher, pupils and spelhng lesson on the blackboard. Ahospital shows a nurse tending mfants in the nursery, surgery in progress m the operating room, a patient slgmng m at the Jqbby admlttan~ desk and nur s looking after patients in a ward. Characters mthe scenes are dolls toated With bnghtly pamted plaster or ge ohke material. The coatmg holds the dol 'a rigid as statues and gives circus animals a · furry texture.

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