The past and present of folk art collide at Folk Fest, the wild and woolly fair of self-taught art unfurling at Gwinnett County's North Atlanta Trade Center.
Here are just a few of the convergences visitors will notice among the 100-plus booths overflowing with richly colored and densely patterned paintings, drawings, sculptures and other three-dimensional art at the 18th edition launching Aug. 19:
- Cutout paintings of Elvis with angel wings by Georgia's best-known folk artist, the late Howard Finster. And Smyrna painter Paul Flack's Pop-inspired images of icons such as John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe and even the Piggly Wiggly pig.
- Frightful olive-green face jugs by the late Georgia folk potter Lanier Meaders. And roosters glazed in designer hues by North Georgia ceramicist Charlie West.
- Americana such as a 19th-century Betsy Ross flag with 13 stars. And deconstructed American flags crafted out of discarded wood and millwork by Atlanta artist Ab (short for "Abstract") the Flagman.
Unlike the Outsider Art Fair held every February in New York, Folk Fest is an unvetted show, meaning anyone can pay to display. On the one hand, that means each edition brings change and unexpected surprises. On the other, the quality can be inconsistent, with more and more individual artists commanding booths in recent years, some of them self-taught (a baseline definition of what constitutes folk) and some not.
Here is a taste of what to expect and some tips on how to navigate:
Pop side of folk
Paul Flack wouldn't fit anyone's notion of a folk artist. He was born in Brooklyn and worked as a teacher and in marketing, sales, public relations and technology. But an inspiring visit to Folk Fest a little over a decade ago and a health scare caused him to try painting on discarded boards from homes being built in his Cobb County subdivision.
Instead of the rural landscape that provides fodder for so many folk artists, he finds inspiration in graffiti, moving trains, the Internet and graphic T-shirts. "My shift," Flack said, "has been to imitate images that are seen on the street in a way that people can afford to buy and bring home."
He typically paints on boards covered with stained plaster of Paris to resemble weathered stucco walls and then seals the finished work in multiple coats of glossy resin. "A perverse way of capturing the transient art of the street and bringing it indoors," he said of his process.
Flack co-founded Who-HA Da-DA, a grass-roots "fellowship" that has grown to more than 50 mainly Southeastern artists who have had, as its website conveys without apology, "the benefit of public education, exposure to mass media and access to advanced technology." Some 10 of them -- including the well-established "Missionary" Mary Proctor from Tallahassee and Eric Legge from Dillard -- will command connected booths in the middle of Folk Fest.
Attempting to snare buyers in a tough economy, Flack has simplified the details on his classic angels and sharply dropped the price -- from $325 to $65, for instance, for 4-foot-long ones. His Pop-inspired, 16-inch-square, stenciled portraits go for $35-$50. No extra charge for the pizza takeout boxes in which he cheekily packages them.
Experienced dealers
Folk Fest's attendance upswing last year to 12,000 has led several well-regarded galleries to return after absences, including Gilley's Gallery (Baton Rouge), the Pardee Collection (Iowa City, Iowa), Outsider Folk Art Gallery (Reading, Pa.) and Mason Murer Fine Art (Atlanta).
For fans of old-school folk art by now-deceased artists such as Finster, Sybil Gibson, Mose Tolliver and others well-represented in museum collections, theirs are booths worth perusing. So are a trio of galleries that have held forth at Folk Fest for each of its 18 years: Ginger Young Gallery (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Main Street Gallery (Clayton) and Marcia Weber Art Objects (Montgomery). All of them mix classics with pieces by midcareer artists and new discoveries.
Twists on pottery
While not a huge slice of the Folk Fest smorgasbord, pottery appears to be gaining interest. For Stan Clark, the man who operates, simply, as Potteryman, this is a good thing.
The Gillsville dealer has a theory behind why many find pottery collecting "so addictive": relative affordability for pieces that are one of a kind. "The beginner comes in and spends a hundred or two and they are hooked," Clark said.
This weekend, his booth will be well-stocked with hard-to-find works by the extended Meaders clan, those Charlie West multihued roosters and Brian Wilson face jugs. Clark calls Clarkesville's Clint Alderman a potter to follow. "He built his own wood kiln, he digs his own clay, he makes his own glazes. He does it just like they did it before electricity."
Other booths to visit for pottery include Around Back at Rocky's Place (Dawsonville), Simply Southern (Hampton) and a newcomer, Clark House Pottery (Greenville, S.C). Bill Clark's glazed vessels draw inspiration from George Ohr, the famed "Mad Potter of Biloxi" who died in 1918 and whose experimental, oddly shaped and folded works are featured at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in that Mississippi town. Ohr's descendents have purchased more than 70 of Clark's creations in recent years.
Salute to Americana
Speaking of throwbacks, Americana and anonymous folk art will be represented this year by the Historical Americana Co., the company of Atlanta antiques dealer Steve Winters that specializes in antique versions of Old Glory in its myriad forms.
Not old but persuasively old-looking, Ed Pribyl's presidents, Uncle Sams and horses carved from basswood also will be on view. "My goal," the Illinois artist says on his website, "is to create every piece as though it were handed down from another period in time."
Event preview
Folk Fest
5-10 p.m. Aug. 19. Meet the Artists Party and show opening ($15, includes readmission all weekend). 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 21 ($7; free for ages 16 and under). North Atlanta Trade Center, 1700 Jeurgens Court, Norcross (Exit 101 off I-85). 770-532-1115, www.slotinfolkart.com.
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