Lonnie Holley

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Lonnie Holley 2014 at a concert in Denmark
Lonnie Holley with one of his sculptures

Lonnie Bradley Holley (born February 10, 1950 in Birmingham , Alabama ) is an American artist.

life and work

Lonnie Holley had a disorderly childhood. Born the seventh of 27 children, he says he was sold to an alcohol smuggler ( bootlegger ) in a brothel for a pint of whiskey at the age of four . According to another version, he was lost to his birth mother at a state fair . He lived in various foster homes and worked various jobs at a young age, for example collecting garbage in a drive-in cinema or washing plates in a kitchen.

When he was fourteen, his grandmother brought him back to Birmingham. When his sister's two children were killed in a fire and there was no money for tombstones, Lonnie Holley got sandstone and made the tombstones himself. He began making more sandstone sculptures, which marked the beginning of his career as a self-taught artist.

Since 1979 he has been active in various art directions such as drawing , painting , photography , assemblages , object art , performance and music . For his sculptures he uses found objects and refers to the oldest tradition of Afro-American sculpture. In 1981, Holley was discovered by Richard Murray, director of the Birmingham Museum of Art . He made sure that Holley was included in the Smithsonian Institution 's traveling exhibition entitled "More Than Land and Sky" . His works were exhibited in the White House Rose Garden and are now represented in the collections of well-known museums.

During performances , Holley also improvises musical pieces that change with each performance. In 2010 and 2011 he recorded pieces in a recording studio for the first time, which he released on his first album Just Before Music in 2012 . Musikexpress.de describes Holley's music as "musical sculptures".

Lonnie Holley has 15 children.

Discography

  • 2012: Just Before Music
  • 2013: Keeping a Record Of It
  • 2018: MITH
  • 2020: National Freedom

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c Frank Sawatzki: Album of the week: Lonnie Holley - Mith. In: musikexpress.de . September 21, 2018, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Kendrick Brinson: Lonnie Holley for FADER. In: kendrickbrinson.com. March 11, 2013, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c Lonnie Holley. In: mainstreetgallery.net. Accessed November 4, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Amanda Petrusich: Lonnie Holley's Glorious Improvisations. In: newyorker.com . October 29, 2018, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b c Bio. In: lonnieholley.com. January 26, 2018, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Rebecca Bengal: Twenty-six siblings and a child labor camp: how Lonnie Holley's epic life led to the year's best album. In: The Guardian . October 5, 2018, accessed March 4, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Jenni Zylka : Multi-artist Lonnie Holley: A "sand man" for the universe. In: deutschlandfunk.de . September 15, 2018, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  8. ^ Lonnie Holley: Just Before Music. Dust-to-Digital, 2012, accessed November 4, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Holley, Lonnie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holley, Lonnie Bradley (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham , Alabama