I was up in Taos last weekend checking out the Harwood's current exhibit Mabel Dodge Luhan and Company, mostly because I'd been wanting to see the show, but also because the RMAC had loaned a couple of works and I was curious to see they how they looked in the installation. While perusing the galleries, I encountered this fantastic death cart by Patrocino Barela (1900-1964):
A self-taught artist praised for his abstracted wooden sculptures, Barela was touted during the 1930s as a "primitive modernist," in the lingo of the day, and even had his work shown at MoMA. Unfortunately the art world forgot about him as soon as the taste of the day changed, and he died impoverished, with his work only recently coming back into the academic light. This piece is a fantastic example, and it looked splendid in the gallery with a powerful winter scene by Victor Higgins looming behind it.
A self-taught artist praised for his abstracted wooden sculptures, Barela was touted during the 1930s as a "primitive modernist," in the lingo of the day, and even had his work shown at MoMA. Unfortunately the art world forgot about him as soon as the taste of the day changed, and he died impoverished, with his work only recently coming back into the academic light. This piece is a fantastic example, and it looked splendid in the gallery with a powerful winter scene by Victor Higgins looming behind it.
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