Minnie Evans
© 2019 Matrons & Mistresses.
UNTITLED (THREE FACES IN FLORAL DESIGN), 1967
minnie evans
gallery information:
cameron art museum
on display:
march 29th - september 22nd
hours:
fr-we: 10am - 5pm
th: 10am - 9pm
admission:
$10
They hung from clotheslines... artworks from whatever paper that could be found, bright with color and made from visions. A voice had told her once to “draw or die,” so at 43, Minnie Evans took up her crayons and chose life through creation.
Not always sure where this world ended and the divine began, it seems fitting that Evans served most of her life as a gatekeeper to Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, NC. A dollar for admittance...fifty cents for one of her pieces displayed at the entrance.
Credit: Nina Howell Starr / Science Source
Images and Text Copyright © 2012 Photo Researchers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Portrait of the folk artist Minnie Evans, (1892 - 1987)
taken in Wilmington, North Carolina; undated.
“My, my. I don’t know how I did it. But I did it.”
– Minnie Evans
© 2019 Matrons & Mistresses.
UNTITLED (FEATHERED FACE SURROUNDED BY TWO BIRDS AND INSECTS), c. 1963
MINNIE EVANS
While circumstances required that she leave school at thirteen, evidence of the subjects she had loved—religion, mythology, and history—found their way onto her paper. Though Minnie only left North Carolina once, her art was rich with her Caribbean ancestry.
All-knowing eyes—a quality of her God. Lush nature: tropical flora, vibrant sunsets, and delicate animal wings. Angels, demons and portraits of ancient wise ones. Evidence of the beauty within one’s everyday life mixed with mysticism of the unseen.
Known as one of the most influential Outsider Artists, Evans’ work rightfully found its way into the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian and the High Museum. In 1975 the “Whitney” held an impressive retrospective of her work, and upon her death, 400 artworks were left to what is now known as the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC. In 1994, May 14 was declared “Minnie Evans Day.”
A special thanks to my dear friend Scott Relan who walked me through Evans’ work and kindly answered all my rambling questions. Minnie, Clyde, Annie, Vollis, an exhibition on Outsider Art, will be up at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC through September 22, 2019.
© 2019 Matrons & Mistresses.
untitled (flowers & peacock feather), 1962
mini evans
© 2019 Matrons & Mistresses.