Music on the Porch: Lonnie Holley

Please join us on the porch to appreciate a multimodal artist who defies all genres and categories. During his week-long visit to UNC-Chapel Hill in late September and early October, Lonnie Holley will visit classes in Art, Folklore, and American Studies, create new sculptures with found and recycled materials, engage in public conversations, and give a musical-spoken word performance, “Thumbs Up For Mother Universe,”at the Center.

Over the last forty years, Holley has created an amazing series of sculptures, assemblages, and multimedia performances. Working primarily with “scrap,” recycled, and found materials, he creates art from the detritus of modern American society. Holley’s aesthetic is centered in rehabilitated beauty: finding art in the ugly places. Although he has recently been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, Lonnie’s work has largely lived outside the curated spaces of art museums and critical reviews. He represents what American Studies professor Bernie Herman calls the “Birmingham-Bessemer School”: a cohort of Alabama artists whose work speaks to the deep conflicted histories of the American South and beyond.

You can hear a sample of Lonnie’s music and see more of his work here.