William Dawson
1901 – 1990 (Alabama, USA)
Retiree and self-taught whittler, whose multi-faced totems and frontal figurines were fashioned from discarded wood, and adorned with wigs and other paraphernalia. The artist is of legendary status in Chicago, which is the source for the installation of pieces in this exhibition. His work is in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum (Washington DC) and the American Folk Art Museum (New York).
Self-Taught, Wiregrass Museum of Art, (Alabama), 2021
What Carried Us Over, The Pérez Art Museum (Miami), 2020
Black Folk Art in America, Corcoran (Washington DC), 1984
American Self-Taught Art, F & J Laffal, 2003
American Self-Taught Paintings and Drawings, 1993
F Maresca; Black Folk Art in America, J Livingston & J Beardsley, 1982
