Untitled
Willie White
American, 1908–2000
Details
Title
Untitled
Artist/Maker
Willie White (American, 1908–2000)
Date
1980s
Medium
Mixed media on poster board
Dimensions
22 x 28 inches
Credit
Gift of Gordon W. Bailey
Accession #
2016.51
Location
Currently not on view
Born in Mississippi, Willie White spent his adult life in New Orleans. There he observed artists who painted outdoors and sold their art in the French Quarter. In the 1950s, he began to make his own work, first with housepaint and then with felt-tip markers. His scenes are fantasies of life before human evolution, inspired by dreams and television, like the flying dinosaurs seen here. In contrast to Traylor’s balancing of figures against empty backdrops (or negative space) nearby, White’s high-contrast interlocking forms cover every inch of his white poster board.