‘Folk Art Twice, It’s Alright!’ Opens Friday At Bozarts
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Margaret’s Grocery is a southern vernacular folk art environment that’s a Mississippi Folk Art treasure. Suzi Altman’s photographs document this extraordinary site where travelers from all over the world stop to this day to admire the late Reverend Dennis’ unique architecture.
Bozarts Gallery opens a new exhibition on Saturday, April 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. Folk Art Twice, It’s Alright! features the paintings of Church Goin Mule and the photography of Suzi Altman. Together these talented women artists pay homage to Mississippi folk art.
Church Goin Mule has been drawing and painting her whole life. Although she was born in Richmond, Va., she said that she “got to the Mississippi Delta as fast as she could.” She keeps her studio outside of Alligator, south of Clarksdale, with her two dogs, cats, chickens, and garden.
The name Church GoinMule reflects her ancestry – her grandfathers on both sides were Appalachian men, one plowed with mules and fought in the navy in World War II, while her other grandfather was a Methodist minister. They worked, lived, fought, and loved hard so that decades later she had the opportunity both to grow up in a loving home and to be encouraged in her pursuit of the arts. She often gets her inspiration from his sermons and her own garden.
She is an outsider artist, and on the backs of the paintings you’ll find what year it was painted, where, and a number. She began numbering her paintings in 2019 after her father asked her how many she had done the year before. Since 2019, she’s painted more than 2,200 pieces.
Her work in this show is reflective of the excitement heading into spring, the appearance of daffodils in the early season, and her surroundings at home. She says, she “paints hopeful work for a hurting world.
Suzi Altman, the photographer known for her photographs documenting the life of James Meredith, first shown at Bozarts Gallery two years ago, is back with photographs of Margaret’s Grocery outside of Vicksburg. Her photographs document the grocery and the couple who built this extraordinary site where travelers from all over the world stop to this day to admire Reverend Dennis’ unique architecture.
Suzi Altman knew both Margaret and Dennis, also referred to as the Preacher, and promised them she would see to it that the Preacher’s Palace wasn’t lost.
It’s a very important environment,” says Suzi. “It’s been written about by everyone from art collector William Arnett to National Geographic. Margaret’s Grocery is a southern vernacular folk art environment that’s a Mississippi Folk Art treasure. Margaret passed away in 2009 and she was a pretty smart lady. She was the first African American store owner on Highway 61. Preacher died in 2012, and in 2013 we founded the Mississippi Folk Art Foundation to protect this.”
In addition to caring for the physical structure itself, Suzi Altman’s photographs bear witness to the history, the deep spirituality, the love, and the amazing creativity of the couple.
The art opening is public and all are invited, 6-9 pm on Saturday, April 5.
