ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM | RAM TALKS ART | OUTSIDER ART OF THE THORNTON DIAL FAMILY

RAM Talks Art: 'Outsider Art of the Thornton Dial Family'

By Patty Rhea, Curator, Rockford Art Museum

School has been out now for more than six weeks. Are the kids feeling a bit cooped up? At times, we all need a creative break. No need to wait for yet another rainy day… inspiration is within close range. Take the kids, or yourself for that matter, to see “Dialed In,” Rockford Art Museum's permanent collection display featuring a family of accomplished artists—the Dial Family.

The artwork of African-American self-taught artists, exhibited in Anderson Gallery, gives testimony to the unique impact, power and vision of the creative spirit. Part of the RAM's Hager Collection, these works were created by common people raised in the rural South without formal art background or training. The term “outsider” or “intuitive” art is commonly used because it refers to art created outside the norm of mainstream society. Objects created are often composed of discarded or found objects such as scrap metal, sticks, plywood, pebbles and tin.

The patriarch of this creative brood is Thornton Dial. Now in his 80s, Thornton and his family reside in Bessemer, Ala. For as long as he can remember, Thornton has been creating things. His artistic career began late in life, after retiring as a welder from Pullman Standard Railroad Car factory. Art provided a natural venue for his ideas. “Art ain't about paint. It ain't about canvas. It's about ideas. I have found how to get my ideas out and I won't stop. I got 10,000 left,” he said.

Thornton's racially-charged concepts take shape both on boldly-hued canvases and in sculpture pieces. He uses the tiger motif to represent the trials and tribulations of the African-American male. He sculpts using salvaged collected materials such as tin, tree roots, wood, bottles, carpet, often welding things together.

Following the tradition of his father, Thornton Dial Jr. works as both painter and sculptor, using vibrant colors and found materials. His work takes on a distinctively personal style, adding strong lines to the hues typical of his father's paintings. Ever embodying the nature of folk art, he prefers oil-based enamel house paint to “artists' paint” when creating his thought-provoking pieces.

Thornton Dial's son Richard took the folk art style of his father in a new direction: furniture. Transforming the functional lawn and patio furniture created by his family's company—Dial Metal Patterns—into usable art pieces, Dial makes chairs riddled with social commentary and whimsy. Richard's welded steel chair titled “Comfort of Father's Love” is a fanciful homage to his father, Thornton. The chair is an endearing representation of a seated man. It playfully beckons the viewer to sit a spell. One can't help but feel that sitting in the chair would be akin to sitting in the arms of a father's embrace.

Burlap and industrial sealing compound are staples of Arthur Dial's assemblage paintings. Unlike the wildly-textured backgrounds of his brother Thornton Dial's work, Arthur tends toward a flat, single-hued background yielding dramatic results. The result is quite dramatic. From his imagination and memory, Dial creates large-scale, vibrantly-colored, figurative paintings often referencing biblical stories and social injustices. His liberal use of industrial compound as a medium gives added shape and dimension to his figures.

A less-prolific artist, Mattie Dial, daughter of Thornton Dial, creates colorful, unique folk art paintings. As a working mother, Mattie is only able to produce her art sporadically. However, her style is unique among the Dial family of artists. Mattie's love of nature is evident in the vibrantly-colored painting titled “Garden.” More heavily patterned than the work of the other Dials, this joyful display of nature's creatures bursts at the seams with butterflies, flowers and cherubic birds. Mattie's innate love of drawing is apparent in this naïve landscape.

Creativity continues to play a central role in the lives of the Dial family. The desire to draw and create is an inherent need as vital as the desire for food and shelter. There are lessons to be learned from an intuitive approach to art. Let your inner child lead the way…media, after all, is in your own back yard or recycling bin. The power of creativity is as varied as your own imagination. If in doubt… let your children lead the way.

Dialed In: Outsider Art of the Thornton Dial Family remains on display at Rockford Art Museum through Nov. 23.

Contact Rockford Art Museum Curator Patty Rhea at prhea@rockfordartmuseum.org.

from the July 30-Aug. 5, 2008, issue

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