You Better Be Listening: Text in Self-Taught Art December 16, 2011

From street preachers to sermonizers of all persuasions, this exhibition will feature artists who use written words as an integral part of their art. Art can be used as a form of communication and self-taught artists often use text as a way to complete their message. Curator Matthew Arient states, "In the work of trained artists, many times the text takes on a secondary, deeper meaning that the viewer is supposed to understand. For untrained, self-taught artists, text many times takes on a much more literal aspect." You can see this literal message in the work of Reverend Howard Finster who used his paintings as a way to spread the gospel after he was told by a voice to paint "sacred art."