Howard Finster – 1916-2001

A native of Summerville, Georgia, Finster was a “born again” Christian who became a Baptist pastor and created folk art under what he claimed was the inspiration of God, who enjoined him to preach the gospel through an art assemblage called “Paradise Garden” and some 46,000 individual pieces of art. The incredibly prolific Finster incorporated a dazzling array of images in his art, which included paintings and three-dimensional works, appropriating pop culture icons (especially Elvis Presley), historical figures (Lincoln and Washington), and renderings of more conventional religious images. During the 1970s, his work began to receive national recognition, and he emerged as the first of the so-called “outsider artists,” artists who are not part of the academic or commercial art establishment.