Thornton Dial - Thornton Dial

In this publication, Thornton Dial's assemblages, as well as his watercolours and drawings, are presented in 128 reproductions - 122 in colour. Using a variety of materials - scrap metal, rope, carpeting, canvas, wood and paint - held together with industrial sealing compound, self-taught contemporary artist Thornton Dial creates powerful, richly textured narrative assemblages. His primary symbol is the tiger, with which he represents the African-American male, notably himself, encountering life.;The text offers a multifaceted look at the artist's career. First, art critic Thomas McEvilley, widely known for his groundbreaking writings on post-Modernism, analyzes Dial's work as a watershed in the emergence of alternatives to Western art-historical conventions. Then, noted poet, playwright and essayist Amiri Baraka looks at the phenomenon of the African-American self-taught artist and the cultural tradition from which Dial emerges. Baraka also provides an interpretation of the artist's imagery. The illustrations are accompanied by extended captions that elucidate Dial's thoughts and working processes.