“My manager bought me 7-8 brushes… I ain’t gonna use but one brush (laughs). I just wipe it off and put it in another … in red, blue,… purple. Green… yellow. I wipe my brush off and mix my paint up, you see, put that on, that same em’, use that same brush.”
WILLIAM HAWKINS
In 1982, Roger Ricco visited and filmed the painting studio of William Hawkins. in Columbus, Ohio. Enjoy this must-watch documentary short on their visit. Released in conjunction with a William Hawkins solo exhibition at Ricco/Maresca Gallery in 2013.
William Hawkins was born in Kentucky on July 27, 1895; his big block letter signature informs us of this in nearly all of his paintings. In 1916 he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he became an urban jack-of-all-trades, working relentlessly and often simultaneously at numerous odd jobs including driving a truck. Although Columbus became Hawkins’ permanent home, his childhood in Kentucky provided him with his knowledge and love of animals, an awareness that informs even his most fantastic dinosaur and safari animal paintings. And, in the 1930s, when he began making art, animals were his first subjects. In Two Dinosaurs Wrestling Hawkins intuits the mass and force of the creatures, and physically builds out their forms with sand.
Although he only had a third grade education, Hawkins always retained a curious, optimistic and energetic spirit. His selective eye constantly culled photos from newspapers, magazines, and advertisements, which he would clip and store in a suitcase “archive.” He referred to these images as “research.” Almost all of his paintings originated from one of these clippings, such as the swimming pool at the Hearst Castle in Neptune Pool, San Simeon or the Columbus, Ohio landmark depicted in his series of paintings of the Deshler Hotel. Hawkins would also collage photos into his paintings and paint around the collaged element, adding another dimension to the painting’s formal composition and its emotional power.
via Ricco/Maresca Gallery
Check out a more comprehensive, perhaps even the greatest list of outsider art must-watch documentaries.
- WATCH: William Hall: Keep Drawing
- WATCH: Kea’s Ark
- WATCH: My Psychic Gift: The Life and Art of Ljerka Cairn
- WATCH: The Castle Builder
- WATCH: It Started With a Horse (M.T. Liggett)
- WATCH: What’s Under Your Hat? (Judith Scott)
- WATCH: The Gospel According to Ralphael
- WATCH: Folk Art Found Me
- WATCH: GRANDMA’S BOTTLE VILLAGE: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey
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