Born 1928, Emelle, Alabama; died 2016, Emelle, Alabama.
Born in a cornfield to an unwed teenage mother, Dial grew up in rural Emelle, in Alabama's western flatlands. He began full-time farm work at age five and managed to attend school only rarely. On the eve of World War II, he was sent to live with relatives in Bessemer, just outside Birmingham. There, he married, raised a family, and worked for half a century in heavy industry, building highways, houses and ultimately boxcars during a thirty-year stint at the Pullman Standard Plant.
Dial's life encompasses many of the most consequential episodes in twentieth-century African-American life - sharecropping in the Black Belt, migration from country to city, the upheaval of the civil rights era, and the ethnic conundrums of a rapidly changing postmodern America. As John Beardsley writes, "Dial's life is inseparable from history, because he had made it his business as an artist to be a historian. Dial lived history, then he represented it in paintings and sculptures".
From childhood on, Dial built "things" using whatever he could salvage, recycling even his own work to reuse materials in new creations. Dial referred to what he made only as "things," though late in life he found out that others call them "art." Having developed during the era of racial segregation, Dial's style is both personal and culturally rich, and it speaks with a resolute voice that was denied to him through the years as a black factory worker.
In Dial's art, intense surfaces, multilayered narratives, shifting compositional relationships, and a metaphysical concern with issues of recycling and ancestry exist hand in hand with an ironic, earthy wit. His work exemplifies his almost religious determination to make art's complexities and mysteries central to the human understanding of reality.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Thornton Dial: The Visible and the Invisible, Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY
2023
Handwriting on the Wall, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, CA
2022
I, Too, Am Alabama, curated by Paul Barrett, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL; traveling to Samford University Art Gallery, Birmingham, AL and Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, AL
Year of the Tiger, David Lewis Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2021
Allegory and History, David Lewis Gallery, New York, NY
The Earliest Years, 1987-1989, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2020
Dial World Part I: The Tiger That Flew Over New York City, David Lewis Gallery, New York, NY
Trip to the Mountaintop, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
2018
Mr. Dial's America, David Lewis Gallery, New York
2016
Green Pastures: In Memory of Thornton Dial, Sr., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
We All Live Under the Same Old Flag, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY
2015
Thornton Dial: Works on Paper, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY
2014
Thornton Dial, Independent Projects, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2013
Daybreak, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2012
Thornton Dial: Viewpoint of the Foundry Man, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
Thornton Dial, Virginia Union University and Art Gallery, Richmond, VA
Thoughts on Paper, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC; Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
2011
Thornton Dial, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Disaster Areas, Bill Lower Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2005
Thornton Dial in the 21st Century, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
2000
Drawings, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York, NY
1999
Thornton Dial: His Spoken Dreams, Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York, NY
1995
Abstraction in the Art of Thornton Dial, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, GA
1993
Thornton Dial: Image of the Tiger, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; American Folk Art Museum, New York; American Center, Paris, France
1992
Thornton Dial: Works on Paper, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
1991
Thornton Dial, Sr.: Works on Paper, Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York, NY
1990
Thornton Dial: Strategy of the World, Southern Queens Park Association/African-American Hall of Fame, Jamaica, NY
Thornton Dial, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Thornton Dial: Ladies of the United States, Library Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, Marietta, GA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Edges of Ailey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
2023
Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2022
“I made this…”: The Work of Black American Artists and Artisans, Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA
Anyone Can Move a Mountain, Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL
Recent Acquisitions: Additions to the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at The University of Alabama 2015 – 2022, Paul R. Jones Museum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Black Abstractionists: From Then ‘til Now, curated by Dexter Wimberly, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX
Summer At Its Best, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VA
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Old and New Dreams: Recent Acquisitions in a Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Drawers: Provocative Drawings, curated by Laura Hutson Hunter, OZ Arts, Nashville, TN
Us Them We: Race, Ethnicity, Identity, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
Elegy: Lament in the 20th Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Living Legacies: Art of the African American South, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
2021
Now Is The Time: Recent Acquisitions to the Contemporary Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Another Tradition: Drawings by Black Artists from the American South, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY
2020
An Alternative Canon: Art Dealers Collecting Outsider Art, curated by Paul Laster, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK
Folk and Self-Taught Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
African American Art in the 20th Century, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. and Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA; traveled to Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, FL; Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
Vernacular Woman, Ricco/Maresca, New York, NY
2019
Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
Souls Grown Deep: Artists of the African American South, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Home Is a Foreign Place, Met Breuer, New York, NY
Artists I Steal From, curated by Alvaro Barrington and Julia Peyton-Jones, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, UK
Memory Palaces: Inside the Collection of Audrey B. Heckler, American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
2018
Beverly Buchanan, Thornton Dial and the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York
History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2017
Revelations: Art from the African-American South, De Young Museum of Art, San Francisco
Known/Unknown: Private Obsession and Hidden Desire in Outsider Art, Museum of Sex, New York, NY
2016
Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, NC, Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY
Post Black Folk Art in America 1930–1980–2016, Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL
2015
I See Myself in You: Selections from the Collection, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
History Refused to Die, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, AL
2014
When the Stars Begin to Fall: Imagination and the American South, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY Social Geographies: Interpreting Space and Place, curated by Leisa Rundquist, Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC
Social Geographies: Interpreting Space and Place, curated by Leisa Rundquist, Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC
2013
Seismic Shifts: Ten Visionaries in Contemporary Art and Architecture, National Academy Museum & School, New York, NY
2012
Thornton Dial and Lizzi Bougatsos, James Fuentes, New York, NY The Soul of a City: Memphis Collects African American Art, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Creation Story: Gee’s Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial, The Frist Center for Visual Arts, Nashville, TN
The Soul of a City: Memphis Collects African American Art, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
2011
All Folked Up! Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY The Armory Show, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Testimony: Vernacular Art of the African-American South, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library and Exhibitions International, New York, NY; traveled to Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI; Columbia Museum and Gibbes Planetarium, Columbia, SC; AXA Gallery, New York, NY; Tubman African-American Museum, Macon, GA; Terrace Gallery, Orlando, FL
2003
In the Spirit of Martin, Smithsonian Institution, traveling exhibition
2000
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1999
African American Art: A Decade of Collecting, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
1998
Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology, Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1997
The Hirshhorn Collects: Recent Acquisitions 1992 - 1996, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
Since Hall: New Acquisitions of Folk and Self-Taught Art, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Bearing Witness: African-American Vernacular Art of the South, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY
Human/Nature: Art and Landscape in Charleston and the Low Country, Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC
1995
Passionate Visions of the American South: Self -Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; traveled to University Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley, CA; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
1991
The Dial Family, Ricco/Maresca, New York, NY
1989
Black Art, Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African American Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
SELECTED BOOKS & CATALOGUES
2023
Anderson, Maxwell L. Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South. Texts by Paul Goodwin and Raina Lampkins-Fielder. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2023.
2021
Jones, Phillip March, ed. Thornton Dial: The Earliest Years, 1987–1989. Los Angeles, CA: Parker Gallery, 2021.
2018
Finley, Cheryl, Randall R. Griffey, Amelia Peck, and Darryl Pinckney. My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018.
2017
Burgard, Timothy Angin. Revelations: Art from the African American South. San Francisco: de Young Museum; Munich: Prestel, 2017.
Life Go On: The Art of Thornton Dial. Richmond, VA: Virginia Union University, 2017.
Moten, Fred. Black and Blur. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017.
2012
Thornton Dial: Viewpoint of the Foundry Man, catalogue, Andrew Edlin Gallery.
Scala, Mark, ed. Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial, Nashville: Frist Center for the Visual Arts and Vanderbilt University Press, Print.
2011
Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper, edited by Bernard L. Herman, Chapel Hill: Ackland Art Museum and University of North Carolina Press, Print.
Cubbs, Joanne and Eugene Metalf. Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, catalogue, Prestel, Print.
2009
Outsider Art Sourcebook, Raw Vision, Print.
2007
Crown, Carol, and Charles Russell. Sacred and Profane: Voice and Vision in Southern Self-Taught Art. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.
2006
Arnett, Paul, Joanne Cubbs, and Eugene W. Metcalf, Thornton Dial in the 21st Century, Tinwood Books, Print, 1 January.
2004
Fine, Gary Alan. Everyday Genius: Self-taught Art and the Culture of Authenticity. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
2002
Giovanni, Nikki, Gary Miles Chassman, and Walter Leonard. In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2002.
2001
Anderson, Brooke Davis and Stacy C. Hollander. American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Conwill, Kinshasha and Arthur C. Danto. Testimony: Vernacular Art of the African-American South: The Ronald and June Shelp Collection. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Russell, Charles, ed. Self-Taught Art: The Culture and Aesthetics of American Vernacular Art, Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.
2000
Arnett, William and Paul Arnett. Souls Grown Deep, Volumes 1 and 2, Arnett et al, Print, 2000 & 2001.
1997
Beardsley, John. Art and Landscape in Charleston and the Low Country. Charleston: Spoleto Festival.
1995
Griffin, Roberta T. Abstraction in the Art of Thornton Dial. Marietta, GA: Kennesaw State College.
1994
Hall, Michael D. and Eugene W. Metcalf Jr. The Artist Outsider: Creativity and the Boundaries of Culture. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
1993
Passionate Visions of the American South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, New Orleans Museum of Art, Print.
American Self-Taught, Maresca & Ricco, Print.
Thornton Dial: Image of the Tiger, Baraka & McEvilly, Print.
20th Century American Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Art, Neal-Schuman Publishers, Print.
1990
Museum of Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists, Abbeville Press, Print.
SELECTED ARTICLES
2023
McFadden, Jane. "Thornton Dial: Handwriting on the Wall." Brooklynrail.org, June 7, 2023.
Yohannes, Neyat. "Thornton Dial at Blum & Poe." Contemporaryartreview.la, May 25, 2023.
Garner, Alex. "PUBLISHER’S EYE: Thornton Dial." Artillerymag.com, May 4, 2023.
2018
“Thornton Dial.” Newyorker.com, March 5, 2018.
Holmes, Jessica. “Thornton Dial: Mr. Dial’s America.” Brooklynrail.org, March 5, 2018.
2014
Kennedy, Randy, "For Met Museum, a Major Gift of Works by African-American Artists From the South," New York Times, November 24.
Niland, Josh, "The Met Hit the Jackpot of African-American Art," artnet News, November 24.
Sutton, Benjamin, "The Met Museum Nets Major Collection of Outsider Art from the South," Hyperallergic, November 24.
2013
Williams, Paige. “Composition in Black and White,” New Yorker, August 12 & 19.
2011
Doran, Anne, "Review," Time Out New York, April.
Gómez, Edward M, “On the Border,” Art & Antiques Magazine, February.
Kino, Carol, “Letting His Life’s Work Do the Talking,” New York Times, February.
Kuspit, Donald, "Review," Artforum, Summer.
Lacayo, Richard, “Outside the Lines,” Time, March 14.
"Review," New Yorker, April 11.
Wilkin, Karen, “Biography, History, Self-Evident Beauty,” Wall Street Journal, April 21.
2010
Jones, Phillip March, “Thornton Dial, Sr,” White Hot Magazine, February.
2002
Giovanni, Nikki, Gary Miles Chassman, Walter Leonard, In the Spirit of Martin, (Tinwood Books).
1997
Smith, Dinitia, “Bits, Pieces and a Drive To Turn Them Into Art,” New York Times, February 5.
1993
Lloyd, Ann Wilson, “Thornton Dial at Luise Ross,” Art in America, May.
Scott, Sue, “Thornton Dial [exhibition review],” ARTnews 92, April.
Smith, Roberta, “A Young Style for an Old Story,” New York Times, December 19.
1991
Kuspit, Donald, “The Appropriation of Marginal Art in the 1980s,” American Art, Winter/Spring.
1987
Kroll, Jack, “The Outsiders Are In: American Folk Artists Move into the World of Money and Fame,” Newsweek, December 2.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA
American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington D.C.
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
The United Nations, New York, NY
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY