About the artist
1903-1972, born in Tennessee, lived and worked in Yermo, CaliforniaCalvin Black was a folk artist who lived in California's Mojave Desert and created more than 80 life-size female dolls, each with its own personality, function, and costume. He also built the "Bird Cage Theater," where the dolls perform and sing in voices recorded by the artist.
Cal and his wife Ruby began building Possum Trot in 1954 as an attraction for their rock shop as well as an artistic expression. Calvin carved the dolls, each representing someone important in his life, and Ruby made clothes for them. The animated displays were designed to entertain visitors.
In 1977, Allie Light and Irving Saraf made Possom Trot, a documentary film which works on two levels. One is the documentation of the artist's legacy and commentary on women: grotesque female figures moving in the desert wind and the theater with its frozen "actresses," protected by Cal Black’s widow from a world she views as hostile. The other is the re-creation of the artist’s vision through the magic of film, as the camera enables the dolls to move and sing and brings theater to life as the artist imagined it.
http://www.folkstreams.net/film,105
Above: Photo by Tim Brehm
Bibliography
Almeter, E. Lynn. “Relative Visionaries.” Country Home (January/February 1997): 20.
Art Outsider et Folk Art des Collections de Chicago. Paris: Halle Saint Pierre, 1998.
Bishop, Robert, and Jacqueline M. Atkins. Folk Art in American Life. New York: Viking Studio Books, 1996.
Brown, Susan L. “Discovery—Possum Trot.” Connoisseur (September 1982): 8–12.
Cat and Ball on a Waterfall: 200 Years of California Folk Painting and Sculpture. Oakland, CA: The Oakland Museum, 1986.
Common Ground/Uncommon Vision: The Michael and Julie Hall Collection of American Folk Art. Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Art Museum, 1993.
Dobies, Nancy. “Folk Art Environments.” Antiques West 10, no. 4 (April 1990): 11, 20.
Expressions of a New Spirit: Highlights from the Permanent Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art. New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1989.
Gibbs, Jocelyn. “Strange Poems in the Landscape.” Sculpture 6, no. 5 (September/October 1987): 30–33.
Hartigan, Lynda. Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection in the National Museum of American Art. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.
Hemphill, Herbert W., Jr., and Julia Weissman. Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974.
The Intuitive Eye: The Mendelsohn Collection. New York: Ricco/Maresca Gallery, 2000.
Kogan, Lee, and Barbara Cate. Treasures of Folk Art, Museum of American Folk Art. New York: Abbeville Press, 1994.
Pioneers in Paradise: Folk and Outsider Artists of the West Coast. Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Museum of Art, 1984.
Possum Trot: The Life and Work of Calvin Black. Directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf. Produced by Pat Ferrero, Allie Light, and Irving Saraf. San Francisco, CA: Light-Saraf Films, 1977.
Ricco, Roger, and Frank Maresca, with Julia Weissman. American Primitive: Discoveries in Folk Sculpture. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
Rosen, Seymour. In Celebration of Ourselves. San Franscisco: California Living Books, 1979.
The Ties that Bind: Folk Art in Contemporary American Culture. Cincinnati, OH: The Contemporary Art Center, 1986.
Visions from the Left Coast: California Self-Taught Artists. Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 1995.
Artwork
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Calvin Black
Faith, Hope, and Charity, c. 1955-72
redwood with polychrome, fabric, metal
Faith: 20 x 6 1/2 x 4 inches
Hope: 17 x 5 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches
Charity: 19 1/2 x 5 x 4 inches
Collection of Robert M. Greenberg
Photo by Charles Bechtold |
Exterior view of the Possum Trot Fantasy Doll Theater, near Yermo, California, with Ruby Black. |
Interior view of the Possum Trot Fantasy Doll Theater, near Yermo, California. |
Calvin Black
(Left) Figure with Yellow Hair, c. 1955-72
redwood with polychrome, fabric
43 x 11 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
Collection of Robert M. Greenberg
Photo by Charles Bechtold |
Calvin Black
Jackalope, c. 1955-72
redwood with fabric, mixed media
32 x 55 x 14 inches
The Marvill Collection
Photo by August Bandal |