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Howard Finster

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Artist

The Resume

    (December 2, 1916-October 22, 2001)
    Born in Valley Head, Alabama
    Baptist minister, painter, and sculptor
    Usually classified as a folk artist or outsider artist
    Sculptures often incorporated found objects
    Paintings were usually colorful, lacked perspective, and incorporated text, especially Bible verses
    Produced over 46,000 art objects
    Much of his work is displayed at Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia

Why he might be annoying:

    He left school after the sixth grade.
    He chewed tobacco.
    He received visions from God. And from Elvis.
    He numbered his paintings because God asked him to paint 5,000 pictures and he wanted to keep track. (Although he kept numbering the paintings even as their number passed 10,000.)
    He and his wife Pauline had to move out of Paradise Garden to escape the crush of visitors.
    After his death, Paradise Garden began deteriorating from lack of upkeep.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He designed album covers for 'Reckoning' by R.E.M. and 'Little Creatures' by <7238>Talking Heads>/7238>.
    R.E.M. filmed the video for 'Radio Free Europe' at Paradise Garden and recorded the song 'Maps and Legends' in homage to Finster.
    He was invited to exhibit at the Venice Biennale (1984).
    Coca-Cola commissioned him to paint an 8-foot-tall Coke bottle for an art exhibit at the Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996).
    Paradise Garden was added to the National Register of Historic Places (2011).
    A nonprofit organization, the Paradise Garden Foundation, took possession of his property and began restoration of his works (2012).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying