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Howard Finster: Man of Visions A view of Paradise Garden, Pennville, Georgia Paradise Garden: Sacred Trash In 1960, Howard Finster began construction of an elaborate sculpture garden in a twoandahalf acre swamp next to his house in Pennville, Georgia. First he filled in what had been a community dump: "It took me seven years to fill in that swamp of rich muck that went three to four feet in depth." (Turner, p.54) Somewhat miraculously, the garden today is a marvel, with a tower made out of rusted bicycle frames, walkways inlaid with mirrors and castoff jewelry, and hundreds of individual mixed media creations. It is a vision of Eden, built up out of a dump and constructed of trash. Finster's combination of text and visual forms provides the visitor with a truly unique experience, the point of which is the Biblical edification of the soul, according to the artist. Many other examples of this sort of earthly paradise exist in the tradition of folk art (Dewhurst, pp. 8587) , but Finster's socalled "Paradise Garden" is especially striking in its overtly evangelical theme. Like the eightfoot concrete shoe bearing a verse from Ephesians, "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace," many of the pieces within the garden illustrate Biblical passages, so that, like his daughter said, "Anyone could understand it that way."
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HowardFinster:ManofVisions
AviewofParadiseGarden,Pennville,Georgia
ParadiseGarden:SacredTrash
In1960,HowardFinsterbeganconstructionofanelaboratesculpturegardeninatwoandahalfacreswampnexttohishouseinPennville,Georgia.Firsthefilledinwhathadbeenacommunitydump:"Ittookmesevenyearstofillinthatswampofrichmuckthatwentthreetofourfeetindepth."(Turner,p.54)Somewhatmiraculously,thegardentodayisamarvel,withatowermadeoutofrustedbicycleframes,walkwaysinlaidwithmirrorsandcastoffjewelry,andhundredsofindividualmixedmediacreations.ItisavisionofEden,builtupoutofadumpandconstructedoftrash.Finster'scombinationoftextandvisualformsprovidesthevisitorwithatrulyuniqueexperience,thepointofwhichistheBiblicaledificationofthesoul,accordingtotheartist.Manyotherexamplesofthissortofearthlyparadiseexistinthetraditionoffolkart(Dewhurst,pp.8587),butFinster'ssocalled"ParadiseGarden"isespeciallystrikinginitsovertlyevangelicaltheme.LiketheeightfootconcreteshoebearingaversefromEphesians,"Andyourfeetshodwiththepreparationofthegospelofpeace,"manyofthepieceswithinthegardenillustrateBiblicalpassages,sothat,likehisdaughtersaid,"Anyonecouldunderstanditthatway."
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TrashCanfromParadiseGarden
Therearecertainlycuriousdetails,likethejarcontainingthetonsilsofaboywhovisitedthegardenimmediatelyfollowingtheirremoval.Thepurposeofsuchpiecesseemstobetoprovidethevisitorwithaninterestingexperience,tokeepitfunandslightlyweird,tobringinthecrowds.Andbringinthecrowdsitdoes,allowingFinsterlotsofcompanyandperhapstheoccasionallostsoulreadyforthewordofGod.
AlsoonthepropertyisthemorerecentadditionofaweddingcakelikebuildingthatFinstercallsthe"World'sFolkArtChurch."Interestingly,thewords"folkart"couldnothavebeenapartofFinster'svocabularyuntilhis"discovery"bythemediaandtheartestablishment,intheearly1980's.Sincethattime,hehasbecomethemostexhibited"folkartist"inAmericaandhasevenappearedonTheTonightShowwithJohnnyCarsonandpaintedalbumcoversforrockgroupslikeR.E.M.andtheTalkingHeads.
TheWorld'sFolkArtChurchinParadiseGarden
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Continue:EverythingisSacred ReturntothebeginningofHowardFinster:ManofVisions
