Please join us for an exhibition tour and discussion with Willie Little at Froelick Gallery on Saturday, Februrary 3rd at 11am.
Froelick Gallery is pleased to welcome Willie Little for his first exhibition with us. An artist and storyteller originally from rural North Carolina, he draws upon his early experiences observing the comings and goings at his parent's tarpaper and tin roof store, which served as a hub for the local African-American community as both a grocery and as an after-hours juke joint, a place for dancing and social gathering. His sculptural assemblages include scaled-down versions of this structure, made of wood, metal and roofing shingles. Little paints brief sentences on these- a passage about the daytime business of selling candy and provisions on one plane juxtaposed with a mention of the nightlife with it's dixie cup gin and romantic possibilities on the other. Some other works incorporate vintage racial stereotype objects such as pickaninny dolls that he embellishes, reclaims and redefines beyond their original harmful and hateful intent. With compelling craftsmanship and a humorous edge, Little fuses pointed critique of America's past and present dilemmas with affection for and inquiry in to his
own personal history.