Born in Birmingham, AL, 1950
Lives and works in Atlanta, GA
One-Person Exhibitions
2024
Lonnie Holley: All Rendered Truth, Camden Art Centre, London, UK
2023
Lonnie Holley: If You Really Knew, The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
The Eyes Were Always On Us, UTA Artist Space, Atlanta, GA
UT Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN
2022
What Have They Done with America?, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, CA
Coming From the Earth, curated by Peter Doroshenko, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
The Growth of Communication, Edel Assanti Gallery, London, UK
2021
The Influence of Images, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Tangled Up in de Kooning’s Fence, South Etna, Montauk, NY
Everything That Wasn’t White, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY
2019
Somewhere in a Dream I Got Lost, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
2017
The Weight of Everything, James Fuentes, New York, NY
I Snuck Off the Slave Ship, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
Which Do We Drop First, the Baby or the Bomb?, James Fuentes, New York, NY
2015
Something to Take My Place, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC
Supported by the Power, John Hope Franklin Center, Duke University, Durham, NC
It’s like Coming Home, Cash Rojas Projects, Atlanta, GA
2013
Keeping You Out of Harm’s Way, James Fuentes, New York, NY
2010
Assemblages and Drawings, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Recent Works, Monty Stabler Galleries, Homewood, AL
2004
A Twenty-Five Year Survey, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Do We Think Too Much? I Don't Think We Can Ever Stop, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2003
Perspectives 8, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
1994
Sculpture, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
1991
Cultural Recycling: The Work of Lonnie Holley, Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1986
Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, AL
1984
Little House Galleries, Birmingham, AL
Group Exhibitions
2024
The Stars Fell on Alabama: Southern Black Renaissance, Edel Assanti, London, UK
Never the Same Song, Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, FL
2023
Intimate confession is a project, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX
By Any Means Necessary, Curated by Lonnie Holley, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, CA
Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
RE-PAIR, Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art, Knoxville, TN
Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
2022
Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art, curated by Dr. Leo Mazow, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
At The Rose House: Green River Project LLC and Object & Thing, Ridgewood, NJ
Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The Relevance of Your Data, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ
The Art of Assemblage, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
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
From the Limitations of Now, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK
Trauma and Loss, Reflection and Hope: Selections from the Collection, curated by Alison Amick, Intuit, Chicago, IL
2020
Forms of Life, Morán Morán, Los Angeles, CA
We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK
2019
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, OSilas Gallery, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY; traveled to Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY; Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; Leigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, PA; and the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis, CA
Cosmologies from the Tree Of Life: Art from the African American South, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Straighten Up the World, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Souls Grown Deep: Artists of the African American South, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
In the Hot Seat, KMAC Museum, Louisville, KY
2018
History Refused to Die, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., traveled to High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
The Unseen, James Fuentes, New York, NY
Difference Engine, curated by Cory Arcangel and Tina Kukielski, Lisson Gallery, New York, NY
2017
Strange Attractors: The Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Art, Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Dawn Dedeaux and Lonnie Holley: Thumbs up for the Mothership, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Revelations: Art from the African American South, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Animal Farm, curated by Sadie Laska, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT
2016
Post Black Folk Art in America 1930-1980-2016, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL
2015
When the Curtain Never Comes Down, American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
2014
When the Stars Begin to Fall: Imagination and the American South, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
The Body Metonymic, curated by Dick Goody, Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, MI
Prospect.2 Biennial, New Orleans, LA
2013
Come Together: Surviving Sandy, Industry City, Brooklyn, NY
2012
Pitch, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Drawings and Sculpture, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee's Bend Quilts, And Beyond, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
2005
Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, The Bible and the American South, Museum of Biblical Art, New York, NY
The Whole World Is Rotten: Free Radicals and the Gold Coast Slave Castles of Paa Joe, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Dopes, Dupes and Demagogues: Viewed by Outsiders, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
Gathering, The Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
2003
Recycled/Remade, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
2002
Testimony: Vernacular Art of the African-American South, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC and AXA Gallery, New York, NY
Street Savvy, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Jamaica, NY
2001
Singular Visions, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
WET!, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Four Outsider Artists, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Ogun Meets Vulcan: Birmingham's African American Men of Metal, Ruth Hall Hodges Art Gallery, Morris Brown University, Atlanta, GA
1999
Uncommon Bonds: Expressing African-American Identity, University of Deleware, Newark, DE
1998
Winter Group, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX; traveled to Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1997
Material Dialogues - Contemporary Arts: The New Jersey Context, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
Bearing Witness: African-American Vernacular Art of the South, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY
Drawing On the Spirit of 9: Drawings and Paintings on Paper by Contemporary African-American Self-Taught Artists, Atrium Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Obsession with Line, Archer Locke Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
Tragic Wake: The Legacy of Slavery and the African Diaspora in Contemporary American Art, Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
Let It Shine: Self-Taught Art from the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Souls Grown Deep, Emory University, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, GA
1995
Civil Rights Now, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Contemporary Folk Art: A View from the Outside, Nathan D. Rosen Museum Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
Dust Tracks on a Road: Four Southern Artists, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
1994
Outsider Art by Southern Folks, Hunterdon Art Center, Clinton, NJ
1993
ASHE: Improvisation and Recycling In African-American Visionary Art, Diggs Gallery at Winston Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC
Figurines, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
Passionate Visions of the American South: Self-Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA (traveling exhibition)
Collector's Show, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Dream Singers, Storytellers: An African-American Presence, Fukui Fine Arts Museum, Fukui, Japan; traveled to Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
Not by Luck: Self-Taught Artists in the American South, Hunterdon Art Center, Clinton, NJ
Whose Broad Stripes and Bright Stars: Death, Reverence and the Struggle for Equality in America, Betty Rymer Gallery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1992
Give Me a Louder Word Up: African American Art, Metropolitan State College Center for the Visual Arts, Denver, CO
Montgomery Biennial, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL
1991
The Legacy of Africa in the New World, Waterloo Museum of Art, Waterloo, IA
1990
The Next Generation: The Southern Black Aesthetic, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Another Face of the Diamond: Pathways through the Black Atlantic South, INTAR Latin
American Gallery, New York, NY
Southern Outsider Art II, American Primitive, New York, NY
1989
The Figure Redefined, Primitivo, San Francisco, CA
Art from the African Diaspora, Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
Outside the Mainstream: Folk Art in Our Time, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
1987
Voices in the Wilderness, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
The Bloodline, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1981
More Than Land and Sky: Art from Appalachia, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (traveling exhibition)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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.
2019
Oliver, Valerie Cassel. Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South. Richmond, VA: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2019.
2018
My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Texts by Cheryl Finley, Randall C. Griffey, Amelia Peck, and Darryl Pinckney. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018.
2017
Burgard, Timothy Anglin. Revelations: Art from the African American South. Texts by Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Joe Minter, and Lauren Palmor. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; New York: DelMonico Books, 2017.
2015
Arnett, William S. History Refused to Die. Texts by William S. Arnett, Margaret Lynne Ausfeld, Hill Harper, Bernard Herman, Sharon P. Holland, Robert Sain, Diala Toure, Karen Wilkin, and Horace Randall Williams. Atlanta: Tinwood LLC, 2015.
Sloan, Mark. Something to Take My Place: The Art of Lonnie Holley. Texts by Bernard L. Herman, Theodore Rosengarten, Mark Sloan, and Leslie Umberger. Charleston, SC: Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, 2015.
2006
Arnett, Paul and Eugene W. Metcalf Jr. Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2006.
2001
Arnett, William and Paul Arnett. Souls Grown Deep Volume Two. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2001.
2000
Arnett, Paul and William Arnett. Souls Grown Deep Volume One. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2000.
Selected Articles and Reviews
2023
Laster, Paul. “6 Standout Booths at Paris+ Par Art Basel 2023.’” Galeriemagazine.com, October 20, 2023.
Kakar, Arun. “The 10 Best Booths at Paris+ Par Art Basel 2023.’” Artsy.net, October 19, 2023.
Duron, Maximiliano. “The Best Booths At the Second Edition of Art Basel’s Paris+.’” ARTnews.com, October 18, 2023.
Gingeras, Alison M. "Thumbs Up for Mother Universe," Blau International, no. 8 (Summer 2023): 59–65.
Job, John. “Lonnie Holley: Who am I? Who am I?” OakRidger.com, February 9, 2023.
Helfand, Raphael. “Lonnie Holley and Moor Mother Share New Song ‘I Am a Part of the Wonder’.” TheFader.com, February 8, 2023.
Breihan, Tom. “Lonnie Holley – 'I Am a Part of the Wonder' (Feat. Moor Mother).” Stereogum.com, February 8, 2023.
Pappis, Konstantinos. “Lonnie Holley Announces New Album Featuring Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, Michael Stipe, and More.” OurCultureMag.com, January 11, 2023.
Hatfield, Amanda. “Lonnie Holley Announces New Lp Ft. Bon Iver, Moor Mother & More; Shares Title Track Ft. Michael Stipe.” BrooklynVegan.com, January 11, 2023.
Rettig, James. “Lonnie Holley Announces New Album Featuring Michael Stipe, Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, Moor Mother, & More.” Stereogum.com, January 11, 2023.
Cohen, Jonathan. “Hear Lonnie Holley Sing With Michael Stipe On ‘Oh Me, Oh My.’” Spin.com, January 11, 2023.
Helfand, Rapheal. “Song You Need: A Soulful Reflection from Lonnie Holley and Michael Stipe.” TheFader.com, January 11, 2023.
Ruiz, Matthew Ismael. “Lonnie Holley Announces New Album Featuring Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, and More.” Pitchfork.com, January 11, 2023.
2022
Rafter, Casey. “Young Gifted And Black Exhibition At U.C. Davis Reassess Narratives Around An American Experience.” Sacramento.Newsreview.com, August 2, 2022.
Little, Colony. “Going Back to the Ditch With Lonnie Holley.” Hyperallergic.com, August 2, 2022.
Womack, Camille. “Lonnie Holley, Popular Birmingham Artist Goes Global with an Exhibit in London.” BhamNow.com, June 16, 2022.
Cascone, Sarah. “Step into the Jam-Packed Studio of Lonnie Holley, Whose Latest Works Include Ceramics and Musical Compositions.” News.ArtNet.com, June 15, 2022.
Valentine, Victoria L. “Seeing in Texas: From Dallas to Houston and San Antonio, Museums Are Showcasing a Spectrum of African American Art.” CultureType.com, May 29, 2022.
Aspden, Peter. “Artist Lonnie Holley: ‘I Didn’t Know That What I Was Doing Was Art’.” FT.com, May 19, 2022.
Luke, Ben. “A Life Saved by Art: Lonnie Holley on Making Work Inspired by Trauma, ‘Garbage’—and Being Stranded on an English Island.” ArtNews.com, May 9, 2022.
Westall, Scott. “Lonnie Holley: The Growth of Communication.” FadMagazine.com, May 6, 2022.
O’Hagan, Sean. “‘It’s Like One Continuous Song Pours Out of Him’: Meet the Shaman-like Artist-Musician Lonnie Holley.” The Guardian.com, May 1, 2022.
Scott, Chadd. “Lonnie Holley Debuting First Works In Clay At Dallas Contemporary.” Forbes.com, April 14, 2022.
“Artist Lonnie Holley Awarded $50,000.” Ajc.com, February 2, 2022.
Acheampong, Nicole. “Looking Back to Fly Forward: ‘Another Tradition’ at the Morgan Library & Museum.” ArtNews.com, January 20, 2022.
2021
Kurian, Ajay. “Lonnie Holley.” TheGuide.art, June 16, 2021.
Elujoba, Yinka. “An Artist’s Life of Perseverance.” New York Times (May 7, 2021).
“Lonnie Holley Is Still Explosively Experimental.” Culturedmag.com, May 5, 2021.
Segal, Mark. “Lonnie Holley’s Double-Header.” Easthamptonstar.com, April 22, 2021.
Empire, Kitty. “Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley: Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection Review – a Moving Collaboration.” Theguardian.com, April 11, 2021.
2017
Frank, Priscilla. “Lonnie Holley Is the Most Genuine Performance Artist in the Mother Universe.” Huffpost.com, December 6, 2017.
2015
Braithwaite, Hunter. “10 Great Contemporary Art and Music Crossovers.” Pastemagazine.com, May 15, 2015.
2014
Hultkrans, Andrew. “The Haunting Soul Music of Lonnie Holley.” Frieze 168 (December 2014).
Hutson, Laura. “Born of Struggle and a Dickensian Childhood, Lonnie Holley's Work Is Not Nashville's Typical Public Art.” Nashvillescene.com, August 14, 2014.
Binelli, Mark. “The Insider’s Outsider.” New York Times Magazine (January 26, 2014): 32.
Spice, Anton. “The Outside Inspirator: The Music of Lonnie Holley in His Own Words.” Thevinylfactory.com, January 17, 2014.
2013
Masters, Marc and Grayson Haver Currin. “However Long It Takes.” Pitchfork.com, November 14, 2013.
Awards and Residencies
2023
Skowhegan Medal for Painting, New York, NY
2022
United States Artists Fellowship
2020
Elaine de Kooning House Residency, East Hampton, NY
2014
Robert Rauschenberg Residency, Captiva, FL
2006
Joan Mitchell Fellowship
Museum and Public Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Reece Museum, Johnson City, TN
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY