|
|
|
|
 View Images
USA
South
|
Marietta, GA
Ab the Flagman - Roger Lee Ivens
1964-
Mixed media
|
|
Information:
Ab was given the nickname Abstract — later shortened to Ab — by friends in school. When Ab was seven years old, he and his mother moved to Atlanta after the death of his father. His father's funeral was instrumental in his career as an artist. Ab remembers sitting at his father's funeral looking at the flag on the coffin. An older half-sister, whom Ab did not know, was given the flag. Ab began collecting cloth flags after the tremendous disappointment of not being given the flag from his father's coffin.
Ab started out as a carpenter and builder. One day he looked at the walls of his house and decided to make something to hang above the mantel of the fireplace. He was in his front yard finishing a giant flag made from odds and ends from left over wood and moldings. A man drove by and asked if he could buy the flag for a party he was having for the fourth of July. Ab said no then the man pulled out cash and offered $75 for the flag. Ab sold it on the spot. The man came back after the party and asked Ab to make three more because his friends wanted to buy them...and so the story goes. "Ab the Flagman" was dubbed, he has made flags ever since.
Recently, he has taken his vision and unique style a step beyond the American flag to other commanding icons, including the eagle, Expanding beyond the flag motif, his works have expanded to include life size Indians, eagles, intricate sculptures of American Presidents at historical significant sites, Statue of Liberty and mythological Atlas, symbolic works incorporating cityscapes and the plight of early settlers.
The Outsiders Art
|
 |
Bibliography:
"Detour Art—Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Folk Art Environments Coast to Coast, Art and Photographs from the Collection of Kelly Ludwig" by Kelly Ludwig, Kansas City Star Books, 2007.
On DVD - Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, "Peaches, Beaches, Gators and Grits," KCPT, Kansas City Public Television, 2005.
"Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art—A guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources" by Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johnson, McFarland & Company, 2000.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations Coast to Coast Travel-o-Pedia" by Randy Mason, et. al., Kansas City Star Books, 2009. |
| |
