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 View Images
USA
Midwest
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Lincoln, IA
Clarence & Grace Woolsey
1929-1987 & ?-1992
Sculpture (bottlecaps)
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Information:
A remarkable level of obsession can be found in the bottle-cap world created by Clarence and Grace Woolsey. The many objects they made -- one using at least 30,000 caps -- became, after their deaths, among the most significant folk/outsider art discoveries of the decade.
Their legacy includes a full-size bicycle made of caps, bottle-cap-encrusted figures several feet high that resemble aliens, bunnies and other creatures; small buildings in which strands of bottle caps serve as walls; wind mills; tepees; and a miscellany of small objects (the exact number is uncertain but likely to be 200 or more). The pieces do not look much like any of the usual figures or baskets, reflecting a vision of the decorative and architectural uses of bottle caps entirely the Woolsey's.
(for the complete article, please visit Interesting Ideas)
In reference to the photos below from Susan Parrett, she writes the following:
Hi, Kelly....it took me a little while to unearth the photographs I took 14 years ago when we first brought home our collection of Woolsey bottlecap figures -- but I found them! In total we bought 52 figures and 6 buildings from our good friend Mary Ellyn Jensen, who at the time lived in LaPorte City, Iowa (she and her husband Gordon now live in Dubuque). Mary Ellyn bought them from a person who was actually at the auction. As I told you at Folk Fest last weekend, Rod and I did not keep any of the pieces -- economic necessity dictated that we sell them and move on, but we continue to enjoy sharing the story. When I found the envelope containing the pictures, I discovered that on the outside Rod had written, "One Hot Summer -- 1993." It is a great memory!
Excerpted from Interesting Ideas—Bill Swislow
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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.
"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. |
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Credit: © Kelly Ludwig, Detour Art, all rights reserved. |
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Bunny Sculpture (bottle caps) Size: 28Ó x 35Ó x 12Ó From the collection of Kelly Ludwig, featured in the book ÒDetour Art,Ó 2007.
Credit: Kelly Ludwig |
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Glitter House
From the collection of Kelly Ludwig
Credit: Kelly Ludwig |
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Credit: Susan Parrett |
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Credit: Susan Parrett |
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Credit: Susan Parrett |
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Credit: Susan Parrett |
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All images are property of the artists who created them.
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