Murat Brierre

Haitian Folk Art Outsider Art Steel Drum Metal Work Sculpture Murat Brierre

This work is hand signed. It is not dated. Murat Brierre or Murat Briere (1938–1988) was one of Haiti's principal metal sculptors. He was influenced by George Liautaud, but his work acquired its own, highly experimental style, often focusing on multi-faceted and conjoined figures, fantastically personified elements, and unborn babies visible within larger creatures. He sculpted works that reflected both Christian and Haitian Vodou themes. Murat BRIERRE was born in Mirebalais in 1938. He first worked as a builder, cabinetmaker and blacksmith before being introduced to Le Centre d’Art in 1966. After trying painting with DeWitt Peters, he realized that metal sculpture was best suited for him and studied under Georges Liautaud in order to learn the métier. He also made very beautiful linocuts. Francine Murat quickly recognized his talent and considered Brierre to be one of the best Haitian sculptors. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 50. Brierre was known for his recycling of surplus steel oil drum lids. Brierre worked as a brick mason, cabinetmaker, tile setter, and blacksmith. He was born in Mirebalais or Port-au-Prince, Haiti and was the younger of two brothers. His older brother, Edgar Brierre, was a painter and sculptor. The brother's signed their works with only their last name, creating some confusion within their professional circles about the authorship of their work. Brierre's sculptures typically ranged from three to six feet in length and reflected Christian, Haitian Vodou, and folklore themes. Brierre was also a painter, but ultimately chose to work with metal because he felt that the material was saturated with spiritual energy. It was a laborious process. The oil drum lids were hammered flat, drawn onto, then cut with a razor. The sheet was then cut with a chisel before finishing was completed with a file. By the mid1970s, Brierre's sculptures included pronounced areas of cut outs surrounding long curved lines of metal. Brierre's iron sculpture titled Chien de Mer overlays a dog head onto the body of a fish. Haiti has long celebrated a rich artistic and cultural heritage. Georges Liautaud (1899–1991) ignited the Haitian metal sculpture movement in the 1950s in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. A blacksmith by trade, he fashioned crosses for public cemeteries before creating more elaborate cut-metal works. Liautaud disseminated the distinctly Haitian art form to emerging artists, such as Murat Brièrre (1938–88) and the Louisjuste brothers, Sérésier, Janvier, and Joseph (1940–89). They, in turn, taught others in Croix-des-Bouquets, including Gabriel Bien-Aimé (b. 1951) and Serge Jolimeau (b. 1952), Haiti’s two leading metal sculptors working today. Discarded steel oil drums have historically served as the base material for Haitian metal artists. The drums’ lids are cut open with a chisel and hammer and a long vertical split is made along the side of the drums. The interiors are filled with dried sugarcane or grass and lit on fire to remove any grime; once cool, the drums are flattened into sheets. Designs are chalked on; pieces are then cut and sculpted using only hand tools and further enhanced by hammering, embossing, cutting holes, and bending the metal. Sculptures reflect everyday life portraits, imaginative themes, and motifs of Haitian Vodou, an African Diasporic religion. Some of the many forms that appear include angels and winged creatures, mermaids and other aquatic figures, musical bands, animals, and earthly, paradisiacal scenes. Solo exhibitions 1967 – Haitian Art Gallery, New York 1968 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Bradley Galleries, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Georgetown Graphics Gallery, Washington D.C.; Menschoff Gallery, Chicago; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Roko Gallery, New York 1969 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Showcase Gallery, Washington D.C.; Botolph Group, Boston 1970 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti 1972 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Roko Gallery, New York 1979 – Areta Contemporary Design, Boston Group exhibitions 1969 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa 1974 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa 1978 – Brooklyn Museum, New York (traveling) 1982 – Studio Museum in Harlem, New York 1983 – Chicago Public Library Cultural Center 1985 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa 1987 – Musée du Panthéon National, Port-au-Prince, Haiti 1988 – Galeries Nationales d'Exposition du Grand Palais, Paris 1989 – Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 2006 – Phyllis Kind Gallery in conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair, New York 2024 Ayiti Toma II: Faith, Family, and Resistance, Luhring Augustine, Tribeca, New York 2023 Haitian Metal Sculpture, SFO Museum, California, USA 2015 Celebrating African American Art, Flomenhaft Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA An important exhibition of works by outstanding African American artists. Included were: Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Murat Brierre, Beverly Buchanan...

Melanie Yazzie (1966-) Pollen Keeper II (maquette) Powder-coated metal, 2008 Hand signed, titled, dated and numbered 2/30, attributed, titled, dated and numbered again to paper label Mounted to a white composition plinth Provenance: The Freund Family Collection Melanie Yazzie is a Navajo sculptor, painter, printmaker, and professor. She teaches at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Yazzie was born in 1966 in Ganado, Arizona, United States. She is Navajo of the Áshįįhí, born for Tó Dichʼíinii. She grew up on the Navajo Nation. Although she grew up on the Navajo Nation, Melanie Yazzie is of the Salt Water Clan born for the Bitter Water Clan. She first studied art at the Westtown School in Pennsylvania. Yazzie earned a BA in Studio Art with a minor in Spanish from Arizona State University in 1990 and an MFA in printmaking from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993. Melanie Yazzie works a wide range of media that include printmaking, painting, sculpting, and ceramics, as well as installation art. Her art is accessible to the public on many levels and the main focus is on connecting with people and educating people about the contemporary status of one indigenous woman and hoping that people can learn from her experience. Her subject matter is significant because the serious undertones reference native postcolonial dilemmas. Melanie's work focuses primarily on themes of indigenous people. Her work often brings images of women from many indigenous cultures to the forefront. Thus her work references matrilineal systems and points to the possibility of female leadership. Yazzie is known for her multilayered monotype prints that focus on storytelling and reflect her dreamtime friends and companions. The works are filled with colors and textures that reflect different world. The works are made with stencils and often she is printing with soy based inks called Akua inks that are safe for the artist and the environment. The works most often are printed on Arches 88 due to the absorbing quality of that 100% rag paper. It is a fine art paper made in France and very soft to the touch. It is a paper designed originally for screen printing but is the perfect surface for many of the works Yazzie creates. The works often are monotypes as opposed to monoprints. So the works are a one of a kind work of art and not made in multiples. She is a Professor and Head of Printmaking at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She teaches printmaking courses and travels extensively to indigenous communities within the United States and abroad. She can always be found through the University of Colorado Art and Art History Department. In addition to teaching at the Institute of American Indian Arts, the College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design), Boise State University, and the University of Arizona, Yazzie has taught at the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art in France. Yazzie has led over 100 international print exchanges over a 20-year time period. Many of these exchanges include artists from Siberia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Germany. In 2012, the Denver Art Museum welcomed Yazzie as artist-in-residence, making her the first in the Native Arts department. A selection of major exhibitions from the 1990s to present include "Between Two Worlds" (2008) at Arizona State University, "Traveling" at the Heard West Museum (2006), "About Face: Self-Portraits by Native American, First Nations, and Inuit Artists" at the Wheelwright Museum (2005), "Making Connections" (2002) in Bulova, Russia, "Navajo in Gisborne" (1999) in Gisborne, New Zealand and "Watchful Eyes" (1994) at the Heard Museum. In September 2013 she co-curated the exhibition "Heart Lines: Expressions of Native North American Art" in Colorado University Art Museum, partially based on her private collection and including her work "Pollen Girl". Artists featured: Norman Akers, Maile Andrade, Kenojuak Ashevak, Pitseolak Ashoona, Corwin Clairmont, Jimmie Durham...

Haitian metal art wall decoration from the 1970s signed M.U. The design is of a figure in festive regalia. The eyes, noses and partially the mouth a...

Very nice and large metal sculpture by the well known artist Michel Anasse. This is one of the musician series, This is one looks like the bass p...