Old age is Golden Age at Visionary Art Museum

One of the featured artists at Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), Gerald Hawkes, says that the difference between AVAM and most museums is the difference between an l and a d. "Most museums are founded on "Readity' -- housing things you can look up in books ... AVAM is based on "Reality' -- the art made by people out of their real lives, their real dreams and visions."

He's right. Reality permeates the passionate creations displayed throughout the museum, work born from the intensity of innate personal vision. All of the artists in AVAM are self-taught individuals, usually without any formal artistic training. For the majority, their satisfaction comes from the creative act itself more so than the completed project, and they are unconcerned about popular acceptance of their work.

AVAM opens a new exhibit every year in October, and I was lucky enough to catch last year's exhibit, Golden Blessings of Old Age, the day before it closed. Golden Blessings featured works of late-onset creativity generated by visionary artists age 60 and older. The artists came from all walks of life -- preachers, truck drivers, miners, war veterans, factory workers -- but all were inspired to generate art in their retirement. Their creative explosion may have been sparked by adversity, loss, newfound leisure, or the emboldening realization of no longer caring what others think. Research and anecdotes suggest that this creative challenge fosters a longer, healthier life for the artist through the positive influences of mental stimulation and the satisfaction of productivity.

One of the featured artists, Elizabeth Layton, helps prove the link between creative expression and an enhanced self-image and improved disposition. As Layton entered her 70's, she discovered contour drawing, learning to draw portraits with colored pencil as she gazed at herself in the mirror. In her early work, she draws herself as a withered and depressed figure with sunken eyes and a permanent frown. One work, "Stroke," shows half her body eclipsed by darkness while a shrunken version of her cries in the emptiness. With time, however, her drawings reveal a happier woman secure in her body and happy with her life. In "The Magic Gate" (1987), Layton is standing at the gate to the cosmic future. A thorn bush at her feet represents the sting of death, and behind her are images from her life and her worldly possessions. She looks toward her future with sheer joy.

The artists' pride for their work is clearly evident in many cases. William Hawkins, age 95, a truck driver with a third grade education, wrote his full name in block letters on the front of each of his paintings. Nellie Mae Rowe, daughter of an ex-slave, began making her crayon drawings and chewing gum sculptures in her 70's, drawing attention from a local newspaper. She framed an article about her work and decorated the margins with words and drawings about herself, calling the piece "I'm the Boss Around Here."

Another beautiful work of memory is a collection called "Tapestries of Survival," created by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz. This series of cloth tapestries illustrates her life from her birth in Poland, through the horrors of the Holocaust, and into her new life in America. A moving film documentary about Krinitz accompanied her work.

Religion is an important motivator for many of the artists. Sister Gertrude Morgan was an evangelical street preacher who used art to supplement her sermons. One piece, "Untitled (Do You Thank God)" shows a dinner table with the words "Thank God for all things" and references to Psalm 118 scrawled on the tablecloth. Baptist minister Howard Finster created self-proclaimed "sacred art," sermons in paint that convey a message through words and images. Two such works are "Life is Up and Down from the Cradle to the Grave" and "The Devil and His Wife Wants War."

A special mini-exhibit, Into that Good Night, featured works of gerotranscendence. As people age, some begin to see (or imagine they see) a cosmic future rather than the literal present. Seeing themselves as prophets for the end times, they create art illustrating their apocalyptic visions as a warning to the rest of the world. Minnie Evans, age 95, believes God sends her images of nations before the Flood (Noah) to draw. Donald Pass does chilling watercolors like "The Harvest" and "Gabriel" that depict cosmic beings drawing souls into heaven and hell. The most complex work is by Frank Bruno, who focuses on the Great Tribulation. His collection of oil paintings contain intensive details of images from the Garden of Eden, heaven and hell, various Biblical scenes, interpretations of parables, scripture references and exhortations, and some mythological imagery. My favorite was "Give Us Barabbas," where he depicts Jesus being sentenced to death on the mainstage at a demonic carnival.

Another mini-exhibit focuses on young people who were forced to grow up too quickly. The artists in out of the mouths of babes are wise beyond their years, a wisdom born of pain through either illness or abuse. Jonathan Lerman, 17, is autistic and has an I.Q. of only 53. However, he demonstrates an uncanny ability to capture the emotional intensity of the people he now paints obsessively, especially impressive because most autistic people have difficulty registering emotions. Other autistic and schizophrenic youth are also featured. The most jarring work, however, came from Justin Wilke, a boy who was sexually abused as a child, witnessed his father's suicide, and later commit suicide himself. He created his art in hopes of communicating the pain and extensive damage done by sexual abuse. Wilke's best piece is "Untitled 1," which shows the members of his family isolated from each other, each haunted by their own demons.

It's interesting to note that nearly every visionary artist in the exhibit -- whether resurrecting treasured memories, struggling with the challenges of the present, or looking toward an unknown future -- focused on people or God as their subject matter. Maybe at this crucial time of transition in their lives, these artists are pointing us towards the things that time has shown to be most important.