John Outterbridge
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John Outterbridge (March 12, 1933 – November 12, 2020) was an American artist and community activist who lived and worked in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California. His work explores the issues surrounding
personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time ...
such as family, community and the environment through the use of discarded materials. He was the first director of the
Watts Towers The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the arti ...
Art Center, and served in that role for seventeen years. His sculptural work has been reviewed in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and his work is owned by many prominent museums.


Personal life

John Wilfred Outterbridge was born and grew up in
Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...
. His father made a living by recycling metal machine parts and equipment, and Outterbridge was exposed to recycling materials as a result. His college education began at the Agricultural and Technical University in
Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...
, where he studied to become a
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
. A year later, Outterbridge joined the military, where his interests in art developed seriously. Once he finished serving in 1956, he enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Art and later the
American Academy of Art The American Academy of Art College was a private for-profit art school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. In July 2024, the college announced its pending closure. History The ...
. In the 1960s, Outterbridge married and moved to Los Angeles. He became a highly respected
community activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
, educator and director of the Watts Towers Arts Center from 1975 to 1992. In 1991, Outterbridge retired and pursued a greater focus on art. Outterbridge died on November 12, 2020, in Los Angeles of natural causes at the age of 87.


Artistic career

During a tour of duty in Europe, Outterbridge visited museums and painted street scenes from life in his spare time. His paintings were well liked, and he painted murals and artwork for offices, clubs and American schools. Once he moved to L.A., Outterbridge began to combine painting with the collection of objects. His first real forays into assemblage were a series of car sculptures made of
stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
from a junkyard. He believed the materials society used said a lot about the attitudes and history of people. Some of his earliest and widely known works were made during the
Watts Riots The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abus ...
. From 1963 to 1971, rioting and civil unrest struck the nation's black communities, resulting in the signing of the Civil Rights bill. It was a sign that race relations were a real problem in the USA that needed to be addressed. Outterbridge collected the debris that covered the streets from this historic event to create sculptures. The final work was deeply steeped in politics and resulted in Outterbridge continuing to confront these themes in his work. Through this, Outterbridge befriended artists who were interested in the same subject matter— such as
David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...
, Timothy Washington, and John T. Riddle Jr.—and revived the California Assemblage Movement, where he would become a prominent figure. ''The Containment Series'' (1968) was another one of Outterbridge's forays into assemblage. It grew out of an interest in containment and a desire to disrupt the societal and institutional norms that reinforced it. To do so, he destroyed the canvas and covered it with items like aluminum panels, bolts, leather belts and paint. Outterbridge also relied on the muted natural colors of the object he found and reserves louder colors for focal points. Recent work recounts some of the ideas Outterbridge investigated in earlier sculptures. In ''Dreads'' (2011), he assembled a mallet and his own clipped
dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a Hairstyle, hairstyle made of rope-like strands of matted hair. Dreadlocks can form naturally in Hair#Texture, very curly hair, or they can be created with techniques like twisting, Backcombing, ba ...
. The handle of the mallet was
phallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...
and according to Outterbridge alluded to the concept of passion. Outterbridge incorporated history in many of his pieces. ''Case in Point'', from the ''Rag-Man'' series, is a piece of luggage reminiscent of dynamite and is symbolic of the Great Migration. Attached to the cylindrical forms is a baggage tag that says, "packages travel like people". ''Case in Point'' confronts the racist reality of African Americans at home after serving the country in the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. Although Outterbridge lived a relatively successful life, his pursuits into education and community activism did take a toll on his artistic career. Coupled with the quiet
segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...
of the art world up till the 21st century, Outterbridge did not receive much acclaim from his work outside of the West Coast until 1994. He represented the United States at the São Paulo Biennale in a show called ''The Art of Betye Saar and John Outterbridge: The Poetics of Politics, Iconography and Spirituality''. Nearly 20 years after he began practicing as a professional artist, a new generation came to appreciate his vast body of work. Outterbridge appeared in many group and solo exhibitions, such as ''The Rag Factory'' (2011) at LAXART, his first solo exhibition since 1966. ''The Rag Factory'' was an installation using rags that Outterbridge collected from the streets and factories of downtown Los Angeles, by tying, draping, folding, gathering and suspending them.


Awards

In 2012, the
California African American Museum The California African American Museum (CAAM) is a museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the California Science Center. The museum focuses on enrichment and education on the cultural heritage and history of African Americans w ...
gave their lifetime achievement award to Outterbridge. He was named a
United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...
Gracie Fellow for Visual Arts in 2011. In 1994, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...
. In addition to these, Outterbridge received fellowships from the
Fulbright Foundation The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
,
Getty Foundation The Getty Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, at the Getty Center, awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts".Getty FoundationAbout the Foundation. Retrieved September 18, 2008. In the past, it funded the ...
and the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
.


References


External links


John Outterbridge
at
ArtCyclopedia Artcyclopedia is an online database of museum-quality fine art founded by Canadian John Malyon. Information The Artcyclopedia only deals with art that can be viewed online, and indexes 2,300 art sites (from museums and galleries), with links to aro ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Outterbridge, John 1933 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American sculptors Activists from California Activists from North Carolina African-American activists African-American sculptors American community activists Artists from Los Angeles North Carolina A&T State University alumni People from Greenville, North Carolina Sculptors from California Sculptors from North Carolina