[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 59 (Monday, April 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING MR. PURVIS YOUNG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 26, 2010

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the late 
Mr. Purvis Young, one of South Florida's most storied artists. He 
transformed a troubled life with brush strokes, painting the joys and 
sorrows of his people on objects discarded in his Overtown 
neighborhood. Because of his great talent, he received international 
recognition.
  Born February 2, 1943 in Miami's Liberty City to Vera Mae Wright, Mr. 
Young learned the art of drawing as a young boy watching his maternal 
Uncle Irving who was a figurative artist. He picked up his first 
paintbrush at the age of 20. Mr. Young attended school up to the 8th 
grade during which time he swam at Dixie Park (now called Gibson Park) 
and he was invited to paint a mural on the Overtown Library, adjacent 
to the pool. With the guidance of two of Miami-Dade Public Library 
System's finest, Barbara Young (Librarian Curator of the Permanent 
Collection, Art Services and Exhibitions Programs) and Margarita Cano 
(Administrator of Community Relations), Mr. Young buried himself 
amongst the books, hungry for knowledge that could explain the world to 
him.
  For the first 50 years of his life, Mr. Young remained within the 
county lines of Miami. It was not until his 6th decade that he traveled 
to other states and cities and learned that he was famous, a fact he 
missed while art dealers encouraged him to seclude himself in his 
studio. A self-taught artist, Mr. Young enjoyed telling the story of 
how he turned his life around in the mid-1960s by painting vibrant 
murals and conceptualizing mixed-media expressionist works. He said he 
found his calling after serving a prison term for breaking and entering 
when an angel told him, ``This is not your life.''
  Mr. Young completed most of his work at night and created exquisite, 
thoughtful art from garbage he plucked off the streets of Overtown. 
Environmentally conscious and unwilling to contribute to further 
deforestation, Mr. Young's ``canvases'' were made of recycled products 
including found wood, discarded library books, old political posters, 
used furniture and various surplus items from construction sites. He 
painted with latex, acrylic, enamel, and combinations of new paint 
blended with old paint that he had for 25 years or more. His work was 
famous for intensely colored urban landscapes, drawings and mixed-media 
constructions.
  Today, Mr. Young's work is in more than 60 public collections and 
numerous private ones--in 2006 alone he had six exhibitions. His work 
hangs in The Bass Museum of Art (Miami); American Folk Art Museum (New 
York); The Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.); High Museum of 
Art (Atlanta): Lowe Art Museum (University of Miami); Museum of Fine 
Arts (Houston); New Orleans Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; 
the Smithsonian American Art Museum among many. On December 24, 2006, 
the Sun-Sentinel's Emma Trelles named the Boca Raton Museum of Art's 
Purvis Young exhibition #1 in the art category for the year in South 
Florida. Several of his works are part of the permanent collection of 
the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
  ``Purvis was one of the great geniuses of American art, a remarkable 
figure,'' said Jacquelyn Serwer, chief curator of the Smithsonian's 
National Museum of African American History and Culture, which breaks 
ground in 2012. ``He wasn't particularly nurtured, yet was driven to do 
this work. He was just one of those people who was born with this 
extraordinary vision and stayed true to it, producing work that had a 
kind of mythical quality to it.''
  Mr. Young is survived by his long-time companion, Eddie Mae Lovest, 
four daughters, Kenyatta, Kentranice, Taketha and Elisha, and 13 
grandchildren. In addition, he is survived by two sisters, Betty 
Rodriguez and Shirley Byrd, and a brother, Irvin Byrd.
  Madam Speaker, I ask you and all the members of this esteemed 
legislative body to join me in recognizing the extraordinary life and 
accomplishments of Dr. Purvis Young. I am honored to pay tribute to Mr. 
Young for his invaluable services and tireless dedication to the South 
Florida arts community. Mr. Young's life was a triumph and he will be 
missed by all who knew him. I appreciate this opportunity to pay 
tribute to him before the United States House of Representatives.

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