South of the Uncanny

These four works of art encompass a wide variety of folk art that range from oil paintings to
metal cutouts. Exhibited together, they present radically different interpretations of the
American South but each of them possess a thread of uncanniness, an element that disturbs yet
intrigues the viewer into reconsidering their traditional perceptions and notions of the South

These works show the traditional South from its earliest days of settlement by white Europeans
in M.L. OKelleys work Appalachia through the Civil Rights Movement depicted in Bernice
Sims Race Riot, to the modern metropolis shown in JoAnn Navas Tribute to Purvis Young: A
Good Man Gone. Hanging above the three works is the American flag as depicted through R.A.
Millers metal work, This Flag Dont Burn. Millers depiction of the American Flag acts as a
symbolic umbrella for the other three works while reinforcing the theme of contradictions that
make each work uncanny. Folk art in its ability to subtly deconstruct conventional norms is key
in framing this exhibition within the context of the historical and contemporary American South.

The four works of art reveal darker details that unsettle and distort the original impression of a
work after a close studying of it. Appalachia with its pastoral colors gives off a simplistic
depiction of the past; however, with its placement of objects and geography is not at all realistic,
despite its grounded portrayal, and exposes a romanticist if not a revisionist view of the
Appalachian Mountains. Despite the violence in its title, Race Riot is a portrayal of a childs
disturbingly innocent view of a horrific act of violence happening a major southern city from one
race of people upon another race, yet each side is smiling as if participating in a game. Tribute
to Purvis Young: A Good Man Gone contrasts Appalachia with skyscrapers replacing mountains,
roads replacing rivers, and streetlights replacing sunlight. Everything has changed in the South,
yet its people face similar hardships, as represented by hands starching out in unity for a shared
goal. Meanwhile R.A. Millers American flag presents itself as being incapable of being burned
while being imbued with many imperfections. All of this when carefully observed presents an
American South that both fulfills and contradicts popular perceptions of the South as well
revealing its actual realities. This exhibition was provided by the Ruth and Miles Horton
Collection and conserved through the Virginia Tech Foundation

Drew Walton, 2017