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Do You Just Stuff Food

Prophet William J. Blackmon

Artwork Details

Do You Just Stuff Food
1984-1996
Prophet William J. Blackmon
latex and enamel paints on board mounted on frame
16 5/8 in x 30 15/16 in (42.2 cm x 78.5 cm);16 5/8 in x 30 7/8 in (42.23 cm x 78.42 cm)
Gift of The Daniel and Harriet Fusfeld Folk Art Collection
2002/1.207

On Display

Not currently on display

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Description

“Prophet” William J. Blackmon
United States, 1921–2010
Do You Just Stuff Food
1984–96
Paint on board
Gift of the Daniel and Harriet Fusfeld Folk Art Collection, 2002/1.207
Blackmon was an itinerant preacher in inner-city Milwaukee, whose hand-painted signs on his Revival Center Shoe Repair and Shine Parlor were a point of contention with his landlord for years. In 1984, a passerby was so taken by the contentious signs that she offered to buy one on the spot. Recognizing the power of the painted “word,” both literal and symbolic, Blackmon was soon painting his religious and moral messages in pictorial form. Besides addressing social issues such as AIDS and drug use, Blackmon felt strongly about the central role of family life in shaping a community. In Do You Just Stuff Food, Blackmon comments on a family’s eating habits. Upstairs, the children eat and watch television while the mother in the lower left is “ALLWAYS EATING.” Blackmon’s text around the painting reminds viewers to be thankful for what they have.
(Out of the Ordinary, 2010)

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