WillIe Massey
(1906-1990) Bowling Green, KY
During the 70 years he worked as a tenant farmer, Willie Massey learned to make things to meet practical needs and to satisfy his creative energy. He began creating sculptures and paintings after his wife's death in 1955. He is well known for his colorful multilevel birdhouses and miniature furniture made from old fruit crates (the furniture being the first objects he made, which he called “tricks”), his tinfoil birds and his airplanes. He died in 1990. His art was included in the exhibitions "African-American Folk Art in Kentucky", "Passionate Visions of the American South", and others. His work is in many permanent collections, including the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Morris Museum of Art and the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
MINIATURE FURNITURE
(Click once on a photo to see larger version in a lightbox and more info about the work; if using mobile device, click on small gray button at bottom right of each photo to see more information.)
paintings
(Click once on a photo to see larger version in a lightbox and more info about the work; if using mobile device, click on small gray button at bottom right of each photo to see more information.)
OTHER WORKS: BIRDHOUSES
(Click once on a photo to see larger version in a lightbox and more info about the work; if using mobile device, click on small gray button at bottom right of each photo to see more information.)
AIRPLANES
(Click once to see larger version of images in a lightbox; hover cursor over image to see more info about the work; if using mobile device, click on small gray button at bottom right of each photo to see more information.)
