Lonnie Holley

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Lonnie Holley performing at Stone Nest, London, 2022
Biography

 

Lonnie Holley has been making art since 1979, devoted to a practice of improvisational creativity that spans painting, sculpture, filmmaking and music. Adapting found materials, Holley's works relay histories that are both autobiographical and collective. His oeuvre tackles universal topics such as humanity's precarious relationships to the natural world and technology, alongside specifically American and personal histories, encompassing the residual effects of the Jim Crow era, the triumphs of the Civil Rights movement, and the ongoing struggles with false narratives around class mobility and race. 

 
Lonnie Holley (b. Birmingham, AL, 1950) lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2024, Holley's work was the subject of a solo show at Camden Art Centre, London, UK. His work has recently been exhibited at the International African American Museum, Charleston, USA (2024); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, USA (2023); the Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2023); Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, USA (2022); National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, USA (2022); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, USA (2021); Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2020); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA (2020); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (2018); MASS MoCA, North Adams, USA (2017); de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA (2017); among many others. His work is in the permanent collections of many museums, including the International African American Museum, Charleston, SC; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Holley's first film, I Snuck Off the Slave Ship, (2019), premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2019. In 2023, he received lifetime achievement awards from the American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, USA, and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Maine, ME, USA. Holley is signed to Jagjaguwar, and lives and works in Atlanta, GA, USA.
 
Bibliography
Works
  • Lonnie Holley, The Nine Notes, 2024
    The Nine Notes, 2024
  • Lonnie Holley, Without Skin, 2024
    Without Skin, 2024
  • Lonnie Holley, We Are The Seekers, 2024
    We Are The Seekers, 2024
  • Lonnie Holley, Her and Them Chained All Up, 2023
    Her and Them Chained All Up, 2023
  • Lonnie Holley, MONDO: The Property of All, 2023
    MONDO: The Property of All, 2023
  • Lonnie Holley, The Processor, 2023
    The Processor, 2023
  • Lonnie Holley, What's In The Spirit?, 2023
    What's In The Spirit?, 2023
  • Lonnie Holley, The Growth of Communication, 2022
    The Growth of Communication, 2022
  • Lonnie Holley, In America (From the X to a Name), 2022
    In America (From the X to a Name), 2022
  • Lonnie Holley, We Are of Many Pieces, 2022
    We Are of Many Pieces, 2022
  • Lonnie Holley, Tears Down in the War Fields, 2022
    Tears Down in the War Fields, 2022
  • Lonnie Holley, Hung Out III, 2020
    Hung Out III, 2020
  • Lonnie Holley, Her Steps to Success, 2020
    Her Steps to Success, 2020
  • Lonnie Holley, Chain Gang: Mt. Meigs, 2019
    Chain Gang: Mt. Meigs, 2019
  • Lonnie Holley, Repossessed by the Rules, 2018
    Repossessed by the Rules, 2018
  • Lonnie Holley, The Sharer of the Roots, 2017
    The Sharer of the Roots, 2017
  • Lonnie Holley, Busted Without Arms II, 2016
    Busted Without Arms II, 2016
  • Lonnie Holley, Three Shovels to Bury You, 1998
    Three Shovels to Bury You, 1998
  • Lonnie Holley, Finally Getting Wings For the Forty-First Floor, 1996
    Finally Getting Wings For the Forty-First Floor, 1996
  • Lonnie Holley, Not Olympic Rings, 1994
    Not Olympic Rings, 1994
  • Lonnie Holley, Him and Her Hold the Root, 1994
    Him and Her Hold the Root, 1994
  • Lonnie Holley, The Fifth Child Burning, 1994
    The Fifth Child Burning, 1994
  • Lonnie Holley, Spoons in Chains (I Wonder Which Child Didn't Eat Today), 1994
    Spoons in Chains (I Wonder Which Child Didn't Eat Today), 1994
  • Lonnie Holley, Chains of a Dummy's Body, 1984
    Chains of a Dummy's Body, 1984
  • Lonnie Holley, Reflection of the Way We Were in Blood, 1983
    Reflection of the Way We Were in Blood, 1983
  • Lonnie Holley, Ruling for the Child, 1982
    Ruling for the Child, 1982
Media



Video tour of the exhibition 'The Growth of Communication' featuring Lonnie Holley in conversation with Hanna Girma, Senior Editor and Curator of Editorial Projects at Serpentine Galleries.


Video of Lonnie Holley's live performance at Stone Nest, Shaftesbury Avenue which took place on Saturday 14 May 2022. Presented by Artangel and Edel Assanti.
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