Lonnie Holley
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: All Rendered Truth' by Gina Buenfeld-Murley, 2024
'Lonnie Holley: Power Figure' by Hanna Girma, 2022
'Eloquence as Action' by David Moos, 2004
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The Nine Notes, 2024
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Without Skin, 2024
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We Are The Seekers, 2024
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Her and Them Chained All Up, 2023
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MONDO: The Property of All, 2023
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The Processor, 2023
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What's In The Spirit?, 2023
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The Growth of Communication, 2022
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In America (From the X to a Name), 2022
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We Are of Many Pieces, 2022
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Tears Down in the War Fields, 2022
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Hung Out III, 2020
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Her Steps to Success, 2020
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Chain Gang: Mt. Meigs, 2019
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Repossessed by the Rules, 2018
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The Sharer of the Roots, 2017
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Busted Without Arms II, 2016
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Three Shovels to Bury You, 1998
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Finally Getting Wings For the Forty-First Floor, 1996
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Not Olympic Rings, 1994
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Him and Her Hold the Root, 1994
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The Fifth Child Burning, 1994
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Spoons in Chains (I Wonder Which Child Didn't Eat Today), 1994
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Chains of a Dummy's Body, 1984
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Reflection of the Way We Were in Blood, 1983
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Ruling for the Child, 1982
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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The Stars Fell on Alabama: Southern Black Renaissance
12 September - 30 November 2024Opening reception | Thursday 12 September 6-8pm Mary L. Bennett | Richard Dial | Thornton Dial | Lonnie Holley | Ronald Lockett | Joe Minter | Mose Tolliver. The...Read more -
Lonnie Holley: Thoughts in Captivity
16 March - 13 May 2023Edel Assanti is pleased to present Thoughts in Captivity, a presentation of recent works by Lonnie Holley in conjunction with his inclusion in the Royal Academy’s exhibition, Souls Grown Deep...Read more -
Lonnie Holley: The Growth of Communication
12 May - 2 July 2022Opening Reception | Thursday 12 May 6-8pm Performance: 7:30pm Edel Assanti is pleased to present Lonnie Holley: The Growth of Communication, the artist's first exhibition with the gallery and first...Read more
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Frieze London
9 - 13 October 2024Edel Assanti presents new and previously unseen works by six gallery artists, spanning film, painting and sculpture. Edel Assanti’s booth centres on Jenkin van Zyl’s...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
6 - 10 December 2023Edel Assanti's NOVA booth will conclude a landmark year for both Noémie Goudal and Lonnie Holley. In 2023, Goudal's immersive installation ANIMA has been presented...Read more -
Frieze London
11 - 15 October 2023For Frieze London 2023, Edel Assanti presents new and previously unseen works by five artists spanning film, painting, photography and sculpture. An immersive video presentation...Read more -
EXPO Chicago
13 - 16 April 2023Edel Assanti is pleased to announce our participation in EXPO Chicago with works by Agata Bogacka, Noémie Goudal, Lonnie Holley and Victoria Lomasko.Read more
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Lonnie Holley in The Wire
Lonnie Holley: 'All Rendered Truth' review by Rob Harris 1 September 2024Lonnie Holley has a backstory straight out of a Mark Twain novel. Born in Alabama in 1950, he was accidentally fostered by a touring burlesque...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Studio International
Lonnie Holley: 'All Rendered Truth' review by Joe Lloyd 22 July 2024The American artist and musician redeems humanity’s junk and reveals the dark histories of mundane objects Lonnie Holley: All Rendered Truth, Installation view, Camden Art...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Time Out
Lonnie Holley: 'All Rendered Truth' review by Eddy Frankel 9 July 20249 July 2024 It’s all material to Lonnie Holley, everything. Past traumas, trash found on a creek bed, shared histories, scrap metal, the news, old...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Guardian
'Lonnie Holley review – America’s wreckage made into magical art' by Jonathan Jones 4 July 20244 July 2024 The artist and musician reclaims beauty and meaning from rubbish, decay and death, using materials from rusted padlocks to old organ pipes....Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Gagosian & Music
'That Carousel of Thought' by Harry Thorne 1 May 20241 May 2024 Lonnie Holley was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1950, as the seventh of twenty-seven children, but was raised on the state fairground...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The New Yorker
'The Best Music of 2023' by Amanda Petrusich 4 December 202304 December 2023 Strange, beautiful records by Lana Del Rey, Noname, Sufjan Stevens, and more. In mid-November, the musician André 3000—one-half of the beloved hip-hop...Read more -
Lonnie Holley on ABC News
'Lonnie Holley on his journey through life and art' by Sarah Ferguson 29 September 202329 September 2023 In this extended 7.30 interview, artist Lonnie Holley speaks to 7.30's Sarah Ferguson on his journey through life and discovery of art.Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Guardian
'The 30 bands and artists to see live before you die … or they split up' by Chal Ravens 24 June 202324 June 2023 With festival season upon us, from stadium-rousing anthemicists to legacy-honouring techno wizards and bowel-loosening drone-metallers, here are the performers that every music...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Miami New Times
'Lonnie Holley Turns Wounds Into Light at MOCA' by Sean Levisman 17 May 202317 May 2023 “Art is a wound turned into light,” said the seminal French painter Georges Braque. Currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in 4Columns
'Lonnie Holley' by Harmony Holiday 21 April 202321 April 2023 In both a new album and an exhibition of paintings, the artist-musician holds nothing back from voice and vision. We are all...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in ArtReview
'What Happens When ‘Vernacular Art’ Enters an Institution?' by Samuel Reilly 29 March 202329 March 2023 The unspoken presupposition that artistic value is conferred by the establishment seems at odds with the artwork. When Ronald Lockett told his...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in the Financial Times
'Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers, Royal Academy, London — revelatory art from the Deep South' by Maya Jaggi 23 March 202323 March 2023 Excluded from the mainstream, resourceful artists made daring, powerful work with materials from coffee grounds to mud. A dog’s skull stares from...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Guardian
'Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers review – art of poverty and resilience from the US south' by Ashish Ghadiali 14 March 202314 March 2023 This moving show considers the wealth of inventive and work by African American artists from communities that remained in southern states after...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in the Evening Standard
'Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers at the Royal Academy review: an essential show' by Ben Luke 14 March 202314 March 2023 Artists like Lonnie Holley, Thornton Dial and Joe Minter are finally getting due attention, but this exhibition will leave visitors wanting more....Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Washington Post
'Lonnie Holley always manages to find the beauty in terror' by John Lingan 10 March 202310 March 2023 The acclaimed artist is now a celebrated musician. His new album, “Oh Me Oh My,” is another cathartic piece of expression. When...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Artforum
'Lonnie Holley' by Daniel Culpan 3 October 20223 October 2022 You can learn a lot about a culture from what it chooses to throw away. In “The Growth of Communication,” Lonnie Holley...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Hyperallergic
'Going Back to the Ditch With Lonnie Holley' by Colony Little 2 August 202202 August 2022 Calling Holley an “artist” only tells a bit part of a life whose epic origins begin in a muddy Alabama ditch. Artist...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Artnet
'Step Into the Jam-Packed Studio of Lonnie Holley, Whose Latest Works Include Ceramics and Musical Compositions' by Sarah Cascone 15 June 202215 June 2022 The artist and musician, who has current solo shows at Dallas Contemporary and Edel Assanti in London, takes us inside his work...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Art Monthly
'Lonnie Holley: The Growth of Communication and The Edge of What' by Sara Quattrocchi Febles 6 June 2022June 2022 On a Saturday evening on central London's Shaftesbury Avenue in the 'work-in-progress' venue Stone Nest, Alabama-born artist and musician Lonnie Holley sat behind...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Guardian
'Goddesses, she-devils and a tangle with textiles – the week in art' by Jonathan Jones 20 May 202220 May 2022 Lonnie Holley scours Britain for material, demons seize the British Museum and feminist fabrics come to Cambridge – all in your weekly...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in the Financial Times
'Lonnie Holley and the lyrical vision of the found' by Peter Aspden 19 May 202219 May 2022 From a tombstone epiphany, the Alabama sculptor has explored the meaning of art for decades — and adds music to convey his...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Guardian
'Takeaway spoons, solitary confinement and a nuclear camera: 10 must-see shows at London Gallery Weekend' by Skye Sherwin 11 May 202211 May 2022 Galleries across London will show contemporary art from across the world this weekend – for free. Here are our top picks. Lonnie...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Art Newspaper
'A life saved by art: Lonnie Holley on making work inspired by trauma, 'garbage'—and being stranded on an English island.' by Ben Luke 9 May 20229 May 2022 Known for his sculptures assembled from material other people might consider rubbish, the US artist will be performing his improvised voice and...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Something Curated
'Interview: Artist & Musician Lonnie Holley On Improvisational Creativity' by Something Curated 9 May 20229 May 2022 Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, artist and musician Lonnie Holley’s interdisciplinary practice oscillates seamlessly between sculpture, painting, photography, filmmaking, performance and...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in the Evening Standard
'The best exhibitions to see at London Gallery Weekend 2022 - and it’s all for free' by Ben Luke 6 May 20226 May 2022 London’s commercial galleries are thriving and there’s tons to see, for free N ext Friday, the second edition of London Gallery Weekend...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in the Financial Times
'London Gallery Weekend returns to galvanise a city' by Melanie Gerlis 4 May 20224 May 2022 Alongside Eye of the Collector and Photo London, it will be a busy few days for art lovers. The first London Gallery...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in The Observer
'‘It’s like one continuous song pours out of him’: meet the shaman-like artist-musician Lonnie Holley' by Sean O'Hagan 1 May 20221 May 2022 The self-taught singer and sculptor from Alabama exists in a state of constant, spontaneous creativity. He talks about his roots and his...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Apollo
'Gallery highlights' by Samuel Reilly 28 April 202228 April 2022 Apollo picks out four of the best shows at London Gallery Weekend Lonnie Holley 13 May - 2 July Edel Assanti,...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Apollo Magazine
'"The truth is contagious" an interview with Lonnie Holley' by Samuel Reilly 16 June 202016 June 2020 ‘If you look at that piece of music I did about waking up in a fucked-up America,’ Lonnie Holley tells me, ‘it’s...Read more -
Lonnie Holley in Studio International
'Lonnie Holley – interview: "I started doing my work with a knife, fork and a spoon on sandstone"' by Elizabeth Fullerton 1 June 202001 June 2020 In non-coronavirus times African American artist Lonnie Holley might be found in his adopted hometown of Atlanta, twisting a piece of wire...Read more