Born in 1914 to a family of African, Creole, and Native American heritage in Memphis, Bolden was closest to his twin brother, Monroe, with whom he shared a love of handmade radios and baseball. Though Bolden lost his sight at a young age due to a baseball accident, he continued to work with his hands, helping Monroe with electrical work and beginning to experiment with found materials. This was the beginning of a practice that would span nearly four decades and yield a complex body of work.
Bolden began his earliest sculptures in 1965, face-like structures created entirely out of found objects often sourced from the streets of his neighborhood. Folded shoe soles, drilled and modified metal, wooden scraps, and strips of textile are common elements; some of the works are bound together with wire and metal chains. Over the course of Bolden’s career, he experimented with various forms, constructing assemblages on wooden posts, two-legged structures, and shield-like tableaux. One of his signature artistic gestures was the creation of self-described scarecrows made from stuffed pairs of work pants––a genus of anthropomorphic sculptures linked by their figurative representations of the lower body.
Not unlike the quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend, Bolden altered old work pants to complete his artworks. The works on view are further defined by the use of recycled clothing, referencing a long tradition of transforming old jeans, overalls, scraps, and rags into functional works of art. -Maria Owen
Maria Owen is a writer and associate director of MARCH, a gallery and public benefit corporation located in New York City. Owen holds a BFA in History of Art from Pratt Institute and a MSC in Psychology of Art, Neuroaesthetics, and Creativity from Goldsmiths University of London. Her writing has been published by Burnaway, Institute193, and Whitewall Magazine, among others. ORGANIZED BY Institute 193 in collaboration with MARCH and the Tinwood Foundation.
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