Acclaimed artist and musician Lonnie Holley to perform at the Hippodrome Theatre on September 11

Press release from Pulp Arts

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Pulp Arts announced that the “Oh Me Oh My” arts celebration will bring the lauded visual artist and musician Lonnie Holley to Gainesville for a special performance at the historic Hippodrome Theatre on September 11 at 7:00 p.m.  Lonnie’s musical output includes recent collaborations with Michael Stipe of REM, Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, and the late producer, Richard Swift. 

Holley’s visual art is now in collections of major museums throughout the world (The Museums of Fine Arts, San Francisco; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Smithsonian American Art Museum; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and many others), on permanent display in the United Nations, and been displayed in the White House Rose Garden. His art and music, born out of struggle and hardship but, perhaps more importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, have manifested in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, music, and filmmaking. Holley’s sculptures are constructed from found materials in the oldest tradition of African American sculpture. Objects already imbued with cultural and artistic metaphor are combined into narrative sculptures that commemorate places, people, and events. 

In addition to his art and music practice, Lonnie contributed to the 2023 podcast Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children. The podcast follows the history of the infamous reform school in Alabama (which many refer to as a “slave camp for kids”) and profiles Holley’s early life and the struggles he and so many others suffered at the hands of the State of Alabama. 

Lonnie Holley’s performance is part of a bigger presentation of the artist’s work called “Oh Me Oh My.” The Hippodrome Theatre will be showing documentaries that tell Holley’s remarkable personal story and offer a glimpse into the artist’s insatiable drive to create on September 5 at 6:30 p.m. 

On September 10, a workshop co-hosted by the Repurpose project will offer a unique opportunity to engage in the practice of sculptural assemblage with Lonnie Holley himself.