Bio

Hawkins Bolden (1914-2005) was a self-taught artist who lived his entire life in Memphis, TN. At the age of seven, Bolden was left completely blind following a baseball accident involving his twin brother. Later in life, he began scavenging the alleyways and fields around his home in search of discarded materials, litter and other debris with which to work.

Utilizing only his sense of touch, he created a vast number of scarecrows, tall totems and mask-like objects from these found materials to protect his backyard vegetable garden from pests and predators.

CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

Totems, SHRINE, New York, NY

2021

Scarecrows, SHRINE, New York, NY

2016

Hawkins Bolden: Scarecrows, Outsider Art Fair with SHRINE, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

Healing Machine, SHRINE, Los Angeles, CA

2023

Death of an Outsider, SHRINE, Los Angeles, CA

2020

Connections, Online Exhibition, SHRINE, New York, NY

2019

GARDENS, SHRINE, New York, NY

2018

Yard Show, Curated by Marcus Jahmal, SHRINE, New York, NY

Annex, SHRINE, New York, NY

COLLECTIONS

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY

American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Museum of Everything, London, UK

Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA

Souls Grown Deep Foundation, Atlanta, CA

The Keen Collection of Outsider Art at Bethany Mission, Philadelphia, PA