Self-taught Artist Loy 'Rhinestone Cowboy' Bowlin. Cosmic abstract collage

$1,950.00 $2,600.00

Loy 'Rhinestone Cowboy' Bowlin (1909 - 1995). "Cosmic Abstract"
glitter and sequins on paper construction.
Image is 22" w x 15" h. / Frame is 30" w x 23" h.

Provenance: The Larry and Jane Schlachter Collection.

After a divorce and retirement left Loy Allen Bowlin depressed and bored, he transformed himself into “The Original Rhinestone Cowboy.” Dressed head to toe in dazzling outfits he painstakingly embellished with rhinestones and glitter, he performed daily in local shopping plazas, fairs, and flea markets, playing the harmonica, dancing, and telling jokes. As he approached his 80s and was no longer able to go out and entertain, he redirected his creative energy to his house in McComb, Mississippi, transforming it into the Beautiful Holy Jewel Home. In a project that took about five years to complete, he covered every inch of the interior, and part of the exterior, with daubs of bright paint and intricate patterns of cutout paper, rhinestones, glitter, tinfoil, tinsel garlands, Christmas ornaments, and collaged photographs and magazine illustrations.

After Bowlin’s death in 1995, Houston artist and collector Katy Emde acquired the house under the stipulation that she remove it from the property. Emde documented and dismantled the home, and Kohler Foundation, Inc., acquired all the components in 1998. The foundation gifted the home along with many of Bowlin’s customized hats, suits, and furniture pieces to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

https://hyperallergic.com/217960/the-original-rhinestone-cowboys-glittery-home-will-be-reconstructed/

https://www.southerncultures.org/article/rhinestone-man/

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