Loading

Life and Death of the Moonshine Man

Thornton Dial2001

Souls Grown Deep

Souls Grown Deep
Atlanta, United States

Dial was born in 1928, one year prior to the stock market crash that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. Prior to that time, prohibition, officially instituted by the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, had given birth to an underground infrastructure of alcohol producers whose industry grew and prospered in a difficult time. This ad hoc economy lasted fourteen years, ending with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933. Sixty-eight years after the repeal of prohibition, Dial stumbled on the remnants of an old still buried under a trash pile in a patch of forest near his home in Bessemer, Alabama. In this work, Dial resurrects the remnants of that old still, transforming its components and other found objects into a looming and contorted human figure. The scraggly figure is shaped out of old piping from the still and metal rings, used to hold whiskey barrels together. Dial has used a mop to shape the man’s head and outfitted him with work gloves. He is surrounded by stuffed animals, mostly bears, hinting at the moonshiner’s workplace in the forest, hidden from the authorities. This figure memorializes an era that has come and gone and honors the hardworking moonshiners who found a way to survive during the world’s most comprehensive economic depression.

Details

  • Title: Life and Death of the Moonshine Man
  • Creator: Thornton Dial
  • Creator Lifespan: 1928/2016
  • Creator Nationality: American
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: McCalla, Alabama
  • Creator Birth Place: Emelle, Alabama
  • Date Created: 2001
  • Location Created: McCalla, Alabama
  • Physical Dimensions: 77 x 71 x 62 in. (195.6 x 180.3 x 157.5 cm)
  • Subject Keywords: Prohibition, Moonshine, African American art, Black art
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Rights: © Thornton Dial / Photo: Stephen Pitkin, Pitkin Studio
  • External Link: https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/thornton-dial
  • Medium: Stuffed animal, corrugated tin, found metal, carpet, wire, mop, gloves, clothing, doll, plate, enamel, spray paint, and Splash Zone compound

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps