I shot a ton of stuff during my visit to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and I’ll go on and on about what a bitchin’ place it is when I get to the bulk of the stuff in the next post or so. The first thing I did when we got there was check my bag, and lo and behold, the tiny room containing the Howard Finster exhibition that I was super excited about seeing.

I have a weird childhood memory about Finster’s work. One of his pieces was the first piece of contemporary art, and definitely the first piece of folk art that I bumped into as an adolescent. I ordered a dozen CDs from the BMG Music Club, right after getting my first CD player. Somehow, I ended up with a number of CDs that I didn’t order, and some that I did. I remember ordering an early Talking Heads album, and I received the CD for Little Creatures and the David Byrne album, Uh-Oh, instead. Being as much of a godless fascist as an adolescent can be, I immediately returned them, angry at the religious imagery on the cover, without even listening to them. Years later, I would assemble a full discography of the Talking Heads on vinyl, the Byrne album Rei Mono is on my “music for dinner parties” playlist forever and I think the Tom Tom Club are titans of music that walk the Earth. So anyways, that Little Creatures cover by Howard Finster is burned into my head - always a reminder not to judge things by their appearances.

Back to the show. The show was in a tiny room in the lower level of the museum, known a the Reva and David Logan Gallery of Illustrated Books. It’s about 10 feet square, and all the art was in wall cases, with one piece in a central vitrine. A kiosk playing an interview with Finster conducted by Eleanor Dickinson, who’s collection comprises the exhibition, played in one corner, providing the perfect soundtrack for the occasion. You can see all of the pieces I shot (I’m not sure if photography was allowed, but no one was looking, and I had to go for it) in my Legion of Honor Flickr set. The two pieces below I’d like to highlight because they’re unlike anything of Finster’s I had seen before.

Finster---Law-Breakers

above - Law Breakers - I love this piece. It seethes with frustration that I can really relate to. That frustration you have when you know how ridiculous someone’s behavior is and you just have to sit back and watch them run in circles, wasting everyone’s time. It bleeds truth and the composition is perfect for the message. I hope he somehow circulated a lot of these little guys.

Finster---Eleanor-Dickinson

Above - Eleanor Dickinson - Howard Finster’s portrait of artist and collector Eleanor Dickinson. While his other paintings show how he sees celebrities, biblical figures or objects, this is a really intimate painting of a “real person” whom Finster has a relationship with. There’s a special dignity in this piece that is absent in his work, and something about it seems slowed down and comfortable.

What attracts me to Finster’s work is his belief that art and words can change people, that you can have some effect on the greater world, and that frankly, art can matter. While I’m not sympathetic to his religious beliefs, his work seems to be filled with a sincerity of conviction that’s sorely lacking in most artworks. He seems unconcerned with the competitive nature of the art world, and his desire to be prolific and spread his message is a more meaningful purpose or goal than most artists can make claim to.