Lonnie Holley was born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, the seventh of 27 children. From the age of five, Holley worked various jobs: picking up trash at a drive-in movie theatre, washing dishes, and cooking.
He lived in a whiskey house, on the state fairgrounds, and in several foster homes. His early life was chaotic and Holley was never afforded the pleasure of a real childhood.
Since 1979, Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational creativity. His art and music, born out of struggle, hardship, but perhaps more importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and sound.
Lonnie Holley | All Rendered Truth
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=vDh_GyrMU4A
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.
Holley did not start making and performing music in a studio nor does his creative process mirror that of the typical musician. His music and lyrics are improvised on the spot and morph and evolve with every event, concert, and recording.
Lonnie Holley | From The Other Side Of The Pulpit
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=ixiSM0LC0ro
In Holley’s original art environment, he would construct and deconstruct his visual works, repurposing their elements for new pieces. This often led to the transfer of individual narratives into the new work creating a cumulative composite image that has depth and purpose beyond its original singular meaning.
The layers of sound in Holley’s music, likewise, are the result of decades of evolving experimentation. “Just Before Music” features Holley’s first studio recordings made in 2010 and 2011. In september 2013 his 2nd album “Keeping a record of it” came out on Dust-To-Digital. It features contributions by Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Cole Alexander of The Black Lips.
This event is highly recommended by Digital in Berlin! We are giving away 2 x 2 tickets. Just send a mail to win@digitalinberlin.de with “Lonnie Holley” as the subject.
“Since the devil is gone I mostly feel lonely”
w/ Lonnie Holley LIVE
presented by D/B
Djs: Falko Teichmann & Bill Kouligas
Wednesday, 27 November 2013 | 20:00 CET
Monarch | Skalitzer Str. 134 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg
dust-digital.com/lonnie | kottimonarch.de
