Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411160056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But to admirers, the animals on Ferris wheels, the sea monsters, the Amazonian women in bikinis - not to mention the signature sun, moon and stars - of North Carolinian James Harold Jennings' art are beautiful nonetheless.
The work of this long-haired, 63-year-old recluse, who lives in a school bus in Pinnacle, N.C., is on exhibit through Feb. 12 at the Art Museum of Western Virginia. A reception and gallery talk will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 2, during Roanoke's Art By Night.
Jennings' story is typical of many folk artists - who often are pushed to develop their talents by a loss or trauma, said the exhibit's curator, Carissa South.
Born in North Carolina in 1931, Jennings' father died when he was 3. He dropped out of school at age 12.
His mother, a schoolteacher, took over the family tobacco farm; James Harold worked as a night watchman and a drive-in movie projectionist before her death in the early 1970s.
After the loss of his mother, Jennings, who never married and had lived with his mother until her death, took to fiddling around with scraps of wood and metal. "He started constructing these little buildings in his front yard," said South. "He went on to whirligigs and windmills. He never really thought they would be of interest to anybody."
For a while, they were not.
Then a folk art collector and dealer from Winston-Salem found him out. He not only bought some of the budding artist's work, but encouraged Jennings to move the rest down closer to the highway, where motorists could see it.
It must have worked. Jennings now has a considerable reputation as a folk artist, South said, with shows in both American and European cities to his credit.
Even so, Jennings' work is not expensive by traditional art standards, usually selling for well under $1,000, said South.
Jennings, who lives without electricity and telephone, was not available for a phone interview.
But his sister-in-law and business manager, Normie Jennings, confirmed his popularity.
"He has a lot of visitors, from just everywhere," said Jennings, who lives some seven miles away from the artist, and checks up on him frequently. "Texas, California. The Folk Art Society had a bus tour. They came through and visited him. ... He's a very unique individual."
Not exactly withdrawn, and tolerant of visitors, the artist prefers to simply do his work and not have to worry about anything else, say those who know him.
The sources for his work are many. A collector of old dictionaries and encyclopedias, Jennings also reads the tabloids - in which a story about Amazonian women inspired his series of works along the theme of powerful women physically dominating bullying or evil men.
But Jennings' creations also come from dreams, said South. His work, usually made of wood and metal, often features working parts. Turn a wheel, and a line of country singers sways back and forth below. A seven-foot-tall Ferris wheel turns easily, to show off a menagerie of animals, and people, rocking happily in their seats.
Jennings believes in astrology, and in metempsychosis - the passing of the soul into the body of another person or animal after death - South said. And his work resonates with moons and stars. In fact, he is sometimes called "the Sun, Moon and Stars Man," and believes that all human powers comes from those sources, said South.
His work is spiritual, even religious in nature - though perhaps not in a way your average Baptist might recognize.
"It's a little left of that," South said, when asked about the artist's relation to more conventional Christian theology. "He feels that church-going people are of the sort that he is not accepted by."
According to his sister-in-law, Jennings always had a certain something.
"He's always been talented in doing things," she said. "He started out making little turtles and things like that. People in the neighborhood would come by and give him 50 cents, a dollar, two dollars."
Despite artistic renown, Jennings still lives in his school bus, with three cats his only company. Success has not tempted him to change his lifestyle, his sister-in-law said.
In fact, "Fame hasn't changed him a bit," she insisted.
Well, maybe a bit.
When a reporter asked her about some crowns included in the museum's exhibit, Normie Jennings said the artist had just recently started making those.
Wearing them, too.
She has a possible explanation.
"Once he said, after he got discovered, that he's to art what Elvis Presley was to music."
The king, that is.
"He's not modest," she said with a laugh.
``James Harold Jennings: Art World'' is on view at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, Center in the Square, through Feb. 12. 342-5760.
by CNB