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hen Skot Foreman was going
to school at the University of
Florida, Gainesville, in 1986, he stopped
by a newsstand and saw a copy of Andy
Warhol’s Interview magazine with Don
Johnson on the cover. One of the teasers
was “What’s Hot in Miami?”. Foreman
was born in Pittsburgh where Warhol
was born and he lived in South Florida,
so the magazine scored with him on
two counts. Inside, there was an article
on the self-taught Miami artist Purvis
Young (1943-2010).
“His work was a mix of calligraphy, kid’s
art and a little Cy Twombly,” Foreman
recalls thinking. “Ten years later I was
at a silent auction in Miami and there
was a Purvis Young. I thought, ‘I’ve gotta
get this.’ Purvis was brought up in Miami
and never educated beyond the sixth
grade. He went through the school of
hard knocks and spent time in jail, but
he turned his life around and dedicated
it to painting. He has been labeled an
‘outsider’ artist but I think he reaches
a much broader audience. His work isso layered and so complex. He painted
with passion. The work may be a little
primitive for some people but he makes
up for it in the strength of his brushwork,
which shows the influence of Chinese
calligraphy, Jackson Pollock and others.
We became friends over the years and
last year I curated an exhibition of his
work at the European Cultural Center in
Palazzo Mora for the Venice Biennale.”
It’s a long way from picking up a copy
of Interview and sponsoring an exhibi-
tion in Venice. Growing up in South