how many "o"s can you find in:
yoakum’s work unfolds in a grand way once you realize the depth in each of the seemingly simple pieces. the drawings he created with seemingly pedestrian instruments such as ballpoint pens and colored pencils, make for grandiose, intense, and lyrical landscape studies despite their small size. the paper he used was humble drawing paper before he switched to acid-free, but even the work on this low-cost alternative is captivating. it has changed color over the years, making it all the more organic and artfully refined.
colored pencil, ballpoint pen on paper, 12″ x 15″.
in “altai mtn. range-the plateau of mongolia”, the paper has changed on a chemical level, muting it so perfectly into one of the most lauded landscape drawings by yoakum, and definitely a true highlight of the show. the feathered lines within the sheer largess of the nature he depicted is one of his great talents. yoakum’s delicate use of his implements show how deeply he understood process, color, and shape to express how he reveled in the natural world created by god.
a vagabond throughout most of his life, yoakum also worked as a valet for the ringling brothers and travelled around the world in the military. his work is a kind of visual journal of his excursions around the globe and his admiration for everything surrounding him on these travels is apparent perusing this show.
pen, colored pencil on paper, 12″ x 18″.
“mt. gilbert of appalachian mtn. range polkazinn pennsylvania,” pencil, pen, colored pencil on paper, 12″ x 18″.
even though the focus continues to be outsider art, hammer has folded in a number of academically-trained artists into the collection including roger brown, mary lou zalazny, and ed paschke. the result is a consistently stimulating collection and engaging exhibitions. during my visit that afternoon, the gallery was participating in a gallery walk, where visitors go gallery to gallery for a brief tour of the space and current exhibitions.
installation view of spiritual unfoldment. image courtesy of carl hammer gallery.
as i walked with hammer through the group show, i immediately noticed a fascinating work and asked him about it. “i am excited by the addition of a 30-year-old cuban artist by the name of misleidys francisca castillo pedroso. she is autistic and does not speak and cannot hear.” pedroso’s subjects tend to be beefy, almost human-scale portraits of bodybuilders.
these hyperbolic, muscle-bound men and women are tacked onto a paper background with brown packing tape, adding a surreal texture. hammer explained that she has wallpapered her home with these figures of strength. pedroso’s fascination with the sinews of the body, and with the rich color she employs to create them makes her work distinctive. her choice to use tempera and watercolor only makes the work more surreal as these muscled figures look animated as they float on the paper they are taped to and in their nimble illustration that beckons a colorful cartoon quality.
the small, feeble hands on the body builder in “untitled” are positioned alongside the figure’s huge, bulbous figure. the charged, tightly rendered forms in her figurative works belie her humble media.. adept and fascinating, the discovery of pedroso illustrates the continued importance and emergence of new outsider artists through carl hammer gallery.

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The total number of "o"s in that passage is 194.
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