A Beautiful Life

Two and a half years ago, artist Lee Godie (1908 - 2008) was the subject of a marvelous retrospective at Chicago’s Intuit Gallery, with the exhibition of her work closing January 3, 2009. The show was titled: Finding Beauty: The Art of Lee Godie (1908 -2008) and was curated by Jessica Moss and David Syrek. Godie called herself a “French Impressionist” and often could be found on the steps of The Chicago Art Institute or outside Neiman Marcus, where the homeless woman was once heard to say: “Would you like to buy some canvases? I’m much better than Cezanne.”

Her photographs, made in a photobooth at the Chicago Trailways Bus Station, were great examples of self-reinvention. Long before Cindy Sherman’s famous and groundbreaking photography, Ms. Godie was using the bus station photobooth to take and create her rare “transformative self-portraits.” There, she was incredibly inventive. She often used artist’s paint to darken or lighten her face; she would dress in costume, change her hair or complete persona. Afterwards, she would paint or draw on the actual photograph to transform it further, perhaps tinting her hair or giving herself ruby red lips.

The photobooth machine at the bus station (where she often slept) would give a sitter the option of receiving a single image of yourself (approx. 4” x 5” photo) or broken into four different smaller ones you had to cut apart to separate.

As an example, look at the one above, titled “Lee in a Camera.” Here, Ms. Godie thought ahead and had to remove herself from the photobooth twice in order to set up this shot. By doing this she was manipulating the photo even further—leaving calculated blank space from which to react later. In this picture, she chose to write on those rectangles. It was smart, inventive and showed that she had a keen knowledge of space.

Lee would have been 102 years old this year. Yes, she was homeless, but lived her life for her art. Given the difficulties of her life, just surviving was an amazing achievement. To make art that people still covet, exhibit and talk about, well, that is even more incredible.

An AM repost from 12/08/08.

Weekend Random Images

(Above) Manipulated self-portrait by homeless artist Lee Godie (1908 - 1995); Private Collection. (Click on image for larger view)


(Above) Stone carved sphinx by the late Ralph Doss Lanning (1916 - 2009); Collection of John Foster. (Click on image for larger view)



(Above) Young boxing fans meet the champs; Via Square America. (Click on image for larger view)



(Above) Paw prints on outer wall of hen house made by predators; Via Live From the Surface of the Moon. (Click on image for larger view)


(Above) When age and the elements work their magic: Via Candler Arts. (Click on image for larger view)

Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five...

(Above) TEN: Ten hand carved folk art birds, by Bob Rowe, Albert Zahn, Miles Carpenter, William Dawson, Carl McKenzie, and an anonymous carver.


(Above): NINE: Nine heads in a drawing by Gugging artist Johann Fischer (1919 - 2008).

(Above): EIGHT: Eight sets of antlers on an eccentric, bizarre birdhouse by Elwood Graham James (1890 - 1960), Mingo County, West Virginia, c. 1930s.

(Above): SEVEN: Seven tulips in an anonymous, thrift store painting, c. 1950.

(Above): SIX: Six hand-painted hair styles on an African barber shop sign.

(Above): Five: Cinco brand metal cigar box with beautiful color and patina of blue and orange.

(Above): FOUR: Four photobooth photos in one by self-taught artist Lee Godie (1908 - 1995).

(Above): THREE: Three vintage harvest masks, c. 1940, from the Zitlala region of Mexico, used to evoke rain during the Dance of Las Tiacololeros.
(Above): TWO: A pair of painted photo booth vernacular photographs.


(Above): ONE: One round enamel outdoor Coca-Cola sign, c. 1950.


I FOUND THIS VERY OLD CIGAR BOX LAST WEEK, with the word “Cinco” on the front, which became the impetus for this post of finding ten things from our collection with “a number between 10 and 1” personified in the object. It was a fun assignment, walking around and looking for objects to fulfill the assignment. It was Cinco’s fault. Enjoy.

Photobooth Images By a Self-Taught Artist

(Above) Lee Godie (1908 - 1995), a homeless artist in Chicago, photographed on Michigan Avenue with some of her rolled up paintings. Photo © Steve Kagan
(Above) “Lee Godie-This is a Kid’s Pose,” 4 x 5” photobooth image (titled on verso)
(Above) “Lee-A Girl With Roses” 4 x 5” photobooth image (titled on verso)
(Above) “Lee In a Camera,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee as an Artist,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee with a Paper,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee,” 4 x 5” photobooth image

I NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET LEE GODIE. She passed away in 1995, not so long ago, really. Even if you were from her hometown of Chicago, I have heard that finding Lee Godie was never easy. She was homeless, and though she often sold her paintings on the steps of the Chicago Art Institute, on North Michigan Avenue or Water Tower Park, you could never be sure what day she’d be there. And then, assuming you spotted her, there was no guarantee she would even talk to you, much less sell you an artwork. There were rumors she didn’t like fair-haired people. And for whatever reason, if she didn’t like you, or your approach to her was not to her liking, there was no amount of money you could offer her to get her to sell you a painting. You were just out of luck. NO SOUP FOR YOU!

She did, however, really like Chicago art dealer Carl Hammer. She often stopped by his art gallery, and they had a special relationship of mutual respect. He was one of the first art dealers to carry and sell her artwork.

Besides being a painter, she also used the photo booth machine at the Trailway’s Bus Station as part of her art making process. Without question, she was creating photographically altered self-portraits before the famous contemporary photographer Cindy Sherman was doing it. Ms. Godie would actually rub paint or other substances on her face to darken it before she stepped into the photo booth. She would wear various costumes to change her identity. And, she was definitely aware of the “totality” of the image when stepped into the photo-making booth. For example, when she chose the “four small images” instead of the one “large” image—it was a conscious decision. You can see that in the the photo above entitled “Lee in a Camera.” There, Godie had to quickly remove herself from the booth between “takes” so that she would have blank spaces in which to write. Check it out. That was an aesthetic decision. After the image was developed, she would often enhance the features of her face with red paint or ball point pen.

Godie’s photographs are rare, and most, if not all, are in private collections.

Intuit, the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago recently held an exhibition of over 100 pieces of Lee Godie’s work, and was entitled “Finding Beauty: The Art of Lee Godie” (September 12, 2008 - January 3, 2009). This superb show was co- curated by Jessica Moss and David Syrek (who designed the catalog) that’s available for $10. You can read more about Lee Godie here. If you are a fan of self-taught art, joining Intuit is a must— and you get a subscription to their magazine, The Outsider. Check it out!