WATER BOY
The Art and Life of Reverend Albert Lee Wagner
Edited by Gene & Linda Kangas
INTRODUCTION Excerpt from BOOK
by Linda Kangas
The emancipation of slaves following the end of the Civil War did not guarantee that insidious racism and bigotry were over, far from it. Southern blacks especially continued to suffer unspeakable intrusions into their everyday lives. Slavery was illegal but segregation was not. Voting and openly speaking one's mind were not possible. Fear dictated how one acted and how one expressed him or herself. Southern black folk artists were acutely aware of the suffocating burden of these limitations, yet they bravely struggled to find a voice. To protect themselves and their families from potentially deadly reprisals, critical messages were necessarily disguised within their visual creations. Openly expressing ideas might be dangerous. Social commentary could have serious consequences. "Thornton Dial hid his work in the tool shed, he buried it in the backyard, he tore it up and made something else out of it. He was not hiding and recycling merely to appease Clara Mae (his wife). He knew somehow that whatever he was making could bring far more danger than a tongue-lashing from the wife. As his work became less practical and more aesthetic, it began to reveal Dial's emotions about his plight and how the civil unrest around him, and these feelings — too dangerous to let escape his ever-closed mouth — now seeped from his whirring mind into his hands and out through metal and cement." (From The Last Folk Hero by Dietz p19) The "civil" war was not over. The struggle was just beginning.
As Albert Lee Wagner grew up in poverty stricken rural Arkansas, he heard horrific stories of atrocities dealt upon his people. Racism, rape, whippings and even murder were remembered as commonplace events. Unfortunately, such nightmarish memories were inescapable and were thus burned deep into his psyche to emerge much later as ingredients in his visual vocabulary. Basic life just prior to, during and following the Depression was extremely challenging for poor black folk; in 1941, Wagner and his family emigrated from desperate dead-end circumstances in rural Arkansas in search of better jobs and a new life in Ohio. The North, he pleasantly found, not only offered much better pay and greater opportunities but also previously unknown freedoms. Albert Wagner unexpectedly discovered that he could boldly speak his mind on any subject without fear of receiving a beating or worse, getting hung from a tree. Life was dramatically different in the North. Life was good. Albert Wagner was free to express his experiences and memories in any liberated manner he preferred. Freedom gave him permission to be brutally candid and affectionately picturesque. Freedom opened the exciting door to uncensored artistic expression. Freedom differentiates him from his Southern folk artist peers. Inhibiting social censorship and cultural repression were left miles behind.
PAINTED WISDOM Essay from BOOK
by Gene Kangas, Professor Emeritus
A KID IN THE COUNTRY. In 1938 Albert Wagner was a brawny hardworking youngster growing up in rural Arkansas. He lived with his three brothers and deeply religious mother, Willie Ella. Although only achieving a basic third grade education, Albert was recognized as the legal head of the household by the time he became a teenager. His father "Will" died when Albert was nearly eleven. The Wagner family supported itself by picking cotton as they all grew up as sharecroppers. It was tedious, back breaking, and grueling day and night work but it provided for the barest of life essentials and for an occasional small but well-earned treat. Unfortunately, picking cotton was an occupation that offered virtually no chance for advancement. Family, religion, work, poverty, segregation and racism were daily subjects of Albert Wagner's home-schooled lessons.
In the same year, the world stage was intensely focused on the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. A related dynamic event was the much-heralded rematch of American heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, a sharecropper's son from rural Alabama, against his German counterpart, Max Schmeling, the former world champion. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Louis in the White House prior to the fight and reportedly told him, "Joe, we're depending on those muscles for America."
Schmeling represented Germany and was linked to the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Worker's Party). The mid-summer sporting contest between champions was hyped in the media as a righteous battle between good and evil — freedom versus Nazism. It was propaganda on an international scale linked to war. Both boxers were subjected to intense pressure to win for "their" side. The fight lasted less than one round. Louis knocked out Schmeling in two minutes and four seconds.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. The next day newspapers everywhere featured front-page photographs of a triumphant Louis standing over a beaten Schmeling. The "free" world celebrated the victory. When fourteen-year-old Albert Wagner saw some of those photographs in a copy of the Pittsburg Courier, however, he couldn't believe his eyes. "'How could a black man strike down a white man and be publicly praised," Albert thought. The world witnessed a major sporting event charged with impassioned political overtones, but Wagner saw something else, something totally different, something inspiring. Albert remembers thinking at the time, "The world is beginning to change. Maybe there are new opportunities on the horizon." Overnight, with a mighty single punch, racism was temporarily suspended.
Each of our unique personal circumstances defines who we are. It provides us with an individualized perspective to relate to the rest of the world. We all see and think about things differently. Albert Wagner didn't need a lengthy formal education to realize that change was slowly but surely coming. Deep down he felt that he could become somebody, someday. His adolescent spirits were suddenly lifted. Mature beyond his years, Albert's brain was filled with the dawning realization that he could make a name for himself, someday. His heart was alive with wonderful hopes and dreams.
THE MOVE TO OHIO. It was 1941 and America had been attacked by at Pearl Harbor. World War II had already raged for two years. Economic and social conditions were harsh in the South, so Albert and his family decided to move from rural Arkansas to urban Ohio upon the urging of his Uncle Hosia Patton. Hosia kindly offered them a place to stay and promised that there were plenty of jobs available because of the war. All eventually went on their first, and ever so tiresome, day and a half Greyhound Bus trip. They traveled as they could afford it: Bernie and Lawrence went first, and then Albert made the journey. After saving up enough money, Albert wired it to Arkansas so that John and their mother could come to Ohio together. John smiled as he proudly recalled, "I couldn't leave Momma behind."
Albert long harbored mixed emotions about leaving behind the land he had worked, the farm animals, the homegrown food, and the countryside he knew so well. It was a humble life but at times, a good life. Within two days of arriving in Cleveland, however, Albert landed a job washing dishes at the Mayflower Restaurant that paid him $18.00 for the first week. "I was rich!" The other brothers shortly found work at pay rates far exceeding anything they had earned before. Mother Willie Ella was hired at St. Luke's Hospital, which she retired from many years later. Everyone had a job. "Times were good," Albert reflected many times.
Soon Bernie, Lawrence, and John were serving their country in the military and Albert supported the defense effort by operating an overhead crane. "Work never stopped. The crane kept moving. You picked up on one end and set down on the other. As soon as you got back to the beginning, more was waiting." His crane operator job lasted about six years and paid well enough to allow money to be saved. Almost a decade after the war ended, Albert invested it in a new business in 1954. The Wagner Moving Company was born.
FROM THE BOTTOM UP. The Wagner Moving Company was the right idea at the perfect time. Many thousands of veterans just returning from the war were ready to take on new responsibilities. They had shipped out as young naive soldiers but came back as seasoned world travelers. They were welcomed as heroes. Jobs were plentiful. America began to experience tremendous economic growth and an incredible building boom. And, Wagner's fledgling fleet of two trucks was ready to help make it happen. Business was so good that within a few years sometimes as many as fourteen additional trucks were leased from other companies to support that booming business. Outside offers were made to expand the lucrative business to cities beyond Cleveland. Albert Wagner's pockets bulged with cash. He said, "I could cover any amount of check and buy anything I wanted."
In the early 1950s Albert Wagner began serving as a lay minister in a local church. Faith was important to him, but the new earned riches were powerfully seductive. The kid from Arkansas, who had picked cotton for pennies, now had more money than he knew what to do with. It was his downfall. Success bred downfall and failure. "I had everything, but alcohol and sex can bring you down." He strayed from the teachings of the church and his devout mother, got mixed up with the wrong crowd, adopted multiple identities, took pleasure from excess, and found himself helplessly falling deeper and deeper into depravity. He was terribly conflicted. Those were the dark slave days of sinful living. "For the love of money is the root of all evil." (Timothy, 6:10) Albert Wagner hit bottom. It was a hard fall.
One steamy summer afternoon in the early 1970s, Albert's car broke down; the radiator overheated. A woman from a nearby garage carried water over to his car. At that moment Albert experienced an emotional epiphany. "It all came back!' In one instant he had a life-changing vision. He had been struck by an inspirational lightning bolt from above. He saw himself once again as the innocent happy water boy. He envisioned his mother waiting for a cool drink in the hot field where she toiled. And, he once more remembered being a five year old boy fashioning cars and airplanes out of mud. The memory touched him. He again heard his mother encourage his creativity. The feeling was good and more fond memories filled him. He very much wanted to somehow preserve that sentiment. "What could I do? Maybe I could paint a picture?'
ALBERT WAGNER BECOMES A FOLK ARTIST. Nearly a half-century had elapsed since his birth in 1924 when Albert Wagner began to paint. Time and again he affectionately remembered back to his early childhood when he playfully fashioned clumps of mud, scraps of cardboard or discarded bits of paper into images that fascinated him. Mother Willie Ella had always encouraged his creativeness. "Son, if I could send you to art school you could be somebody." Now an adult, Albert was about to discover a new language, a new means to express himself. He rediscovered art and it changed his life forever. It started with a simple household mishap. Paint accidentally dripped and spilled onto a scrap board on the floor. Albert remembered being fascinated with the colors and patterns. It got his attention. He referred to the experience as the "Miracle at Midnight." He considered it the beginning of a new era.
Academics usually categorize people like Wagner who lack formal training and are self taught as "folk artists." Some are further divided and subdivided into a myriad of other classifications. Regardless of the particular definition, however, each is a constituent in the spectrum of world creativity, while remaining unaware of traditional rules. Freedom from confining teachings typically equals liberation and innovation. Each artist raises questions in his or her unique way, often-profound penetrating questions. Each begs us to think and to feel. And, that sincere dialog expands the level of human understanding.
One of Albert Wagner's very first adult paintings was a wonderful memory picture. Its heartfelt creation marked his critical departure from a soulless way of life into the beginnings of a more positive one. He was reborn. Albert once again became the youthful water boy. The painting is a self-portrait depicting young Albert on a cheerful, bright, golden sunny day as he proudly walks with two pails of water over his shoulder in a cotton rich field. The blossoming of cotton brought employment and water sustained life. "WATER BOY," the painting, was and is a metaphor for innocence, rebirth and redemption. Art became the ladder that helped Wagner climb out of the pit of darkness, one step at a time. It set his mind free.
REBIRTH: SECULAR AND DIVINE MESSAGES. Albert Wagner returned to preaching. He founded the People Love People House of God in 1975. His litany of personal mistakes became subjects for his often autobiographical messages. Who better to reach out to others in need than someone who had been there? His was the voice of "been there done that" reality, the voice of experience and understanding, and the voice of tough love. Reverend Albert Wagner preached in his own church and out in the streets. Art became one of his voices. With art he presented both secular and divine stories. He was armed with a hard learned wisdom that compelled him to share the knowledge; he accepted a mission that would sustain him through any future difficulty. Reverend Albert Wagner was embarking on his life's true purpose. His spirit grew and soon he became recognized as a true ghetto visionary. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs, King James Version 29:18)
"WATER BOY," the painting, was only the beginning. A tremendous variety of diminutive, medium, and larger images emerged from Reverend Wagner's fertile visionary mind into inspired drawings, paintings and sculptures, which often utilized stylized self-portraits as part of the message. Every conceivable surface and material was experimented with as the need presented itself. For example, sculptures fashioned from found materials and discarded junk became known as "Objects from the Alley." Friends brought all kinds of stuff over and donated hundreds and hundreds of discarded picture frames. Every scrap of paper, cardboard, Masonite and canvas was treasured and utilized. There was no fancy studio, just his bedroom. There never was any sophisticated equipment or abundance of tools. All he ever had was a bunch of old brushes stored in coffee cans; but more importantly, he had a powerful will, an obsessive urgency and a desire to innovate and create. He would not be deterred.
Reverend Albert Wagner began transforming those common materials into potent and intriguing statements that directly confronted viewers with issues of family, morality, ethical behavior and scriptural passages. His story paintings of infidelity, racism, drugs, street violence and rape were juxtaposed against sensitive pictorial commentaries depicting marriage, love, forgiveness, great teachers like "MRS. HAMPTEN" and his favorite entertainers, to name just a few of the innumerable subjects he pondered. Most were extremely serious subjects; some were purely playful and whimsical. Some touched deeply rooted emotions while others encourage us to lighten up and laugh. One early example is a strangely humorous reversal of fortune, the 1970s painting titled "DINNER TIME."
Albert reflected, "As a young boy, I was told to stay in my place. The Big Question was just what was 'my place'? I have wondered, what is 'my place' even today? More importantly, what is my place to myself? I was just an eight-year-old in Arkansas when I was told I was a Negro. Years later I moved to Cleveland and was called a colored boy. Ten years later, my birth certificate, job applications and every record about me called me Black. First I was a Negro, then I was a colored boy, and suddenly I am Black. I am confused. No, wait, it was not me. It was those who run this country who are mixed up!" Those poignant statements are illustrative of an introspective questioning of the past and the very present and are reflective of just a few of the many difficult complexities addressed in Rev. Wagner's artwork. Art allowed Rev. Wagner to explore and express his deepest experiences, his dreams and nightmares.
One such example, "BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER," is an emotional painting, which portrays an age old problem, namely violence within one's own family or amongst friends. "Cain said to Abel, 'Let us go out to the field.' And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him." (Genesis 4:8) A myriad of unsound reasons and irrational thoughts has resulted in murder despite universal agreement on right and wrong, on proper ethical and moral behavior. "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13) The Sixth Commandment has become the basis for world-wide law. The basic principle behind the commandment is that human life should be valued and every person should be treated with dignity; otherwise, there will be more killing, more death and more inhumanity. Rev. Albert Wagner's profound beliefs were founded on ancient Bible texts. He used them to teach and comment on current events and everyday tragedies that impact all of us. In "BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER," Rev. Wagner painted an unforgettable scene populated with images of sadness, despair, death and compassion.
A TRIO OF IMAGES. Three of many other creations that exemplify the dynamics and diversity of Wagner's artistic career are "A BLACK CAT COMING OUT OF A WHITE BAG," "MISSISSIPPI MUD" and "FLEE FROM EGYPT." Each presents a narrative in a totally different way. And, each is representative of a multitude of interrelated expressions.
"A BLACK CAT COMING OUT OF A WHITE BAG" shares overtones of both the historic Dada movement and some elements of Pop Art. While mainstream artists like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol recognized the potential impact of ordinary objects, Wagner added his own personal message. Duchamp adopted mundane everyday objects like bicycle wheels and a porcelain urinal to philosophically attack the status quo of the elitist art world. He referred to them as "ready mades." With tongue in cheek, Warhol pointed out intrinsic beauty in the common place, a soup can.
On the other hand, Rev. Wagner selected particular "objects from the alley" to address problematic human behavior. In this case, he began with a discarded bowling ball and bag and then painted the bag pure white and left the black ball untouched with three finger holes peering out of its open zipper. The descriptive title and economical transformation combined to create a powerful sculptural found object icon, and it supports the well-known axiom "less is more."
By contrast, "MISSISSIPPI MUD" unwittingly parallels a painting that many consider to be modern art's greatest anti-war statement, "GUERNICA" by Pablo Picasso. In that painting Picasso symbolically portrayed the horrors of war with its painful distorted illustrations of torture, agony and death. Like Picasso, Rev. Wagner chose to confront society with an uncompromisingly tough in your face, speak the truth profane reality in "MISSISSIPPI MUD." Racially motivated rapes, hangings and mutilations happened too frequently. Rev. Wagner perceptively warned viewers that such reprehensible behavior must be remembered but not be repeated. "MISSISSIPPI MUD" is not a painting intended for enjoyment. Instead it is a testimonial to culturally inflicted violence and pain. "The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." (President James A. Garfield) Rev. Wagner further admonished everyone, "Don't let the past be a crutch for the present."
"FLEE FROM EGYPT" was painted early in Reverend Albert Wagner's career; and it remains his largest and most recognized canvas. Today it is in the permanent collection of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum is dedicated to the presentation and preservation of art created by untrained artists, which some refer to as "outsiders." Wagner purchased a large drop cloth in 1975 to serve as his make do "canvas;" because at the time, he couldn't afford an expensive commercial art canvas. He remembered that the..... "whole painting just flowed out of me. It was something I had dreamed over and over and knew just what to do. It was easy." He was so satisfied with the outcome that he never attempted to do a similar one on such a monumental scale; however, several smaller versions exist.
You will not see paintings of glorious angels or a portrait of God. Those are strictly forbidden. "You shall not make...any likeness of anything that is in heaven above." (Deuteronomy 6:8) Has he produced images of hell? "No, it is not forbidden but there has been enough of it here on earth!"
Rev. Albert Wagner has time and again been referred to as the Black Moses of East Cleveland, and he was often requested to have his portrait photographed in front of "FLEE FROM EGYPT." He was officially ordained twice as a Pentecostal minister. The first time was in the early 1980s and the second was on May 26, 1992. Reverend Wagner's portrait of Moses, with arms raised and outstretched, is the dominating central figure in "FLEE'S" composition, populated with thousands of individuals who believe they are traveling to the Promised Land. The Red Sea has miraculously parted, opening a pathway to the future, hopefully to freedom. The painting remains Reverend Albert Wagner's most recognized expression.
On April 3, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a highly popularized speech in which he said, "I would take my mental flight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the Promised Land...And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there...I've been to the mountaintop." The dream lives.
Reverend Albert Wagner dedicated his last three decades to turning his life totally around by challenging and directly confronting destructive behavior around him. To achieve this, he used both spoken and painted wisdom based upon spirituality and a critical social conscience. He was a witness, a reformer, a seer, a prophet and a visionary. Incredibly prolific, he created thousands of works of art now spread to the four corners of the earth. In 1996 he reported the number to be in excess of 30,000. His often times patriarchal and fundamentalist messages spoke out to his large extended family, to those living nearby as well as to those in distant lands. He referred to them all as, "My peoples." Reverend Wagner, who often called himself "the little black boy from yesteryear," remained positive and optimistic. Mature and street wise, he witnessed considerable change. Over and over again, the husband, father, preacher and artist relentlessly exhorted everyone to be aware of the past, face your mistakes, don't blame others, move forward towards a better time, believe and dream. "It won't be easy. It may take awhile, but it will happen in its own time." Reverend Albert Wagner learned the power of truth and it is his encouraging legacy.
| 
