Purvis Young “Burning Man” Monumental Outsider Painting on Found Steel Tray

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Purvis Young “Burning Man” Monumental Outsider Painting on Found Steel Tray, Signed

A dramatic and spiritually resonant mixed media painting … Read more Purvis Young “Burning Man” Monumental Outsider Painting on Found Steel Tray, Signed

A dramatic and spiritually resonant mixed media painting by influential African-American outsider artist Purvis Young (1943–2010), titled Burning Man. This work is executed on a reclaimed industrial steel tray, transforming a utilitarian object into a powerful visual altar that merges material grit with visionary intensity.

Rendered in layered oil and pigment on rusted metal, the composition centers on an emaciated, skeletal figure depicted in scorched reds, bone white, and charred browns. A black ladder motif—one of Young’s recurring symbols—ascends from the ground through the figure’s ribcage, serving as a metaphor for spiritual elevation, the soul’s escape, or a plea for transcendence amid suffering.

Surrounding the central figure is a remarkable painterly border: a luminous, incendiary perimeter of red-orange pigment that appears to sear the edges of the tray. This "burning surround" is not merely decorative; it functions symbolically and spatially—suggesting a liminal threshold between worldly struggle and otherworldly release. The effect is both apocalyptic and sacred, invoking ritual, martyrdom, and redemption through fire.

Signed “Young” at center left, the work measures 35" wide x 30.5" high to the top of the handles (28" panel height) x 2" deep. The rusted metal, pitted surface, and hand-welded handles further ground the piece in Young’s practice of elevating discarded materials from Miami’s Overtown neighborhood into vessels of spiritual and social testimony.

A rare large-format example with exceptional iconography and material presence, Burning Man exemplifies Young’s ability to channel the cosmic through the found and the eternal through the ephemeral. See less