Purvis Young Mixed Media on Poster Board with Seahorse Fabric & Painted Warriors

Details

Description

Purvis Young Mixed Media on Poster Board with Seahorse Fabric and Painted Warriors, circa 1980s–1990s
Dimensions: 48" H x 32" … Read more Purvis Young Mixed Media on Poster Board with Seahorse Fabric and Painted Warriors, circa 1980s–1990s
Dimensions: 48" H x 32" W
Provenance: From a South Florida estate with direct ties to the artist’s studio collections.

A striking and rare mixed media work by Miami-born artist Purvis Young (1943–2010), rendered on found fabric overlaid on corrugated plastic poster board and animated with his signature fluid, expressionist figures. The printed background features an aquatic motif of seahorses and marine flora—an unusual, almost whimsical ground over which Young has superimposed dozens of loosely rendered warriors, horses, and spirits in black, white, and crimson brushwork.

The effect is visually layered and conceptually charged: a ghostly procession of figures emerges from beneath the waves, riding across the surface with a sense of struggle and momentum. Beneath and behind them, the patterned fabric acts not only as a visual backdrop but as a material link to the artist’s practice of reclaiming discarded materials—a hallmark of Young’s improvisational style.

Notably, the sea creatures beneath—seahorses, bubbles, leafy tendrils—coexist with the turbulent march of warriors above, suggesting an allegorical tension between natural serenity and human conflict. Crimson smears, gestural white trails, and inky silhouettes give the piece a sense of spiritual turbulence and urgency, underscoring Young’s frequent themes of protest, displacement, and the cyclical nature of struggle.

The work is unsigned, as is common with much of Young’s later output, but comes with strong attribution and documented provenance. The reverse reveals the corrugated sign substrate, consistent with his studio practice in Overtown, Miami.

A powerful and poetic example of Young’s visionary art brut vernacular, offering both aesthetic impact and cultural resonance. See less