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Tuscaloosa

Thornton Dial
  • TD - Tuscaloosa - Master Image

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    Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio
2011
Wood, fabric, tractor parts, shoes, iron skillet, purse, cup, doll, commemorative book, tar paper, quilted blanket, nails, screws, enamel, and spray paint on canvas on wood
72 x 90 x 10 inches
Collection of
Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Description

In 2011, Dial fashioned a series of pieces that document natural disasters. Tuscaloosa is a windswept recollection of the powerful tornado that tore through Alabama just a month earlier. In this chilling blue-gray painting, a collection of innocent, homey objects—a book, frying pan, coffee cup, and doll—are strewn violently across the scene, caught up in a torrent of swirling fabric, broken tree branches, a fractured window frame, and other unsuspecting casualties of the storm. —Joanne Cubbs