Lonnie Bradley ("Sandman") Holley was born in1950 in Birmingham, Alabama. The 7th of 27 children, he attended school through the seventh grade, spending much of his youth in foster homes and reform schools. At nine years of age, Holley ran away to New Orleans. After discovery by authorities, he was sent to an Alabama juvenile delinquent center where he resided until his natural grandmother adopted him at age 14. He later lived in Florida and Ohio for a while before returning to Birmingham. During this period, he worked primarily as a short-order cook.
    In 1979 Holley lost two nieces in a house fire, and, suffering from personal anguish, he attempted suicide. Holley prayed to God for an alternative solution to bring him from his grief. Inspired by God, Holley created grave markers for his deceased nieces because the family could not afford to buy any. He collected discarded pipe fittings from a nearby steel mill, utilizing portions of the sandstone castaway molds.
   This was Holley's first venture into art. He says that at the time of the suicide attempt he asked the Lord, "Take me to the top," and the Lord replied, "Make art!" Thereafter he subsequently began to make small abstract images of animals, faces, and figures for children. Employing discarded saws, knives, kitchen utensils, and nails, he carved from an industrial material similar to sandstone. For his sandstone carvings Holley rescues the inner core liners (core sand) that are discarded by foundries and reuses them. He applies a sealer of Elmer's glue to the finished works, his pieces range in height from a few inches to 9 1/2 feet. His work, he says, "takes me to the top after I sunk so low." In it he is preaching a message against the "cruel and the bad." Holley states, "I try to get white people to love the spirit of the black man."

    In the mid- 1980's, Holley began to paint. Holley has explored Islam, Christianity, and spiritualism and has educated himself in African philosophy. His works incorporate his interest in contemporary and ancestral African figures, Egyptian and pre-Colombian sculpture, philosphy and spiritualism. He has said, "I pay tribute with my mind and with my labor to the Spirit -- something which is grander than time. I think about the seriousness of art. I also want to speak about
the spiritual part of art. I have to look at it this way: that I'm serving time."

    "Perspectives" at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring contemporary working artists. Lonnie will be the focus of "Perspectives 8" on view until May 2004. Lonnie will be working with area children to create an outdoor sculptural environment utilizing found objects.