Purvis Young Discussion at James Fuentes

James Kalm has followed the career of Purvis Young from a distance for years. This painter was an icon of the Overtown community in Miami who for decades, created an art enshrined neighborhood that he covered with murals and individual hung paintings. Though at times near destitute, and suffering from health problems, Young nevertheless created thousands of works and garnered international attention.

In this panel discussion, Mera and Donald Rubell reminisce about their first meeting with Purvis Young and the events that lead to their eventual purchase of what is the largest private collection of the artist’s work. Robert Becker, first encountered Young while working for Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine in the mid 1980s and has been a fan ever since. Chris Martin discovered this work parallel to his interest in the Arnett family project Souls Grown Deep Foundation. This program was recorded March 7, 2019.