Wade Wharton Sculpture Trail pt. 1

"Plumber's Bouquet"

 So probably most people from Huntsville have heard of Wade Wharton. They probably first heard about him when he was in trouble with the city for keeping his junk art sculptures in his own yard. The Huntsville elite hates self expression and division from the norm. Wharton certainly divided from the norm. 

"Alligator"

 I've always had a soft spot for junk art and when I heard that the Huntsville Botanical Gardens was showcasing his work, I'd thought I'd go to see it sometime. Months later, I had almost forgotten about it. Then I heard he had been killed.

detail of "Rototiller Rose"

I have said that death is the great unifier, and it was so. I was worried I had become like so many others, only showing true interest in an artist's work after his death, but never the less death brought me together with everyone else to learn about Wade Wharton...and that can't be too bad of a thing.

detail of "Trace Chain"

Apparently, Wade had considered himself a normal guy, with a normal job, a normal wife, a normal life. Then he had a stroke. One article quotes him as follows, "The stroke killed off the left side, threw me plum over to my right side. Then I got ideas. Maybe not unique ideas, but they was unique to me, whoo boy."

"Floral Surprise"

After that, Wharton blossomed in metal flowers. Unfortunately, his wife couldn't follow him into this new area of self-expression, but Wade continued alone, bringing to life dozens and dozens of new metal citizens. Using found metal parts, such as rusted wrenches, debris from car wrecks, and old farm equipment, Wade welded these separate parts together to create flowers and insects that are surprisingly lifelike, especially considering they might be made from shovel heads. 

"Dig and Divide"

I was also surprised at with the organic nature of this metal work and how well they fit into the landscape. When I went to photograph, it was just a few days out from the really hard freezes we had this year. The landscape was a lot more barren than we Southerners are used to seeing, even in the winter. Wade Wharton's sculptures filled the void and were one with the garden. I and my companion found ourselves wishing that the Gardens hadn't erected the bamboo dividers around the sculptures.

"Skinny Petals"

Of course, we also found ourselves wishing they knew how to make a map. But we had a wonderful time wandering the gardens, and discovering the sculptures.

"I Dig That"

In the next two blog posts, I'll talk more about the quirky humor I discovered in Wade Wharton's pieces, and showcase a couple of installations in depth.