Summary

This highly original and thought-provoking film explores a rich vein of visual expression and American individuality through incisive portraits of five contemporary southern folk artists, four of whom are African-American. The film reveals art forms so radically different from familiar folk traditions that the artists -- "Tin Man" Charlie Lucas, Vollis Simpson, Thornton Dial, Bessie Harvey, and "Sandman" Lonnie Bradley Holley -- defy classification. Variously known as "outsider" or "visionary" artists, they create unique aesthetic forms that challenge traditional distinctions between "fine" and "folk" art.