Past Exhibitions

St. EOM's Pasaquan: Past, Present, and Future

May 28 - September 4, 2016

Yarbrough Gallery

Eddie Owens Martin often said that his visionary art site Pasaquan was “where the past and the present and the future and everything else comes together.” Guest curated by Columbus State University (CSU) faculty and students, this exhibition offers an introduction to Pasaquan in Marion County, Georgia, and the work of Martin, who dubbed himself St. EOM, while also providing an in-depth analysis of the theme “past, present, and future.” An array of St. EOM’s work in diverse media ranging from works on paper, to jewelry, to large concrete busts, will be examined aesthetically and symbolically. Both St. EOM’s beautifully distinct style and the practical and utilitarian nature of his art will be on display. This exhibition and related programming will serve as a kick-off for the reopening of Pasaquan after its two-year restoration by the Kohler Foundation and subsequent stewardship by CSU.

St. EOM was born in Marion County in 1908, the son of sharecroppers. Eager to escape a life of rural poverty, he left home at age 14 and ultimately moved to New York City, where he learned about art in museums and libraries and hustled and told fortunes to make money. After experiencing a series of visions of “people of the future” who instructed him to “return to Georgia and do something,” St. EOM began to build Pasaquan in 1955 as the site of a peaceful future for all humans. He continued building the landscape and creating art until his death in 1986. His work is in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the High Museum of Art (Atlanta). This exhibition will present a comprehensive conception of St. EOM as a visionary artist while emphasizing the importance of his vision of Pasaquan as a utopian site.

This exhibition is generously underwritten by the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce.