Mingering Mike Smithsonian Exhibit - Opens in February!
RAJ
tenacious local 7,779 Posts
In 2004, DC area native / record collector Dori Hadar came across a flea market find for the ages. It was the contents of a storage unit that was past due on payments (a la Storage Wars). There were crates of hand drawn record covers of an imaginary soul star by the name of Mingering Mike. Not knowing what it was, he bought a bunch of them & immediately posted photos of his finds on my record collector community web site, soulstrut.com.
The covers were elaborately hand drawn including credits and liner notes... No detail was spared. It even contained fake records made of cardboard. These were folk art treasures! Dori went back and bought the rest of the lot and rather than file the records for his own enjoyment, he set out to track down the artist. He managed to track him down and partner with him to display these record covers in art exhibits all over the world.
Fast forward 10 years and Mingering Mike’s art will be a part of the ultimate art exhibit… The Smithsonian!
I’d love for you to join me for the opening. There will be a panel, a reception, and an after party at the Velvet Lounge in DC. Our own doc delay will be spinning as well as another room with open turntables for those who spinneth the funk 45s.
I hope to see you there!
[strong]More information:[/strong]
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/mingering_mike/?utm_source=Mingering+Mike+Release,+Jan+2015&utm_campaign=release&utm_medium=email
http://velvetloungedc.com
http://www.mingeringmike.com/
Comments
they share the same building. Psyched for this!
For the out of towners -- be sure to check "The Throne" in the folk art room while you are there.
I saw The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millenium General Assembly in the 80s, when it first went on display.
Changed my life.
Yes -- the Throne (not the shrine -- doh.)
It's an amazing e-Nets story. I love it.
Congrats to all involved.
Crazy to see what has come of it. Wonder what they're worth today.
Frank "Fatback" Beylotte. He was also featured in the New York Times article. I don't know what his involvement is or was... though.
I believe that Frank was present during the initial discovery and also was there when they interviewed Mike for the first time. He now lives in Richmond, hoping he can come up.
I seem to remember that Fatback got some of the 45 covers, and some of the real records before Dori got the rest. They then shared their finds.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/feb/11/-sp-mystery-of-mingering-mike-the-soul-legend-who-never-existed-jon-ronson
Men-who-stare-at-goats documentary maker is in on the action.
Who is going this Friday?
-Knewjak
-Delay
-Secret Chimp
-Meistromoco?
Me
Otis Funkmeyer
Fatback
Neal Becton
yup
edit--And it's not gonna be.
It was great reconnecting with some old heads. The exhibit is amazing BTW.
Here's a video of the roundtable discussion. Soul Strut gets a shout out at the 12 minute mark.
Great exhibit.
My hat is off to Secret Chimp for his great conservation and promotion of Mingering Mike's art.
Hey Dan:
Back on January 15th, 2004 (the day I first posted the pictures) you wrote:
"I am betting, this guy was not a musician, and never showed his art to anyone. I bet he went to work, then went home and created his alter egos. And I guess he went to the record store some too.
So did any one see "The Throne" at the National Portrait Gallery. I don't know if it's still on display somewhere, but I saw it there in the 80's. The story, as I recall, was this postman went home every night for years, and worked on this incredible alter he was making in his garage. He had a whole religious world view that was driving his work. As I recall it was not discovered until his death."
The posters below are currently on display in the main lobby of the museum and Mike's records are one floor up from the The Throne.
Incredible.
:face_melt:
Thank you for the kind words.
Here's the original thread