Born in 1933, Outterbridge is a seminal figure in the Los Angeles assemblage movement of the 1960s and 70s, particularly within the African-American community of Watts and Compton. Serving for years as a Director of Watts Tower Museum, Outterbridge was crucial as a teacher and mentor to countless artists in Los Angeles, including David Hammons, Betye Saar, John Riddle and Noah Purifoy. Searching for a new visual language to represent the African-American experience, Outterbridge drew on assemblage, folk art, African sculpture and community activism. Throughout his long career, Outterbridge has created profoundly poetic work from the basest of found objects, the discarded materials of American society – trash, rubber, burlap, nails, broken glass, rusted steel and hair. http://www.jacktiltongallery.com/outterbridge.html
