A folk artist who does paintings, assemblage and sculpture, Thornton Dial, Sr., known as Buck, spent his life in Alabama, where he married, had three sons and two daughters and lived in Bessemer. He was the "patriarch" of a clan of noted folk artists including his son, Thornton Dial Jr., known as "Little Buck", and Richard Dial.

His art emanates from his concerns about racial and male/female relationships in America, with assemblages representing "what makes up the world as he sees it" (Rosenak, 102) and expresses his feelings about conflict and harmony and the importance of community. His work reflects his special concern about the struggle of blacks in white-dominated society.

Of his expression,...