Larry Grimes has been creating art from abandoned materials since his Mississippi childhood, when he learned to fashion toys out of tires, wood blocks and other found objects. Today, he collects junk from throughout the Delta, imagining anthropomorphic forms, strange vehicles and utilitarian knickknacks.
Grimes lives in a self-styled compound across Highway 49 (and a bit north) from Parchman Penitentiary, where he worked as a prison guard for over two decades. In recent years, his property has become a frequent stop for tour busses and folk art fans in the Delta. His sculptures can be found in the finest gardens and dustiest autoyards of the region. Sometimes, a group of tourists will buy out an entire yard's worth of his art. Within days, Grimes can create an entire new batch of yard art from materials lying around his property. He also culls materials from other area junk collectors.
He's especially fond of old sewing machines, to which he adds small wheels and John Deere green paint to create a toy tractor. He uses a wire welder on a tree stump by his back shed to weld metal parts together or melts discarded vehicle breaks down to create shaped doorstops. Many of the items he uses as raw artistic materials are antique tools and farm implements used to grow cultivate cotton on nearby plantations.
Grimes has created such pop-cultural figures as Elvis, Santa Claus, and the Clinton family from gas cans and found objects. A favorite piece is a portrait of his son, rendered in the uniform of his high-school football team. Grimes welds a figure together and then decorated the metal skeleton with bright props: cigars, tennis rackets, guitars rendered with frying pans and broom wire. He has a narrative ready for each of his pieces, illustrating his aesthetic choices with visual puns, political jokes and movie-star impressions.
When asked how he classifies his art, Grimes says: "I call it junk until someone leaves with it. Then I call it merchandise."
Grimes' art can be viewed by appointment at (662) 902-0775