Jinks, Willie

Willie Jinks in his yard with some of his paintings. Photograph by Carl Mullis.

Willie Jinks was born in 1921 into a sharecropper family in Locust Grove, Georgia. As one of 13 children, he moved to Atlanta where he worked for the department of sanitation and began salvaging materials.

After retiring Jinks began creating images on the materials he had gathered during his working years. Those objects included doors, sheet metal, wood, paper, shoes, luggage, etc.

His fascination with animals, nature, and mechanical things is visible throughout his artwork.  He is most famous for his “Hoperman” (“Hobbyman”) character who shows up in much of his work and the cryptic writing on most of his pieces.

Willie Jinks
1921 Locust Grove, Georgia, USA - 2010 USA