Chris Hubbard's "HEAVEN AND HELL CAR"
and Related Artwork


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With no formal art training since grade school, Kentucky native, now Athens, GA resident, Chris Hubbard left a 20 year career as a scientist (microbiologist and environmental consultant) in 1998 to be "BORN AGAIN" as an artist.

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Heaven and Hell Car is Born
This transformation began with his decision to make an art car and participate in the art car scene currently spreading around the nation. His driven-daily car, the "HEAVEN AND HELL CAR", is a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek expression of the good vs. bad dichotomy of self, other people, and life in general. The car is decorated with his first attempts at primitve carvings made from found wood, sheet metal, and other objects. Depicting saints, angels, and devils, these pieces are influenced by his Catholic upbringing and his deep appreciation of outsider/visionary artists from the south such as R. A. Miller, Howard Finster, and Edgar Tolson, as well as Latino santos carvings.

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Current photo since April 2006 - click here to pop up larger image
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April, 1998 - click here to pop up larger image
 
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April, 2000 - click here to pop up larger image
 

Been there and back - Click here for Heaven and Hell Car Travel Pictures

Primitive Carvings from Found Materials
After requests from admirers of the art car, he began making more the "Heaven and Hell" carvings and began to sell them out of his car when travelling around the country to art car festivals and parades. His work is also now becoming available at various folk art galleries across the country. Being that he collects materials and assembles most of his art while traveling around the USA, he began writing the city and state where he found his materials on the back of each. Chris considers this a documentation of his travels and it adds another unique touch to each piece.

As of April, 2000, Chris' work has become available at several folk art/outsider art galleries ranging from the American Visionary Art Museum Store in Baltimore to several Southeast U.S. galleries and all the way to Taos, N.M. Check out the galleries listing here.


Multimedia and Other Links
  • Click here for online multimedia (audio/video) interview with Chris about his art car and his life (filmed during AthFest 2002 by students from the UGA New Media Institute).
  • Click here for Who-Ha Da-Da, an outsider art fellowship. Chris is a member, as are many of his friends.
Online Catalog/Examples of Artwork
About half of Chris' art is "repeatable". These repeatable works are the main items pictured on the website. The other half of his art is "one of a kind" and generally not repeated. Due to the use of found wood and tin, as well as his intended variations, the repeatable works are never exactly the same. Wood characteristics, rust patterns, paint color, and backgrounds will generally vary from piece to piece. See the example of "SEE NO EVIL..." and "NO GOOD WITHOUT BAD..." and "OUR LADY OF A FEW TOO MANY CROSSES" or "BEAT THE DEVIL" for examples of variation of a repeatable work. I can also make custom "saints" upon request!!
Click Here to See a List of Selected Items by Chris Hubbard

Other "STUFF" About CHUB and the Heaven and Hell Car
  • 1998 2nd Place Award / Daily Driver Art Car/ Judges Choice at Orange Show Art Car Weekend, Houston, TX
  • 1999 2nd Place Award / Art Car Parade at Museum of Art, Tallahassee, FL
  • 1999 3rd Place Award/ Art Car Parade at Museum of Art and History, Key West, FL
  • 2000 3rd Place/ Runner-up Award / Juried Artists Market at Athfest, Athens, GA
  • 2001 TV appearance of CHUB and the H and H Car, Channel 13 wstb-tv (FOX affiliate,Tampa, FL), On the "Out There With Nancy Alexander" segment of evening news.
  • 2003 Summer issue of "Lake Oconee Living" Magazine, Article on 5 self-taught artists from Georgia
  • 2003 October 2003 issue of "Smithsonian Magazine", Article = "Folk Art Jubilee" about Kentuck Festival of the Arts held each October in Alabama. Features Chris and 9 other artists. Click here to read article.
  • 2003 Chris named as "Guest Folk Artist" for 2003 Kentuck Festival of the Arts (wow!...chub)
  • 2003 TV appearance of CHUB and the H and H Car, Channel 2 WSB-TV (ABC affiliate,Atlanta), Dec. 12, 2003 on the "Monica Kaufman Closeups" 1/2 hour special on 8 Southeast US self-taught artists including CHUB and Mr. R.A. Miller (my mentor!!! chub), Eric Legge, Sam "The Dot Man" McMillan , Missionary Mary Proctor, and others.
  • 2004 CHUB goes to Switzerland!! (well, his art does...) Group exhibit featuring 5 members of the Whohadada artists collective at the B & D Art Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland March 11 thru April 17, 2004 ** gallery= www.sardine.com **
  • 2004 For 2nd year in a row, Chris named as "Guest Folk Artist" for 2004 Kentuck Festival of the Arts
  • 2004 CHUB Gets An Art Award: Honorable Mention Award for his art at the 2004 Telfair Museum of Art Fest in Savannah, Ga. The judge this year was William Eiland, Director of the Ga. Museum of Art, Athens,Ga. There were approx. 65 artists at this event...Chub was the only "folk artist" present, most were "fine art/craft"....HOORAY for the OUTSIDERS!!!"
  • 2005 In April 2005 CHUB was filmed at his Athens, Ga. home/studio by the "Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations" TV show carried nationwide by most PBS TV stations. The program is produced by Kansas City PBS station KCPT-TV. For more info, including a great DVD of the episode including CHUB, titled "Peaches, Beaches, Gators, and Grits" see their website www.rarevisionsroadtrip.com .
  • 2005 3rd year in a row, CHUB is named as a "guest folk artist" for the 2005 Kentuck Festival of Arts.
  • CHUB gets a really nice article and photos about his car and his art AND his new home in Farmington, Ga. The regional magazine, based in Madison, Ga. is Lake Oconee Living Magazine ...Spring 2006 Issue See www.lakeoconeelivingmag.com .
  • 2006 Athens, GA band "Push Button" features 4 of Chris' art pieces for cover of album "Close to Final". Push Button website
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  • 2006 CHUB and Heaven and Hell Car featured in article about ArtCars - Folk Art Messenger, Spring/Summer 2006 Vol. 18 No. 3, Journal of Folk Art Society of America (www.folkart.org).
  • 2006 4th year in a row, CHUB is named as a "guest folk artist" for the 2006 Kentuck Festival of Art. The festival will take place in Northport, Al. (Tuscaloosa area) this fall on Oct. 21 and 22, 2006.
  • 2007 May - Orange Show Art Car Weekend, Houston, TX. CHUB and the Heaven and Hell Car award 3rd Place Best Art Car (Judges' choice out of over 250 entries.)
  • 2007 June - Athfest, Athens, GA. CHUB and the Heaven and Hell Car award Best Art Car.
  • 2007 AUG - Kentucky Folk Art Center, Morehead, Ky. The state of Kentucky's folk art museum acquired for it's permanent collection, CHUB's biographical self-portrait, titled "Living in Heaven and Hell".
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  • 2007 NOV - Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection and Research Center, located at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. , acquired one of my "Thou shalt not this, Thou shalt not that" tin eyes.
  • 2008 May - Southworks Artist Market, Watkinsville, GA. CHUB awarded 3rd Place for his ARTWORK (approx. 60 artists attending).
  • 2008 June - Athfest, Athens, GA. CHUB award 2nd Place for his ARTWORK (approx. 489 artists attending).
  • 2009 Sept - Smithsonian Magazine interviews CHUB and some other art cars while in Washington,D.C. at the H Street Festival. CLICK HERE to view the video-interview.
  • 2009 Nov - Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection, at Georgia Southern University, obtains a "See No Evil..." CHUB piece for the collection.
  • 2010 April - CHUB and artist Peter Loose are asked by Georgia Southern University to "curate" an exhibit from the Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection. The exhibit theme/title is "Rural Recollections" and will be exhibited April, 2010 thru the Fall of 2010.
  • May, 2011 Orange Show Art Car Weekend, Houston, Tx. The Heaven and Hell Car wins a Third Place award out of over 250 art cars.
  • July 7, 2011 Article about CHUB and the Heaven and Hell Car appears in Oconee Enterprise newspaper pg.A16



Click here for past appearances...

Contact Information
Chris Hubbard
Phone (706) 559-4737
Mailing address: PO Box 808, Farmington, GA 30638
Physical Address: About 12 miles South of Athens, Ga. on US HWY 441 in Farmington, Ga. at intersection of HWY 441 and Salem Rd. Turn east onto Salem Rd., go 1/2 block, next door to the fire station ,I live/work in the tin barn/house structure = 1042 Salem Rd. LOOK FOR MY ART CARS!!.
heavenandhellcar@hotmail.com

Note: Due to travels and intermittant computer access, I check my e-mail about every two weeks.

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