Doomsday CalendarsZebedee Armstrong (1911 - 1993)

In 1972, an angel allegedly appeared to farmer Zebedee Armstrong, warning the Georgia man that “You have to stop wasting your time because the end of the world is coming.” Armstrong took the angel’s message as his impetus to begin creating a collection of ‘calendars,’ all driven by the impulse to predict the oncoming Armageddon. Armstrong’s calendars share visual similarities despite being created from a range of various objects. Items like mailboxes or wardrobes are first painted white before Armstrong used red or black paint to create a grid-like pattern on the surface of the object tracing back to afrocentric line-winding traditions, then detailed with felt pens to represent days, weeks, months, and years. Continuing with the time motifs, many of the calendars feature clock-hand-esque components that could be moved to pinpoint a specific date for the end of the world. Armstrong’s three-dimensional calendars highlight the artist’s religious drive and compulsion to track time, leaving behind a body of work that serves to recognize the way Armstrong chose to spend his own time.

~Nikki Ranney, 2023

Sources:

Profile: Zebedee Armstrong (1911-1993) – Black Art Story 

Rosenak, Chuck, and Jan Rosenak. Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-century American folk art and artists. New York: Abbeville, 1990.

Zebedee Armstrong — webb gallery (webbartgallery.com)

Nikki Ranney

Wood, found objects, paint

Thomson, GA us
Latitude/Longitude: 33.4706927 / -82.5045733

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