THORNTON DIAL (1928-2016)

Oh What a Big Fish considers the relationship between men (represented by the tiger) and women (represented by the fish). In Dial's work, the tiger is a self-reflective figure loosely based on the artist's own life and the challenges facing African American men in the South. The 'cat' is an identity used with some frequency in African American rhetorical tradition (as in the 'hepcat' Jazz musicians), but a likely more personal inspiration for Dial was a local hero named Perry L. 'Tiger' Thompson, a former prizefighter, radio personality and labor organizer who had also worked at the Pullman-Standard factory.