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For most of his life, Frank Wyso lived in Blakely, Pennsylvania, a small mining
town outside of Scranton, where his father, a miner, died in the coal mines. A
self-taught artist, his unique style of painting using mixed media inluding
melted crayon, captured the life of the coal miner as no other artist could. He
acted as an historian of mining lore and practice. Each painting and sculpture
is a record of the actual techniques and mining gear used during the heyday of
the Anthracite miner before, during and after World War II. His art was enhanced
by his thorough knowledge of the coal pits.
Wyso, however, went beyond mere realism. His art is a
mirror of the deeper realities in his miners: their camaraderie; their heroism;
and the bedrock of their spirit - their profound stoicism. He has given us a
striking symbol of the invincibility of the immigrant miner who helped build
industrial America.
Biography courtesy of Steve Lichak at www.frankwyso.org
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