Dale Morgan: Eloquence From a Silent World

[Salt Lake City, UT]: Uconoclasts Suite I: Literary Utah, 2010. Print. This print (16" by 12") is signed by the artist. Utah's literary iconoclastic past as depicted by visual portraits of twelve Utah mavericks who all, in one way or another, have gone against the grain. Uconoclasts Suite I: Literary Utah includes some of Utah's most famous and beloved and controversial literary figures (Edward Abbey, Bernard Devoto, Wallace Stegner and Wallace Thurman, for example) and even includes the beat generation icon Neal Cassady (who was born in Utah). Whether native sons and daughters or not, all Uconoclasts also share some sort of Utah connection. If they weren't born in the state, like Cassady, then the state and its geography: its people and its places, had a profound effect on them, as in the case of Abbey and Stegner. All twelve of these initial Uconoclasts have all been chosen because of their creative genius and their dedication to their dreams and pursuits, sometimes against all odds and at great personal cost. These Uconoclasts have pursued their dreams and visions, sometimes down dark and uncomfortable corridors than transcend traditional boundaries. There was no box for them to think outside of. Mavericks in some manner or another...all. Being a Uconoclast isn't about fame per se so much as accomplishment in the face of all odds. The Utah connection is paramount, albeit in Neal Cassady's case tenuous. But he was born here. And in some important if not always apparent way, their accomplishments in their respective fields must include a maverick-ness of some kind, a going against the grain, an iconoclastic nature - uconoclasm.