Howard Finster was a born preacher and served as a Baptist lay minister in congregations and tent revivals in the rural South for around thirty years. In the 1960s Finster had a vision that led him to clear swampland behind his house and build Paradise Garden—a dense and complex environment with sculptures, assemblages, hand-painted signs, walkways, small outbuildings, and flowering plants and trees. In 1976 he was further prophetically directed to create “sacred art.” From that time forward he produced a vast body of paintings and constructions ringing with the word of the Lord in extensive texts—apocalyptic, didactic, and visionary—as well as reflections on popular culture, history, and current events.

Finster numbered each of his works. This was his first “corner painting,” numbered “1000 and 380.” The celestial palette of gold and blue is heightened by small cutouts that reflect light from an interior lightbulb. Part deco movie palace, part Arabian Nights, when it is open Finster’s teachings are expressed in brief texts interspersed throughout: “God’s great day,” “The end of time / brings a new / Heaven and / Earth,” “Home / coming / in Heaven,” “Great glad day,” and “Join us soon.”

Stacy C. Hollander, "Cathedral in Heaven," exhibition label for Ooh, Shiny!. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.