We're delighted to share the recent acquisition of a collection of works by the mysterious D.C. artist known as "Mingering Mike."  The collection includes "vinyl" LP albums (made from painted cardboard), original album art, song lyrics and liner notes, 45 rpm singles, and more pertaining to the artist's youthful fantasy of being a famous soul singer/songwriter. 

Joseph War & Friend, As High as the Sky, (Decision Records), 1972 Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

Mingering Mike's body of work blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Commercially produced tapes with fabricated labels mingle with tapes and demo records that hold original music and made-up reviews supposedly written by real musicians dot the covers.

You can see a selection of works from the Mingering Mike Collection in a slideshow on our website, and can read an interview with our curator of folk and self-taught art, Leslie Umberger, on our blog.