with signs following
by abe partridge | kentuck at queen city | march 6, 2026 - may 28, 2026
in collaboration with alabama contemporary art center
About "With Signs Following"
With Signs Following grows from a body of work by Abe Partridge, recounting his time in the religious communities of rural Appalachia. It is the culmination of a 2.5 year process that models ways art and other forms of cultural production can expand meaning across religious, cultural and geographic divides. Working with curator elizabet elliott, Abe has contributed his own work and work from his personal collection, featuring the work of pastor Jimmy Morrow and Anthony Feyer. The goal here is to offer an account of the experiences; the music, rituals, and stories that called to Abe, made with and for a mostly unknown community. With Signs Following celebrates the deep humanity and dignity of places far off the beaten path.
Artist Statement
I was a Baptist preacher for 9 years of my life… from 18-27 years old. I ended up pastoring a small independent Baptist church on the side of a mountain about 4 miles from the Cumberland Gap from 2005 until I left the ministry altogether in 2007. I just wasn’t cut out for it.
Watching my life, faith, and relationships erode as a young, lost preacher led to a certain despair that I have never been able to accurately put into words. In the midst of this agony, I told God that I would go to every home in Middlesboro, Kentucky and deliver gospel literature, before I quit. I did just that.
One day, as I went home to home, gospel in hand, I met another preacher. His name was Jaime Coots. We talked for 45 minutes or so. He told me he was a “serpent handler.” I thought he was crazy. However, he spoke of faith in a way that I knew was real to him… and this was something I struggled with. He gave his phone number and told me to call him if I ever needed him.
Well I needed him… and so much more… just too proud to ask for help.
I left Kentucky. I was confused, abandoned, tired, and grieved. My life had devolved into chaos. I took that chaos and made it into art. I joined the military, went to a war, and finally when I came home in 2014, I determined that this art I had been creating was worthy of sharing with other folks. Art is now my life.
I saw Jaime Coots on National Geographic in 2012 or so, long after our meeting in Middlesboro. I saw the news story that Jaime had passed, having been rattler bit in 2014.
Then at the beginning of the pandemic I read a book recommended to me by a friend, Salvation on Sand Mountain. Jaime Coots was mentioned in the book.
Well, my entire life had changed. My shows were all canceled. I had time, more time than ever before. So I went to find the serpent handlers, or as they refer to it, them that “follow the signs”. I went back to Middlesboro.
I found them. I have spent the last 2 and half years attending their churches. It has been life-changing. Here is some art I made about it. I hope you like it.