NYC WOMAN TURNS DEAD RATS, CRACK VIALS INTO ART

NYC WOMAN TURNS DEAD RATS, CRACK VIALS INTO ART

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- If art is in the eye of the beholder, then late artist Candy Jernigan's peepers were clearly trained on the gutter. Jernigan -- who died in 1991 -- created artwork made entirely out of items she found on the streets and alleys of New York City, including crack vials, dead rats, and old cigars. Her odd art is becoming all the rage in art crowd circles thanks in part to the new book, "Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan" (Chronicle). Jernigan's old friend, Stokes Howell, says she would roam the streets of New York stuffing rotten food, dirt and dead bugs into a huge bag. Once, she even mopped up a pool of blood left behind by a homeless man who had just been stabbed in front of her house. The artist became so obsessed with using body fluids in her paintings that she even salvaged a placenta from a friend who recently gave birth. Howell says he's excited about the current interest in Jernigan's unusual art pieces because it means his friend is finally getting the exposure she deserves.