He may have gone unnoticed by many in the mainstream art world for years, but nobody can say that Miami-born artist Purvis Young isn't getting his due in Naples this season.

The self-taught African-American artist, who recently turned 60, is featured in not one but two shows at the von Liebig Art Center: Outside/In, a group show taking a look at art from outside the mainstream now through March 13; and a one-man show presenting Young's works from Miami's Rubell Family Collection (which has given the von Liebig 25 of Young's paintings and drawings), coming March 27-May 8.

Young grew up in Miami's Over-town, a once-thriving black community that was chopped up by the construction of I-95 and remains plagued by drug and crime problems today. He still lives and works in the inner city, collecting debris from the neglected streets around him-scraps of wood, old books, discarded furniture-for use in his pieces, frequently painting on old tables and sheets of plywood.

While Young's murals and paintings often relate to the harsh ghetto world around him, they are not without hope, sometimes featuring imagery of Jesus, angels, or horses with wings. Although he has no formal arts education, his reverence for masters like van Gogh, acquired on his visits to Miami's Main Library, is apparent in his use of sunflower yellows.

Part storyteller, part poet, and certainly all painter, Young is an original and unique voice who continues to produce prolifically from his Overtown home and studio. For more information on the von Liebig shows, call 262-6517.