Inside the Outsiders
The Outsider Art Fair was this past weekend in NYC, and a recent article in the New York Times reviewing the exhibit reminded us of LAL’s How Artists See Their World and the genius of art brut happening right here in Lexington… particularly in the building at 167 Saunier Street that houses Latitude Artist Community.
Sleeping Environment, by Latitude artist Jessie Dunahoo, who is blind and deaf
“Outsider art” or “art brut” has typically referred to artists who are self-taught… which in some cases means people who are differently minded and can’t endure traditional education and in some cases means people who are educated but a little bit off in their approach to art. Here’s how the NYT article tried to define outsider artists:
Portrait of Beverly Baker, from Latitude Artist Community by Blackthumb Books
“[Outsider artists] are an exceedingly diverse bunch. For one thing, not all outsiders are uneducated…. Sometimes, though, outsiderness does imply some kind of deficit: many outsiders, for example, have spent time in psychiatric hospitals… Others suffer from some form of autism or lack average intellectual abilities… But of course there are plenty of people with those problems who are not artists, so clearly there is something more going on here, and perhaps some more positive feature that all the outsiders share.The term visionary applies to some, but not all outsiders who depict wildly imaginative visions… The work of some outsiders is close enough to mainstream art that you may wonder what qualifies them…”
Some of the names in outsider art include Nek Chand, Felipe Jesus Consalvos, Henry Darger, Howard Finster, Madge Gill, Judith Scott, Adolf Wölfli, and Wesley Willis.
While those people are fascinating, we happen to think Latitude artists Jessie Dunahoo, Beverly Baker, and Rebecca Elder are just as extraordinary, if not moreso. Not only are these artists creating work that rivals that of artists with all their senses, they are also vocal activists, taking on issues of universal access, public transportation, community gardening and health and fitness.
To be on the inside of what’s happening with our outsider artists, become a friend of Latitude on Facebook or follow their blog.
[...] Latitude, an artist community serving all people, especially those thought by some to have a disability, has become quite focused on health in recent years, hosting an annual health and wellness series each spring and participating in community gardening. Like Chair Yoga, these events are also open to the public. [...]