The
1990's witnessed a dramatic upsurge in the discourse about Outsider Art-art
created by those living and working "outside" the
mainstream art establishment of schools, careers and galleries- and an increase
in the volume of discourse on terminology. In the United States this conversation
has focused primarily on American artists, but recently has included Europeans.
International in scope, this exhibition takes the next step forward. Focussed
on five modern masters,
Gedewon»
from Ethiopia; Martín
Ramírez»
from Mexico;
Hung Tung»
from Taiwan; Anna
Zemánková» from
the Czech Republic;
and Carlo
(Zinelli)»
from Italy;
We celebrate both the idiosyncratic genius and the social context of their art, maintaining that as artists and storytellers they represent the highest level of achievement. Indeed, all are recognized as folk heroes in their respective countries. We have chosen to use the word "vernacular" to locate these artists in their specific regional cultures, and "visionaries" to identify their transcendental abilities to tap into what some scholars have described as the "psychic elsewhere".
Outsider Art does not designate a visual style-the art of Gedewon looks very different from that of Zemánková, for example-rather it described the nature of its creator. Yet, there are some compositional similarities. In the cross cultural art in this exhibit, we notice three things in particular: the impulse to cover every part of a surface-even both sides-with dense ornamentation, the representation of the human figure and animals as distorted, caricatured, and hybridized, and the incorporation of words, nonsensical and real , into the artwork.
The Museum of International Folk Art asks us ti delve deeper and more broadly as we consider Outsider and Visionary Art. Bringing together culturally infused art from throughout the globe, we assembled the works in an intimate and dynamic installation. Viewing the art up close and personal, or scanning the panorama, our experiences go beyond the aesthetic. When we're open to it, the art has the power to terrify, to cajole, to amuse, and to heal.
Exhibition
dates: October 31 2003 to August 29, 2004
Photography by:
Addison Doty, Umberto Tomba, Paul Smutko, D. James Dee, Tereza Kaburková,
Guy Vivien, Blair Clark, Chung-hsin Lin, Joseph Painter, William H. Bengston,
Laurent Lecat, Tom van Eyende, Deidi Von Schaewen, Claude Borand and Don Tuttle.
Contributors:
Margaret Z. Robson
Susan McGreevy
Sandy Besser family
Eileen Wells
Donors:
Leslie Muth, Charmay Allred, Rosalind and Lowell Doherty, Elisabeth and James
Alley, Natalie Fitz-Gerald, Debbie and Marty Fishbein, Jane and Bill Buchsbaum,
Peggy T. Hall, Kay Delle Koch, Lisa K. Leinberger, Jack and Elaine Levin, Barbara-Rose
and Dr. Ed Okun, Joan and Cliff Vernick, Mary Adams Wotherspoon, Susann Craig,
James Q. Hall.
Major funding for this exhibition was generously provided by the International
Folk Art Foundation, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation,
Lael and Eugenie Johnson, and the Folk Art Committee.
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