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AUTUMN 2015
RAWVISION87
EDITOR John Maizels
DIRECTORS Henry Boxer, Robert Greenberg, Audrey Heckler,Rebecca Hoffberger, Phyllis Kind, Frank Maresca,
Richard Rosenthal, Bob Roth
ART EDITOR Maggie Jones Maizels
SENIOR EDITOR Edward M. Gómez
FEATURES EDITOR Nuala Ernest
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Natasha Jaeger
ACCOUNTS MANAGER Judith Edwards
SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Suzy Daniels
US ASSISTANT Ari Huff
FRENCH EDITOR Laurent Danchin
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Michael Bonesteel, Jenifer P. Borum, Roger Cardinal, Ted Degener,
Jo Farb Hernandez, Tom Patterson, Colin Rhodes, Charles Russell
ADVERTISING MANAGER Kate ShanleyArtMediaCo, Sales & Marketing
799 Broadway #224New York, NY 10003
917 804 [email protected]
PUBLISHED by Raw Vision LtdPO Box 44, Watford WD25 8LN, UK
tel +44 (0)1923 853175email [email protected]
website www.rawvision.com
US OFFICE 119 West 72nd Street, #414, New York, NY 10023
(Standard envelopes only)
BUREAU FRANÇAIS 37 Rue de Gergovie, 75014 Paris
tel +33 (0) 1 40 44 96 46
ISSN 0955-1182
4 RAW NEWSOutsider events and exhibitions around the world.
16 RAW COLLECTINGThe varied collection of Victor Keen in Philadelphia.
18 JAMAICAN INTUITIVESSurvey of vibrant artists from Caribbean island.
24 JUDY SASLOWInterview with the renowned Chicago gallerist.
26 MADGE GILLNew images of works by England’s most famous outsider artist.
34 SELBY WARRENThe resurgence of an Australian self-taught artist.
38 DAVID BESTBurning intricate temples, at Burning Man and beyond.
44 JERRY TORRE, THE MARBLE FAUNOriginal stone sculptures by self-taught New Yorker.
48 JEAN–PIERRE NADAUFrench self-taught artist’s huge works in black ink.
54 FILDER AGUSTÍN PEÑAShamanic visionary paintings, traditions and culture.
58 RAW STUDIOSKunsthaus Kannen studios near Münster, Germany.
60 RAW REVIEWSExhibitions and events.
72 GALLERY & MUSEUM GUIDEA round-up of notable venues around the world.
Raw Vision (ISSN 0955-1182) September 2015 is publishedquarterly (March, June, September, December) by Raw VisionLtd, PO Box 44, Watford WD25 8LN, UK, and distributed inthe USA by Mail Right Inc., 1637 Stelton Road 84, Piscataway,NJ 08854. Periodical Postage Paid at Piscataway, NJ, andadditional mailing offices. Postmaster: send addresscorrections to Raw Vision c/o Mail Right International Inc.,1637 Stelton Road 84, Piscataway, NJ 08854.
USA subscription office: 119 72nd Street, #414, New York, NY 10023. (Standard envelopes only).
Raw Vision cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited material.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinionsof Raw Vision.
COVER IMAGE: Madge Gill making a rug at home, Plashet Grove, East Ham, 1947.The rug contained at least 2,000,000 stitches and was the result of six months' work.Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images © Estate of Edward Russell Westwood.
Subscribe online at www.rawvision.com or fill in the form on page 79.
WORLD’S BESTART MAGAZINE
UTNE INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM VISIONARY AWARD
MEDAILLE DE LA VILLE DE PARIS
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ERIC DERKENNESep 27 – Dec 10The MADmusée has been invited by the Théâtre deLiège for a solo show of the work of Eric Derkenne.
THÉÂTRE DE LIÈGE
Place du 20-Août, 16, B-4000 Liège, BELGIUM
www.madmusee.be
R AW N E W S AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BRITAIN
JAPANESE AND SWISS ART BRUTuntil Nov 18 and May 22Both galerie gugging and museum gugging turn theirattention to Japan and Switzerland, beginning the fallseason with an extensive show titled art brut: japan –schweiz.!. Previously shown at Museum im Lagerhaus,(St. Gallen), the exhibition will present contrastingworks by François Burland (Lausanne), Yuichi Saito(Saitama Prefecture) and Junko Yamamoto (HyogoPrefecture). Showing until November 18 at galeriegugging and until May 22 at museum gugging.
GALERIE GUGGING, Am Campus 2, 3400 Maria Gugging
AUSTRIA. www.gugging.org, www.gugging.at
Fran
çois
Burla
nd
AFRICAN ART FAIROct 15–18The third edition ofEurope's leadingContemporary AfricanArt Fair, 1:54, isreturning to Londonfrom October 15–18.The fair will feature 36exhibitors showcasingwork by more than 150African artists acrossthe East, West andSouth Wings ofSomerset House.
SOMERSET HOUSE
Strand, London
WC2R 1LA, UK
www.somersethouse.org.uk
Abou
dia
Eric
Der
kenn
e
LISA REIDAug 29 – Oct 10Lisa Reid: The Devil’sin the Detail is a multi-media solo exhibitionwith over 60 artworksby the Melbourne artistwho is a long-standingartist from Arts Project’sNorthcote studio.
ARTS PROJECT
AUSTRALIA, 24 High St
Northcote VIC 3070
www.artsproject.org.au
Lisa
Rei
d
HENRY BOXER COLLECTIONNov 18 – Feb 7A Discerning Eye: Highlights of the Henry BoxerCollection showcases an extraordinary array of artisticgems from Boxer’s personal and gallery collection,amassed over a 45-year period. Artists include MadgeGill, Scottie Wilson, Donald Pass and Louis Wain.
ORLEANS HOUSE GALLERY
Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ, UK
Don
ald
Pass
ABCD COLLECTION AT ART ET MARGESSep 25 – Jan 24Du nombril au cosmos: Autour de la collection abcd /Bruno Decharme explores man’s place in the universe.Artists include Janko Domsic, Edmund Monsiel,Luboš Plný, Oswald Tschirtner, Jeanne Tripier andAdolf Wölfli.
ART ET MARGES
Rue Haute 312, 1000 Brussels, BELGIUM
www.artetmarges.be
Edm
und
Mon
siel
R AW N E W S FRANCE, GERMANY
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OUTSIDER ART FAIR PARISOct 22–25e third Parisian edition of the Outsider Art Fair willtake place in the Hôtel Du Duc in a 1,000 square-metre space. ere will be 38 international exhibitors,up from 25 the two previous years. New dealers includeCarl Hammer Gallery (Chicago), Ricco/MarescaGallery (New York), Hirschl & Adler Modern (NewYork) and Galerie du Marché (Lausanne). e Fair willfeature a specially curated booth of the works ofJapanese sculptor Shinichi Sawada.
HÔTEL DU DUC
22 rue de la Michodière, 75002 Paris, FRANCE
www.outsiderartfair.com
Shin
ichi
Saw
ada
HEY! AT HALLE SAINT PIERREuntil Mar 13HEY! Modern art & pop culture / Act III is the thirdand final installment in the series of exhibitions byeditors of the eponymous publication, Anne &Julien. Featuring 63 international lowbrow, outsiderand comic artists, including Gabriel Grun, MarionPeck, Joël Negri, Albert Sallé, Alain Bourbonnais andMark Ryden.
HALLE SAINT PIERRE
2, rue Ronsard, 75018 Paris, FRANCE
www.hallesaintpierre.org
Alai
n Bo
urbo
nnai
s
ART CRU BERLINSep 11 – Oct 17Einschluss juxtaposesworks by trained artistAntje Neppach withpaintings by self-taughtartist and psychiatristCharlotte Neidhardt.From October 10 untilDecember 5, oil andtempera paintings byStephanie Bialek willbe shown.
GALERIE ART CRU BERLIN
Oranienburger Str. 27
10117 Berlin, GERMANY
www.art-cru.de
Cha
rlotte
Nei
dhar
dt
KUNSTHAUS KANNEN 2X2 FORUMOct 1–4The international fair for outsider art will take placefrom October 1–4 at the Kunsthaus Kannen, Münster.Programme details are available on the website below.Lectures will focus on the work and practice ofoutsider artists and give an overview of outsider artfrom all over Europe. The accompanying art show hasbeen organised with the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and theFolkwang Museum.
KUNSTHAUS KANNEN, Alexianer Münster GmbH
Alexianerweg 9, 48163 Münster / Westfalen GERMANY
www.kunsthaus-kannen.de
Stef
an T
iers
ch
PRINZHORN COLLECTIONSep 18 – Nov 15Search for Meaning and Crisis features works bySonja Gerstner and Marcia Blaessle, who paintedtheir dreams and nightmares until they took theirown lives. From December 17 until April 10,Dubuffet’s List will depict Dubuffet’s view on theCollection, based on his visit in September 1950.
PRINZHORN COLLECTION
Klinik für Allgemeine Psychiatrie Universitätsklinikum
Heidelberg, Voßstraße 2 69115 Heidelberg, GERMANY
www.sammlung-prinzhorn.de
Mar
cia
Blae
ssle
GALERIEPOLYSÉMIESep 24 – Nov 7Les Maîtres Marseillaiscontemporains: Jean-Jacques Ceccarelli,Gérard Traquandi,Pascal Verbena is thefirst in a series ofexhibitions oncontemporary masterartists from Marseille.
GALERIE POLYSÉMIE
12 rue de la Cathédrale
13002 Marseille, FRANCE
www.polysemie.com
Pasc
al V
erbe
na
AMES GALLERY CLOSESAfter 45 years, The Ames Gallery is closing. Majorsavings are currently offered on the entire inventory, withmore items being added to the website each week untilthe end of 2015.
THE AMES GALLERY
2661 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA 94708
www.amesgallery.com
Ted
Gor
don
AVAM CELEBRATES 20 YEARS Oct 3 – Sep 4The Big Hope Show, which opens on the eve ofAVAM’s 20th anniversary celebration, champions thetransformative power of hope. More than 25 visionaryartists are exhibited, including Bobby Adams,Margaret Munz-Losch, Chris Roberts-Antieau, NancyJosephson and Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
800 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD, 21230
avam.org
Chr
is R
ober
ts-A
ntie
au
R AW N E W SUSA
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DUBUFFET AT AFAMOct 13, 2015 – Jan 10, 2016Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet, a collaboration between AFAMand Collection de L’Art Brut, brings 200 works from Dubuffet’s original collection tothe US for the first time. Artists include Aloïse Corbaz, Auguste Forestier, MadgeGill, Augustin Lesage, Adolf Wölfli, Pascal-Desir Maisonneuve, Henri Salingardes andmany more, with media ranging from the traditional to chewed bread, saliva, eggshells and other innovated materials. The exhibition relates to Dubuffet’s visit to theUS in 1951 and his introduction of art brut to the US through an exhibition that ranuntil 1961, the time of the birth of AFAM. A unique opportunity to see these works.
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023
folkartmuseum.org
Adol
f Wöl
fli
Hei
nric
h-An
ton
Mül
ler
SAHOLT AT INTUITuntil Jan 3, 2016Mad as Hell: The Collages of Richard Saholt featurescollages by the late WWIII veteran, layering printedwords/phrases and images that call on his struggles andhis time in the military. dRAW also continues untilJanuary 3, 2016.
INTUIT: THE CENTER FOR INTUITIVE AND OUTSIDER ART
756 N Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, IL 60642
www.art.org
Ric
hard
Sah
olt
KOHLER ARTSuntil Feb 8, 2016Self-taught painter andmaker of drawings LeeGodie was known forher self-portraits. Shealso took hundreds ofphotobooth images thatshe embellished andsometimes used as asignature on her works.These photos are shownin Lee Godie: Self-Portraits.
JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER
ARTS CENTER
608 New York Avenue
Sheboygan, WI 53081
http://www.jmkac.org
Lee
God
ie
What to do with a collection of several hundredpaintings, drawings and objects whose character
together, as a group, is as distinctive as the taste and pointof view of the art-and-design lover who amassed themover several decades? For the retired attorney Victor Keen,the solution was to acquire and renovate a historic brickbuilding in the Spring Garden district of northPhiladelphia, the former site of the Bethany Mission forColoured People. A non-denominational, Christianorganisation that was founded by Quakers in the 1850s,the Mission moved into the building Keen now owns in1869. There, Keen has created an attractive, privateexhibition space that, as he says, “is an extension of myown home”. Today, the building features a main, lower floor that
contains a salon (with displays of works on paper by theArgentinian-born artist Marcos Bontempo and of shiny,antique, electric toasters) and guest rooms, all of whichare filled with art, and an upper, high-ceilinged roomwhere large artworks are displayed. The building issituated next door to another renovated old structure,which houses the Performance Garage. That facility,
RAW COLLECTING
IN PHILADELPHIA, A PERSONAL MISSION TOCREATE A HOME FOR ART
RAW VISION 8716
which includes rehearsal studios and a small theatre, isrun by Keen’s wife, Jeanne Ruddy, a former principaldancer with the Martha Graham Company. The Keens’ collection is more in-depth in its holdings
of particular artists’ works and genres of objects –including early twentieth-century Bakelite radios, antiquetoys and varieties of opaque milk glass – than it isencyclopaedic overall. As a result, its character may feelmore personal and refreshingly unpredictable than larger,more comprehensive collections. Keen says, for example,“I really like George Widener’s works, with the mysteriousmathematical calculations and historical-event dates onwhich they’re based, and the artist and I have becomegood friends.” Keen is also, well, keen on the works ofJames Castle, Martín Ramírez, Bill Traylor, WilliamHawkins, Justin McCarthy, Inez Nathaniel Walker andPurvis Young, among others. From time to time, he makeshis private viewing space available to small groups forspecial events. “On such occasions”, he says, “it’s apleasure to be able to share the work of some of theworld’s best self-taught artists with folks who may beseeing it for the first time.”
By EDWARD M. GÓMEZ
17RAW VISION 87
clockwise from left: Victor Keenalongside two works by George Widener;Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Trains andTunnels), c. 1960–1963, gouache,crayon, coloured pencil and pencil onlined and pieced paper, 17 x 78 ins. /43.2 x 198 cm; Bakelite radios; chrometoasters; two paintings on tin plate bySam Doyle; two paintings by WilliamHawkins
opposite page, clockwise from lowerleft: artworks by John Serl; Jim Bloom;Clementine Hunter (three works,including Plantation Life, c. 1970–80,the large, horizontal piece); Elijah Pierce(partially showing a cheetah); andPrince Twins Seven-Seven (The Motherand Tattooed Body..., 1980, and Boxes,n.d., mixed media on canvas,30 x 30 ins./ 76.2 x 76.2 cm)
www.bethanymissiongallery.org
above: Leonard Daley, Untitled, n.d., mixed media on hardboard, 24.8 x 17.3 ins. / 63 x 44 cmopposite: Leonard Daley, Untitled, n.d., mixed media on hardboard, 27.6 x 25.2 ins. / 70 x 64 cm
RAW VISION 8718
By CHARLOTTE C. MORTENSSON
MASTERS OF THE CARIBBEAN
My introduction to the art of the JamaicanIntuitives was unnerving. It was 2006, and I wasin Jamaica to attend a music festival. at
summer, the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) inKingston, the capital on the small island country’ssouthern coast, was presenting “Intuitives III”, a survey ofthe works of its best-known self-taught artists. It was the
third such exhibition this national museum had mountedsince 1979, when its then-director and chief curator,David Boxer, who still held those positions in 2006, hadorganised “e Intuitive Eye”, the first show of this kind. Infact, it was that exhibition that gave the name “TheIntuitives”, a term Boxer had coined, to a group ofremarkable Jamaican autodidacts. It had featured works by,
19RAW VISION 87
An avid collector-researcher of the art of Jamaican Intuitives offers anappreciation of their distinctive achievements
Interview by RUTH LOPEZ
As one of America’s most successful galleries of Outsider Art closes its doors, weshare some reminiscences with its owner
JUDY SASLOW
RAW VISION 8724
Before opening her eponymous gallery in the RiverNorth neighbourhood of Chicago in 1995, Judy
Saslow practised family law and specialised in mediation.Saslow, one of the founding members of Intuit: TheCenter for Intuitive and Outsider Art (established1991), was also a serious collector. Earlier this year,Saslow decided to retire and close her gallery which hadbeen instrumental in introducing European artists to theUnited States, including from the Haus der Kunstler inGugging. We met in her office during her last week as agallery owner, where the desk between us was coveredwith piles of paper along with various candy tins andjars, and a green, apple-shaped bowl filled with lemon
drops. On the wall, facing Saslow’s desk, hung a largeBill Traylor blue silhouette – one of her favourites.Saslow said she hopes to do some volunteer work in artseducation for children. One of the first things that shewill do with her free time, however, is take a long traintrip, although she has not decided on a destination.“The idea of going to some places I have never been, orrevisiting parts of Europe, and sitting back and lookingout the windows is really appealing to me,” Saslow said.
Raw Vision: How did you first become interested in thissort of art and what were your first acquisitions?Judy Saslow: I’ve always been fascinated by the talent ofthose who could create and who could put somethingdown on paper, or make something with their hands. Ididn’t have that talent and my teachers at schoolcertainly were not encouraging. They would tell me:“That is not the way you do it, you have to do it thisway.” So, I was totally intimidated as a kid because Icouldn’t do it their way. When I began to travel and seewhat artists in other cultures did with the most simplematerials – pencil or raw clay or wood – that reallyimpressed me, and I began to appreciate that art and tocollect it. I picked up some of my first pieces at marketsin Africa and Mexico. Then a boyfriend of mineintroduced me to the work of Bill Traylor. There was asympathetic side of me that was attracted to Traylor’sstory, but I was just as fascinated by his drawings. I don’thave any other artist in my collection in the same depthas I do Bill Traylor.
When you first opened your gallery, how did you chooseartists and what did you show?There were several factors. First of all, prior to openingthe gallery, I was somebody who would walk up anddown this area – when it was a highly congested area ofgalleries – and I was an avid collector at that time. I can’toverlook an old family friend, Chip Tom, because he isone of the people who encouraged me to open thegallery. He, and other friends, always told me that I hadthe eye. When I started thinking about the business, itoccurred to me that I did not want to go into aconflicting situation with the other gallery owners. Idecided to focus on what wasn’t being shown in Chicagoand what wasn’t being shown was European [outsider]
Judy Saslow with some of her collection of works by Bill Traylor
25RAW VISION 87
outsider • folk • contemporaryMember of Art Dealers Association of Chicago
JUDYASASLOWGALLERY
300 W. Superior Chicago, IL 60654 P 312 943 0530 F 312 943 3970
Tuesday– Friday 11 to 6 Saturday 11 to 5
For additional images and information visit
www.jsaslowgallery.com
KATHY YANCEYExhibiting June 1 – July 14, 2012
BILL TRAYLOR
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JUDYASASLOW
GALLERY
THE OUTSIDER ART FAIRnew dates:
may8–11, 2014
Center 548548 West 22nd St, New YorK, NY
Booth # 37
michelnedjar
The Judy Saslow Gallery was well known for presenting many artists over the years,including:
top left: Johann Fischer
top right: Oswald Tchirtner
above: Bill Traylor
right: Michel Nedjar
art. I’d had an opportunity to travel around a little bitand interact with international self-taught artists who Ihad met along the way so I decided that I would bedevoted exclusively to international self-taught artists.Then I wouldn’t be in conflict with the other dealers, sohopefully they wouldn’t hate me so much. I didn’t wantthem to be mean. For the first few years of my existence,I only showed self-taught and European art.
How did you find and then choose artists?When I opened, I did my first buying trip in Europe.People were not going to just send me art. I was a newperson and they did not know me from a hole in thewall. So, I had to buy the work, I could not take any onconsignment. After a couple of years they knew I wouldbe honest. I had visited the Collection de l'Art Brut inLausanne, Switzerland years before and met GenevièveRoulin [the assistant director]. She was veryinstrumental in introducing me to certain individualartists. Michel Nedjar, who lives in Paris, was one of thefirst artists I represented. We are still talking-buddies.And François Burland is another artist who I representedearly on.
Has the market changed over the years and, if so, inwhat way(s)?I don’t know how to assess the situation, but I can say thatof course nowadays there is less of a clear-cut line betweenthe self-taught and the contemporary. It is not as sexy ordramatic a thing as it once was. But also what I keep onhearing is that people are increasingly attracted to artonline and that they are not necessarily going into agallery to see the actual piece. I don’t understand it as thatwould not satisfy me, but it seems to satisfy other people.
Do you think it is still possible to discover genuineoutsider artists?Yes, I think anything is possible. I would guess that it isincreasingly rare to find somebody who is so far removedfrom society and that would be truly an outsider as weidentified people in the past. But I am sure it still existsthat someone is by himself or herself just drawing andnobody realises it and nobody is paying attention. Andthen it will be, “Oh, wow, look what this person isdoing!” You just don’t have that many people living offin the hinterlands and our society is more dense today –unfortunately.
By SARA AYAD
with photographs by
EDWARD RUSSELL
WESTWOOD
The arts and crafting ofMadge Gill (1882–1961)
MINEWORKER’SHANDS
RAW VISION 8726
Madge Gill examining an Indian carving at her home inPlashet Grove, East Ham. She wears a dress of embroideredwools, of her own design
facing page: the artist’s hands at work embroidering, with oddscraps of coloured wool. “Mine worker’s hands”, Gill describedthem in a letter to her doctor, Dr Boyle
27RAW VISION 87
Ifirst encountered Madge Gill (1882–1961) in theEast End Star of January 1940 while looking upsomething quite other. A few lines, describing what
otherwise sounded possibly a rather humdrum localexhibition, jumped out as denoting something certainly“other”, and quite extraordinary:
A Housewife to ArtistA HUNDRED and twenty feet of cotton cloth at a few pence a yard covered with minute drawings of women’s faces in Indian inks, was the most important work shown in the eighth Autumn Exhibition of the East End Academy which opened last month at Whitechapel Art Gallery.
It fills an entire wall of the gallery, and gives the impression of a subtly woven tapestry. The artist, Mrs Madge Gill, is a middle-aged East End housewife, who has steadily refused to sell her work in spite of remarkable offers.
Hang on, I thought; “a hundred and twenty feet ofminute drawings”? I could not think of any precedent in1939 for what Gill appeared to be up to. Back then, fewartists were working on such a scale: Jackson Pollock
(1912–1956) sprang immediately to mind, but his largerworks did not get going in earnest until around 1943, thetime of his one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery.
In 1958, two years after his untimely death, theWhitechapel Gallery staged Pollock’s first UK exhibition(“Jack the Dripper” was Time’s moniker the year hedied). In January 1939, the same year Gill exhibited her120-foot drawings (the exhibition ran from November 6to December 22), Picasso’s Guernica was shown at theWhitechapel, a 25-foot monster of expressive force. HadGill seen it? Perhaps. But, I later learned, by then shehad been working in her own singular expressive fashionfor nearly two decades.
Unlike Pollock or Picasso, Gill worked on a grandscale but minutely, in her bedroom or drawing room, ona roll-to-roll contraption rigged up by her son.According to John Duddington, the Whitechapel’s then-director, she was only able to see her new work in itsentirety at exhibition:
This is because she works in her small room at home, and to be able to handle such masses of material, is forced to draw bit by bit, winding up the cloth on a roll.
Selby Warren (1887–1979) lived much of his92 years in the tiny settlement of Trunkey Creek,rural New South Wales, Australia. His paintings
reflect a “time past”, when country life was basic andtough. Warren painted simply because he wanted to and,until he gained recognition towards the end of his life, henever attempted to sell a picture, keeping his art tohimself. From an art-world perspective, Warren seemed toappear fully formed as an artist – having no training,apprenticeship, career development, and being withoutteachers, artist-peers and dealers. It was as though a birdhad flown over the rugged terrain and dropped a seed,from which a single flower had sprouted, growing alone in
an otherwise barren landscape. Warren painted in a male-dominated and unsophisticated bush town where art-making of any kind just “wasn’t the sort of thing blokesdid”. His family’s reaction to his art was that ofbemusement; the locals were dismissive.
Warren lived at Hill 90, along the road from theBlack Stump Hotel, the focal point of Trunkey Creek.And it was there, in June 1971, that Warren wasdiscovered by Garth Dixon, an art lecturer from a collegein the nearby town of Bathurst. Dixon had stopped at theBlack Stump Hotel on his way home from a fishing tripand, behind some old bottles on a shelf, noticed thecorner of a painting and asked the publican if he could
By ROGER SHELLEY
Selby Warren, a rare self-taught artist from the outback of Australia
BACK TO THE BUSH
RAW VISION 8734
look at the whole picture. Liking what he saw, he askedabout the artist and was told by the publican, “It wasdone by a silly old bugger who lives halfway up the hill.”
Dixon decided to visit the artist and was met by aelderly, snowy-haired man with a harelip. Warrenguardedly welcomed the stranger into the house. Alma,Warren’s wife, remained a quiet observer in thebackground. Dixon was overwhelmed by the colourfulspectacle of paintings inside that plastered the house fromfloor to ceiling. He recognised that this work needed to beexposed to a wide public. He sent some photographs ofthe paintings to Rudy Komon, Sydney’s most respectedart dealer at the time, who quickly visited the 84-year-oldartist and arranged for an exhibition to be held at his
Sydney gallery. The exhibition, in February 1972, was amarked success: most of the works were sold, and Warrenreceived considerable media attention. Komon organisedtwo more exhibitions, in Melbourne and Brisbane.Warren was suddenly popular in the art scene, but hisperiod of celebrity was brief, and by 1974 the interest hadwaned. Until a retrospective at the Bathurst RegionalGallery in February 2014, he had been all but forgottenby the public and the art world alike.
Undeterred by the drop in interest, Warren set up hisown gallery in a rough tin-shed on Trunkey Creek’s mainstreet. The foray into selling his own work was notparticularly successful: he sold some paintings to passingtravellers, but soon left the gallery to be run by Alma.
opposite: Piebald Pony, 1967, acrylic and housepaint on paper, 23 x 13 ins. / 58 x 34 cm below: Mother and Child, 1970, acrylic on cardboard, 12 x 10 ins. / 30 x 26 cm
35RAW VISION 87
By NUALA ERNEST
David Best’s intricate woodenTemples, a feature of the BurningMan festival, have moved furtherafield to honour grief and joy
THE TEMPLES OF BEST
RAW VISION 8738
aboveTemple of JunoBurning Man 2012photo by Scott London
rightTemple of Forgivenessby David Best, TimDawson and the TempleCrew, Burning Man 2007
previous pageTemple of GraceBurning Man 2014photo by Zipporah Lomax
Even as a child, David Best wanted to be anartist like his father before him. He first
became involved with alternative expression whenhe produced his first art car in 1959 – a pick-uptruck, which was soon followed by a highlydecorated 1960s Ford Falcon and an early versionof the famous Fruitmobile. He was an earlyparticipant in the Houston Art Car Paradeand has produced 34 art cars so far, as wellas designing Houston’s dedicated Art CarMuseum.
Best, however, is renowned for hisseries of specially built Temples atBurning Man, the annual, week-long, desert festival extravaganzaheld in Nevada. The origins of thisparticular creative impulse goback to 2000, when Best built a
shrine-tribute at Burning Man to a dear friend he hadrecently lost in a motorcycle accident.
The first creation happened naturally and organically,with Best and his friends assembling as a shrine to theirlost comrade. The organisers of Burning Man asked himto return the following year, and Best’s huge Temple ofTears was built, dedicated to people who had died fromsuicide.
His Temple of Joy the following year involved seven40-foot trailers filled with timber and materials –everything needed for the construction has to betransported to Black Rock Desert and no waste ortrace can remain. While Best has some plan ofwhat he may construct, the creations tend to be90 per cent intuitive and ten per centplanned in advance.
Over 100 people worked with Best onthe construction of the temple, over three
It was a summer day in 1972 in East Hampton, whenJerry Torre saw an elegant woman in big, darksunglasses and a headscarf making her way towards
him. He was 16 years old and employed as a gardener andmaintenance man on the grounds of J. Paul Getty’smansion, and he watched as the woman walked along thenarrow path that led to the entrance of the neighbouringproperty, Grey Gardens, whose owners he also assisted.
The visitor, it turned out, was Jacqueline BouvierKennedy Onassis, the former American First Lady andwidow of President John F. Kennedy, who was nowmarried to the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.At the time, Getty was one of the richest men in theworld, and there in East Hampton, on the far east end ofLong Island to the east of New York City, young Jerryfound himself surrounded by wealth and those whoenjoyed its privileges.
How he came to find himself in such circumstancesand, in time, how he started to make hand-carved stonesculptures, which only very recently have begun to attractthe New York art world’s attention, are parts of one of themost unlikely personal stories ever to have surfaced in theworld of self-taught artists.
Gerard Joseph Torre was born to Italian-Americanparents in Brooklyn in 1953. In a recent interview at hishome in the Queens section of New York, he recalledvisiting the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair, where, inthe Vatican City’s pavilion, he saw Michelangelo’s Pietà.The sculpture of the grieving Virgin Mary, holding her
By EDWARD M. GÓMEZ
Sculptor Jerry Torre, the “marblefaun” of Grey Gardens, has lived up tohis moniker while remaining true to hishumble love of stone
CARVING HIS OWN PATH
RAW VISION 8744
45RAW VISION 87
crucified son, which a 24-year-oldMichelangelo had produced at the end of thefifteenth century, was displayed behindbulletproof Plexiglas. Torre said, “I was deeplymoved by what this extraordinarily talented sculptorhad brought forth from a piece of stone.”
A few years later, mainly to escape a father hedescribed as “very tough, even abusive”, Torre moved to atown on Long Island, where his uncle was buildinghimself a house. Torre said, “I was close to this uncle, whohelped me in many ways. To construct his house, he usedold cobblestones that had been dug up from Brooklynstreets that were being repaved. Cleaning them andlearning how to use them to erect walls – all of that was
part of my first encounter with stone.My uncle was a skilled mason.”
That same uncle gave young Jerry a tip that led to hisemployment as the mercurial (and, reputedly, miserly)Getty’s handyman out in East Hampton. Torre recalledthat his boss, whose fortune had come from oil and whoreportedly had once quipped, “The meek shall inherit theearth but not its mineral rights”, insisted that Jerry remainout of sight. Torre said, “How was I supposed to cut thegrass or trim the hedges without being visible? I was fired
oppositeHowler, 2007 cranberry alabaster, 20 x 5 x 6 ins. /50.8 x 12.7 x 15.2 cm
photos courtesy Jackie Klempay Gallery, 2015
aboveRacer, 2010 Carrara marble 8 x 23 x 9 ins. /20.3 x 58.4 x 22.9 cm
rightProspect, 2009 alabaster and salvaged barbells 18 x 14 x 10 ins. /45.7 x 35.6 x 25.4 cm
By CHRISTIAN
NOORBERGEN
Translation by
Denis Rothman
Jean-Pierre Nadau’s huge, precise ink drawings pull you into his world
THE LABYRINTHEXPLORER
RAW VISION 8748
leftNew-York n’existe pas [New YorkDoes Not Exist] (detail)2008Indian ink on canvas4 ft 11 x 19 ft 8.8 / 1.5 x 6 m
above oppositeJean-Pierre Nadau and Chomo withNadau’s first canvas, at the Villaged’art préludien [the Village ofPréludien Art], Achères-la-Forêt,France, photo by Clovis Prévost
Jean-Pierre Nadau was born on May 9, 1963, in theParis suburb of Melun. He grew up and graduatedfrom high school in Vert-Saint-Denis, north-central France, where his father was the manager of a
precision-tool manufacturing company.As a teenager, Nadau’s passion for music led to a deep,
rich and eclectic interest in contemporary creative trends.His curiosity extended to film and theatre culture, and hewanted to become an actor. He went on to study atdirector-actor Charles Dullin’s Ecole de Théâtre in Parisfor three years in 1982, intending to go into theatre andwriting; at this time, there was no indication of his futureas a painter.
In 1984, Nadau had a revelatory encounter withRoger “Chomo” Chomeaux (1907–1999), the hermit-artist of the forest of Fontainbleau near Paris. Suddenly, in1986, Nadau stopped acting so that he could work withChomo in the forest. Later, in 1988, Nadau began todraw – partly inspired by the works of Augustin Lesage(1876–1954). Nadau drew many small-format, black-and-white works before starting to paint on a huge scale (up to36 feet / 11 metres) on paper or canvas.
Having lived off-and-on with his parents during hisyouth while holding various odd jobs, Nadau moved toReims, the capital of Champagne, north-east France, forseveral years before settling in a chalet in Morillon, HauteSavoie, in the French Alps. He continues to live and create
there – heights inspire him, as does being close to the sky.Nadau’s works have been shown in over 150 solo and
collective exhibitions across France and Europe, as well asin the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. Hisworks are also held in the Collection de l’Art Brut,Lausanne.
Nadau’s compositions are filled with fantasticalarchitectural structures, wacky stories and tragicomedies,all with an underlying ribaldry. Among the themes thatdrive him are horse or bicycle races, and French gardens:it seems that there must be movement and growth, or elsethere would be stagnation.
Of his technique, Nadau says, “I drew with a Sergent-Major pen nib and India Ink. I discovered a world I neverimagined before. And for the past 25 years, I have workedobsessively, slightly organising more or less simplegeometrical forms, drawn in a small scale and thentransposed into a larger scale. I let myself go into theburlesque side of the impossible things that go onbetween the characters. In a happy frenzy, I let everythinggo by, unconstrained. I don’t try other techniques, havingno project in that direction. My own technique is enough.I have preferences such as geographical maps. I inventimaginary writings, with small characters, drawn in line-like pictograms.”
When Nadau first started making his drawings, therewas the beginning. Then came his personal “Big Bang” – a
49RAW VISION 87
Interest in “ethnic”, Native American, shamanic,visionary figuration in art and tourist markets hasbeen growing. A hybrid expression, it combines
figurative Western art, indigenous art and “vegetalist”shamanism, which is based on the ritualistic use of various“power” and “master” plants, such as tobacco and thepsychedelics peyote, ayahuasca and toé. These areentheogenic hallucinogens which are used in spiritual,shamanic or religious contexts.
The precursor of the creative movement was Pablo
Amaringo (1938–2009), an acclaimed Peruvian mestizoartist and connoisseur of shamanic traditions specific toindigenous and mestizo populations from the banks of theUcayali River in Arequipa, Peru. Through collaborationwith the anthropologist Luis Eduardo Luna, he foundedthe specialised Amazonian school of painting Usko-Ayar(“Spiritual Prince”) in Pucallpa, deep in the heart of thePeruvian Amazon.
While some concepts and techniques of academic artare incorporated, Usko-Ayar is deeply bound to the
RAW VISION 8754
In the Peruvian rainforest, Filder Agustín Peña fuses traditional andcontemporary tribal influences in his paintings
Cuat
ro M
undo
s (Fo
ur W
orlds
), 20
10, a
crylic
on ca
nvas
, 56.3
x 54
.7 ins
. / 14
3 x 13
9 cm
AMAZONIAN VISIONS
spiritual experiences from hallucinogenic plants. The artistreproduces the visions from dreams considered afundamental source of knowledge in all shamanic cultures.Traditionally, the artist realises his or her paintings duringceremonies where (s)he paints traditional kené geometricalforms on the participants’ faces – the quintessentialShipibo aesthetic form and an identity marker. The ritual,art (as a creation of virtual and physical images) andshamanism are “mediation techniques” that depict areality the naked eye cannot perceive.
This is the source of inspiration for Filder AgustínPeña, a shaman/healer from the Shipibo tribe, whoseworks reflect the fundamental aspects of an ancestral
cultural universe. Peña’s work revolves around an “astraljourney” undertaken during shamanic sessions that arepunctuated by encounters with spiritual entities inwoodland, celestial and aquatic areas, which both animatethe Shipibo mythology and partner the shaman duringtheir sessions. Amid the paintings’ protagonists one canfind Ronin the anaconda, “the Mother of Waters”(“mother”, ibo, refers to the “boss”, “master” or “owner”,as well as “the principle of life”) and mistress of all aquaticanimals; Ino, the jaguar and wildlife custodian; Bari, thesun, who is protective and paternal towards humans;Oshe, the moon, an incestuous brother who became acelestial body; Jenen Yoshin, “the spirit of the waters”,
55RAW VISION 87
By DORIANE SLAGHENAUFFI and FREDERIC SAUMADE
Mi Es
pacio
Sidé
ral (M
y Out
er Sp
ace),
2010
, acry
lic on
canv
as, 5
7 x 50
.4 ins
. / 14
5 x 12
8 cm
RAW STUDIOS
KUNSTHAUS KANNEN, GERMANY
In soothing, rural grounds, a few miles southwest ofMünster, western Germany, is a psychiatric andpsychotherapeutic hospital that contains the buildings ofthe Kunsthaus Kannen studios, gallery and workshop.
Since 1887, the hospital has been owned by theAlexian Brothers – an apostolic Catholic Order whoseBrothers undertake vows and dedicate themselves to carefor “the sick, the aged, the unloved, the unwanted, thepoor, and the dying”. The practising of these vows has ledto the specialisation of the hospital in the treatment ofand therapies for people with mental illness andintellectual disabilities.
When long-term patients of the hospital startedspontaneously creating art, staff encouraged the art-making, as has been seen in many hospitals in thetwentieth century. Since the early 1980s, the staff havesupported and promoted this creativity, going on todevelop the studio and gallery spaces. By October 2000,this embracing of art and expression had led to a nationalacknowledgement from the German government: theofficial recognition of “Model Project Community forHandicapped Artists”.
With the ongoing financial support of the Alexian
RAW VISION 8758
Brothers and the regional Welfare Trust of NRW,Kunsthaus Kannen has continued to flourish. People fromthe hospital community with psychiatric illnesses andspecial learning needs have access to 15 spaces across threestudios for painting and drawing, covering 620 squaremetres. In the studios, they can express themselvesartistically and further their own development with thesupport and supervision of trained art therapists. There isalso the opportunity to meet and work with artists fromother studios in workshops, to enhance their ownexperience and expand their personal horizons. An artarchive in the grounds provides space for the workshops,as well as for project work, conferences and lectures on artand psychiatry, Outsider Art and art brut.
Adjoining the studios and workshops is the gallery,with often-changed displays that are based on theKunsthaus Kannen collection, which now amounts toover 5000 artworks gathered over the past 30 years,including sculptures, paintings and drawings. Exhibitionsfrom the collection have been held throughout Germany,as well as overseas. Apart from being a central meetingpoint for disabled and able-bodied artists, the gallery isopen to anyone interested in viewing the studios and
Klaus Muc̈ke, Atelierplatz,Kunsthaus Kannen, 2015photo by Ralf Emmerich
59RAW VISION 87
above: Stefan Tiersch, Ein Einsamer, 2015, acrylic on paper,33 x 47.2 ins. / 84 x 120 cm
right: Stephan Meischner, Untitled, 2015, ink on paper,8.3 x11.4 ins. / 21 x 29 cm
below: Helmut Feder, Couple,1984, pencil on paper,11.8 x 15.7 ins. / 30 x 40 cm
Kunsthaus Kannen, Kappenberger Damm / Alexanierweg 9, D-48163 Münster, Westphalia,Germany. The 2x2 Forum for Outsider Art takes placebiennially on 1–4 October. www.kunsthaus-kannen.de
exhibitions, and the specialist library andart shop.
For the past few years, aninternational, weekend-long forum onOutsider Art has been held. It is aninclusive and celebratory affair withdiscussions about the history and currentposition of Outsider Art in psychiatricand artistic contexts, and past speakershave included Thomas Roeske ofPrinzhorn Collection and SarahLombardi of the Collection de l’Art Brut,Lausanne (see RV #80 for a review of the2013 “2x2 Forum”). During the forum,international studio galleries exhibitalongside local artists and artists ofKunsthaus Kannen. Nuala Ernest
THE ART OFBEDLAM: RICHARD DADD
The Watts Gallery-Artists’ Village,Compton, Surrey, UKuntil November 1
Richard Dadd (1817–1886) may havenever been considered an outsider hadhe not lost his mind somewhere inthe Middle East during a sojourn inthe 1840s.
A celebrated student of the RoyalAcademy, Dadd began his artisticcareer as a young and promisingpainter gathering plaudits from highsociety. After experiencing severemental illness Dadd became betterknown as an artist from the asylum.The first “painter patient” with thewild-eyes and heavy beard, seated at aneasel during his 20 years’ incarcerationin the Bethlem Royal Hospital (akaBedlem), and later in Broadmoorasylum for the criminally insane asdepicted in Hering’s portraitphotograph (c. 1875).
This small but beautifully formedexhibition, curated by Dr NickTromans, a renowned authority onDadd, casts a considered eye over theartist’s life and outputs. It provides arefreshing perspective on Dadd’s lifeoutside and within asylums, the latterin which Dadd’s greatest work was
Ric
hard
Dad
d (d
etai
l) at
W
atts
Gal
lery
-Art
ists’
Vill
age
probably created. Imagine the reactionof Dadd’s keepers to his wondrous andmystical outpourings, which continueduntil his death at Broadmoor aged 68.
The work on show at Watts isundeniably beautiful, yet it depicts aworld where all is not as it seems.Lesser known works included hereprovide clues to his destiny. In TheArtist’s Halt in the Desert (c. 1845) weglimpse Dadd’s supernatural vision asthe moon appears on a lance over adeep blue desert sky, flames lighting upthe faces of the nomads (Daddincluded) gathering by the fire. Thiscould be read as a foreboding of Dadd'sloosening grip on reality. The eerie PortStragglin (1861) depicts a fantasticalimagined place, as Dadd recounted“not sketched from nature”. In it anoversized cliff as if from a fairy talelooms over an ancient ship in port, allhovering in nothingness.
His unfinished masterpiece TheFairy Feller’s Masterstroke(c. 1855–1864) demands attention, theintricacy making one’s eyes dancearound the canvas. By turns humorous,devilish and divine, it staggers in its
minutepoetic detail,
revealing moreand more curious
characters with scrutiny.The Portrait of a Young Man
(1853) is strangely compelling. Thedapper and impassive young manfeatured is thought to be Dadd’sphysician Dr Charles Hood. He isseated in the non-existent “pleasuregarden” of Bedlam, where he gazesbenevolently (or possibly malevolently)at the viewer. The seeminglyinnocuous portrait unnerves with itsodd detail: Hood’s beauteous features,a crumpled shirt, neckerchief tiedloosely round his neck on a curiouslyformed bench of branches. Onewonders at Dadd’s intention as thegolden-haired doctor appearsovershadowed by comical giganticleaves behind him, a fez at his side,and a grass roller in the background.Bedlam may truly have been a place oftragi-comic asylum.
Finally a word on the venue. Iffairies exist Watts Gallery-Artists’Village is surely a place they wouldchoose to live. Like a location from achild’s story book, the picturesque Artsand Crafts building lies nestled inwoods, down a winding country lane afew miles outside Guildford. The placeis enchanting and worthy of many apleasurable day trip. Victoria Tischler
R A W R E V I E W S EXHIBITIONS
RAW VISION 8766
R A W R E V I E W SEXHIBITIONS
Stephen C. Warren (above right), Jesse Howard (below) and Dwight Yoakum (below right) at Bennington Museum
INWARD ADORINGS OFTHE MIND
Bennington Museum, 75 Main Street,Bennington, VT 05201-2855Until November 1, 2015
Currently at the Bennington Museum,“Inward Adorings of the Mind” reachesacross labels and categories to initiate,in the words of the exhibition’s curatorJamie Franklin, “thematic dialoguesamongst extraordinary artworks createdby ... individuals with little or noformal training ... and working outsidethe framework of the traditional artmarket.”
Established grassroots-artistsJoseph Yoakum, Mose Tolliver, JesseHoward, Inez Nathaniel Walker andAnna Mary Robertson “Grandma”Moses are displayed in tandem withmore recently recognised “outsiders”such as Gayleen Aiken, Jessica Park,Larry Bissonnette, Paul Humphrey,and Ray Materson. The work of theseartists is interspersed with moretraditional folk art: portraits byErastus Salisbury Field and AmmiPhillips; samplers by Martha Hawkinsand Caroline Love; three-dimensionalobjects such as furniture, gravemarkers, wood carvings, face jugs andwhimsically fashioned canes. Themore-than-150 pieces are displayed infour thematic clusters that interactacross time, vary in style andintention, but find a collective voiceunder headings of History, Memoryand Memorials; Signs andSymbols/Words and Images; Faces:Fact and Fiction; and EverydayBeauty: Whimsy and Utility.
The section on History, Memoryand Memorials juxtaposes Bennington
history paintings by Grandma Moses withtraditional mourning pictures, a samplerdepicting family history, Joseph Yoakum’smemory landscapes and a house rendered byGayleen Aiken filled with recollections offamily life. Stephen Warren’s imposingMemory Ware Tower is an especially powerfulstatement – its multitude of inlaidmemorabilia, spiralling upward, suggest aclassical victory column. What these variedartistic descriptions of the past might ormight not be telling us is suggested byEmily Dickinson’s words, which introducethe display: “But are not all facts dreams assoon as we put them behind us.” Theviewer is invited to observe, enjoy andponder.
Bennington Museum Director,Dr Robert Wolterstorff, calls suchjuxtapositions “creative collisions” thatprovide new ways to encounter art.Reintroduced in different configurations,objects rub together, sparks fly “thatinspire new creativity, ignite newinvention.” According to Wolterstorff,this “mashup is the quintessential newart form of our age” – exciting,unpredictable and enticinglydifferent. In the words of WaltWhitman, which provide theshow’s preamble: “I reject none,accept all, then reproduce all inmy own forms.”
For “Inward Adorings” themuseum has partnered withartists/collectors Gregg Blasdeland Jennifer Koch. Their richand varied collections ofgrassroots art seamlesslycomplement the museum’straditional folk pieces andmore recent acquisitions ofworks by Outsider and self-taught artists.Tony Gengarelly
67RAW VISION 87
marvellous creation to moulder into asad and naked shell. In keeping withthe conference ethos of protecting suchexceptional structures, some visitors(notably architects) felt that restorationwas still an option, while othersconcluded that deterioration had gonetoo far, leaving little more than aneloquent ruin.
Yet other places sharpened thecollective awareness of the need forpreservation and renovation. Onededicated group clambered up amountain above Palermo to inspectIsravele’s Sanctuary, a site of undoubtedspiritual lustre; while strollers aroundthe back-streets of the seaside town ofCastellamare tracked down the brightgraffiti of Giovanni Bosco(1948–2009). A few visitors made adetour to Bagheria and saw a famedeighteenth-century folly, the VillaPalagonia, a structure masterminded bya capricious duke who deputed a teamof sculptors to produce stone creaturesin the shape of jigging musicians,human-headed animals, and othergrotesques. ese cavort atop thecurving walls that embrace the site andits garden of roses and cacti; while thevilla itself, now stripped, secretes a fewmanneristic mosaics and colouredflagstones. e empty ballroom is aparticular marvel. e lucky visitorsfound their initial curiosity giving wayto admiration and a sense of wonder –rare responses at academic occasions ofthis kind. Roger Cardinal
HETEROTOPIAS:OUTSIDERENVIRONMENTS INEUROPEInternational conferencePalermo and Messina, SicilyMay 28 – June 1 2015
A highly imaginative conferencerecently took place in Sicily, jointlyorganised by the fast developingOsservatorio Outsider Art (a scholarlyproject of Palermo University) and theEuropean Outsider Art Association. eevent attracted international expertskeen to share information about artenvironments, not least those of Sicilianirregolari. anks to group excursions,the usual provision of slides wascomplemented by material encountersat select local sites. Foremost of thesewas the Enchanted Castle of FilippoBentivegna (1888–1967), author of anamazing array of carved stone heads,laid out over a hillside near Sciacca.is indomitable artist had known famein his native region before his death andtoday’s site endures, staggering in itsscale and atmosphere. (See Raw Vision#22.) A speedy coach journey relocatedthe conference to the island’s secondmajor city, Messina, to examine a verydifferent site, for the cabin andornamented patio built on an industrialstreet near the harbour by one GiovanniCammarata (1915–2002) have longsince lost their sheen, if not their verysoul. irteen years have passed sincethis artist died, time enough for his
Rog
er C
ardi
nal w
ith d
eleg
ates
at B
entiv
egna
’s En
chan
ted
Cas
tle, p
hoto
by
Soph
ie L
epet
it
R A W R E V I E W S EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE
SHINYA FUJIIOutsider Art from JapanJulian Hartnoll Gallery, 37 Duke Street St James’, LondonSeptember 4–13
Outside In and the Julian HartnollGallery recently presented visitors withthe first opportunity outside of Japanto view the intricate, tropical-inspiredink drawings of Shinya Fujii, a newly-discovered artist from northern Japan.Born in 1969, Fujii started to draw in2007 after his father died. Listening tofolk music while he works, Fujii’smarks on paper are inspired by what hehears as well as by his particularfascination with Bali, as well asBuddhism, robots and insects. Takingup to 3 months to create each piece,his entire collection of 32 drawings wasshown in this exhibition and seeingthem together highlighted the themesin and progression of his work.Fantastical spaceships rose from theheads of figures as plumes of woven,curled “music waves” are trumpetedout of their mouths (Fujii weavestogether figures, symbols and patternsin simple fluid lines that he hasdescribed as waves of music). Some ofthe drawings are densely-worked, withdecorative borders reminiscent of ArtDeco or Japanese textiles, while othersfloat in space. Many different texturesemerge from his patterns: feathers,hair, scales, mosaics and fabric prints.All are thought-provoking and elegant,and obviously made a big impact onthe viewers as half of the show was soldon the first day.Nuala Ernest
Shin
ua F
ujii
at P
alla
nt H
ouse
Gal
lery
RAW VISION 8568
32
Ben Wilson,Inner Architecture,Fasanella, Phase 2,Fryar, Gordon’s Patio
Roger CardinalBentivegna,La Tiniaia,Grgich,Collis, Ray Morris
Sudduth BurgessDulaney, St EOM,Mouly, Dulaney, MrEccles, SPACES
Nek Chand, Finster,Valton Tyler, Lara-Gomez, P.Humphrey,War Rugs, Lonné
Van Genk, PurvisYoung, Marcel Storr, RA Miller, MadgeGill, Makiki
Watts Towers, BessyHarvey, Marginalia, F. Monchâtre, Tree Circus
Palais Idéal, J. Scott,Charles RussellDonald Pass,Outsider portraits
Dr. Leo Navratil, IlijaBosilj, SimonSparrow, MelvinWay, Pradeep Kumar
Rio Museum,Voodoo,Carvers ofPoland, Naïves ofTaiwan, E. James
G. Aiken, Junkerhaus,Kurt Haas, PLancaster, MinnieEvans
Boix-Vives, FredSmith, RosaZharkikh, DonaldMitchell
Thornton Dial,Richard Greaves, Martha Grunenwaldt
Theo, Jane-in-Vain,Janet Sobel, LanningGarden
Salvation Mountain,Yoakum, DosSantos, ScottishOutsiders, Bartlett
Ossorio, Irish Naïves,Nick Blinko, Ray Materson, LeCarré Galimard
Adolf Wölfli, Art CarsZeldis, AlbertLouden, CellblockVisions
Y5/P5, Chomo, Arning, Leonov,Kaiser, The TarotGarden, Gene Merritt
Mary Proctor, CarloZinelli, Dernier Cri, Art Brut, Jersey Shell Garden
Picassiette, Benefiel,Vodou, Dellscahu,Mediumistic, VanGenk
Mary T Smith, deVilliers, Matt Lamb,Old Curiosity Shop,Mithila Painters
Robert Tatin, N-M Rowe, McQuirk, Denise Allen,Freddie Brice
William ThomasThompson, AlfredWallis, Johnny Meah,Michael Rapanakis
von Bruenchenhein,Imagists, Monsiel,McKesson, Mabussa,Vahan Poladian
Joe Coleman, MinnieEvans, Seillé, Peploe,Papa, CanadianEnvironments
Gugging, Art &Psychiatry, Traylor,M-J Gil, De Stadshof,Margaret’s Grocery
Billy Lemming,Huichol, AustralianOutsiders, Art of theHomeless
Darger, R/stoneCowboy, Thévoz:Chiaroscuro, PearlBlauvelt, Bressse
William Hawkins,Expressionism andInsanity, GiovanniBattista Podesta
Finnish Outsiders, Sylvain Fusco, Roy Ferdinand
Hung Tung,Photography, Bernard Schatz, Jessie Montes
Mammi Wata, Fred Ressler, Mary Whitfield,Isaiah Zagar
Ivan Rabuzin,Czech Art Brut,Sunnyslope,Prophet Blackmon
Hamtramck Disney, Roger Cardinal, KenGrimes, CriminalTattoos
Eli Jah, Singleton,Marie-Rose Lortet,Ross Brodar, Catalan site
Toraja Death Figures,Chauvin SculpturesJosef Wittlich,Nigerian Sculpture
August Natterer,New Gugging,George Widener,Paul Hefti
Burning Man,Matsumoto,Nicholas Herrera,William Fields
Maura Holden,Clarence SchmidtR.A. Miller, HansKrüsi, Silvio Barile
Lobonov, Zindato, JB Murray, Anthony Jadunath,Seymour Rosen
Emery Blagdon, ZBArmstrong, Bali,Imppu (Finland),Mari Newman
Alex Grey, Lacemaker, Luna Rossa, Sekulic,Uddin, Mary Nohl
La Cathedral,Hauser, Norbert Kox,Zemankova, AnitaRoddick, Laffoley
Tom Duncan,Movie Posters,Spanish Sites, RosaZharkikh
S.L. Jones,Kevin Duffy,Frank Jones,Charles Steffen
Howard Finster,Michel Nedjar,James H Jennings,Rosemarie Koczy
Joe Coleman,Harald Stoffers,Elis F. Stenman
Speller, Norbert Kox,Haiti street artBF PerkinsDamian Michaels
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Paul Amar, PhyllisKind, D.M. Diaz, W.Dawson, Joe Minter,Survivors, Martindale
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Henry Darger, PeterKapeller, NadiaThornton Dial, Belykh
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August Walla, AdolfWölfli, Antoni Gaudi,Tim Wehrle, FrankWalter, Art & Therapy
CJ Pyle, AloïseCorbaz, MrImagination, JohnDanczyszak
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Martin Ramirez, BruceNew, StephanieLucas, Ellen Greene,Art in Houston
Mark Beyer, HowardFinster, VeijoRonkkonen, AlexisLippstreu
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Julian Martin, RonaldLockett, SolangeKnopf, Larry Lewis,Emma Hauck
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Nek Chand, JohannFischer, Judith Scott,George Ehling,Spanish Environments
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