Art In America
Vol.56 No.5, Sept-Oct 1968
New York, N.Y.
A nice article illustrating some well known and lesser known practitioners of Outsider Art in America. The term Outsider Art is not a wholly adequate classification, and author Gregg N Blasdel prefers the nomenclature Grass-Roots Art.
Although the unruly genre of Outsider Art may not be fully commodified and absorbed into the mainstream artworld, it is well documented and widely admired. Jean Dubuffet was amongst the first to bring the 'visionary' work of Facteur Cheval and suchlike to the attention of the artworld in the post-war years, but naive art or folk art has been around for much longer. Perhaps it is helpful to consider Outsider Art as progressive environmental art? Strip away financial motivations and cultural norms of acceptability and it is interesting to consider the psychological compulsions that compel humans to creativity, whether 'artists' or 'outsiders'.
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