Celebrating its 25th anniversary the Outsider Art Fair was held from January 19-22 at New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion featuring 62 exhibitors the largest number in its history and several special selections. One selection paid homage to the 25 years history of the fair by choosing artworks representing each year curated by Edward Gomez and the other displayed quilts by active quilt makers from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The quilts will be shown later on this year at the Met Breuer.  The OAF seminar was devoted to From Obscurity to Prominence: The Discovery and Stewardship of Outsider Art.  On the VIP opening day an estimated 3500 visitors attended and numerous art works were sold. The art was affordable priced from several hundred dollars to $20.000 and produced by artists without professional training working outside the confines of institutions and established art orientations, though the artists shown were represented by galleries.

Correspondingly the art work cannot be subsumed under one label, though influences of art conventions can be traced. The diversity of the art shown reflects the diversity of the media chosen and of the art workers presented.  As Roger Cardinal stated in his 1972 book on art brut “….a paramount factor in the critical definition of the creative Outsider is that he or she should be   possessed of an expressive impulse and should then externalize that impulse in an unmonitored way which defies conventional art-historical contextualization”. Outsider artists are frequently self-taught without exposure to art schools or nor validated by the established art institution complex from galleries and auction houses to museums or art publications. If an artist had formal training the work cannot be shown at the fair.  Over the last decades outsider art has somehow come into prominence thus collectability. It has been attracting a growing affluent upper middle class audience which is visually oriented and interested in affordable art.   The success of outsider affordable art is reflected by a demand for space at the fair which could not be accommodated fully. The same holds for The Affordable Art Fair which could not accommodate all demands for inclusion either. This fair has a similar outsider art orientation and has organized over more than twenty years shows in the US and overseas. Like the Outsider Art Fair it has successfully appealed to the same audience offering two fairs each year and is growing in its domestic and foreign editions. This appeal of the fairs is also fostered by the large number of representational works in outsider art which are easier to ‘read’ thus more accessible. A new art niche market has emerged which some major auction houses have embraced with special auctions.  Christies hosted in mid-January an auction “Courageous spirits:  Outsider and Vernacular Art” and the Metropolitan plans for next year a show on outsider art. As in the Affordable Art Fair the exhibitors from the Outsider Art Fair expressed their satisfaction and plan to return.

As in the 2016 edition, virtually all material and media were presented. To name but a few:  fabric, paper, wood, iron, steel, stone, wires, ropes, household items, books, labels and plastics  A multitude of forms such as  , photo imagery, ready-mades, collages, assemblages, remade dolls, cut outs, drawings,  paintings, and  found objects were used.  Art by unknown artists and mixed media remain popular. The reaction of the spectators ranged from surprise and puzzlement to intrigue and acquisition, accompanied during the VIP hours by long lines for free drinks. Some elements of the fair were noteworthy. A growing number of foreign galleries participated. As noted many media were used but only one exhibit involved moving images, an assemblage with an old television set. Among appealing presentations of interest were the wide-ranging art works at the American Primitive Gallery though the pieces by Gerard Cambon were less exciting than those shown last year. The colored pencil drawing Untitled Sculpture by JJ Kramer at this gallery however was outstanding. Clementine Hunter’s Melrose Plantation Quilt at Gilley’s Gallery excelled in its composition. The same holds for William A. Hull’s Phantom Headlight pencil drawing at the Henry Boxer Gallery.  Look Out, a stained glass work by Pinkey Maclure also from Henry Boxer presented the striking secular image of intertwined people. Daniel Swanigan   mixed media sculpture Cinema Verdes at the Cathouse 4 space deserved attention.  One of the most intriguing exhibits was the solo show of graphite and ordinary paper drawings of cartoons executed by Frank Johnson. Comic book number 106 “Walley’s Gang” reflected Johnson’s lifelong preoccupation with his friends who are depicted in thousands of comic book pages Johnson completed over decades. He talked to nobody about his cartoons which were discovered by his wife after his death. Johnson stands for the prototypical outsider artist as defined in the past. Driven by inner passions or demons the artist produces works meant only for the maker who wants to retain anonymity. This can however change if the outsider art market continues to be commodified.

Claus Mueller,  filmexchange@gmail.com