The development of the awareness
of forms of creative expression that exist outside accepted
cultural norms, or the realm of "fine art", began with
the researches of psychiatrists early in the century.
The
work of Dr Morganthaler documented his patient Adolf
Wolfli, a genius who produced countless thousands of
works from a small cell in his Swiss asylum. Dr Hans
Prinzhorn collected thousands of works by psychiatric
patients and his book "Bildernerei der Geisteskranken"
(Artistry of the Mentally Ill), published in 1922 became
an influential work amongst Surrealist and other artists
of the time.
One artist who was particularly
affected by the works Prinzhorn presented was Jean Dubuffet.
Together with others, including Andre Breton, he formed
the Compagnie de l'Art Brut in 1948 and strove to seek
out and collect works of extreme individuality and inventiveness
by creators who were not only untrained artists but
often had little concept of an art gallery or even any
other forms of art other than their own.
Dubuffet's concept of Art
Brut, or Raw Art, was of works that were in their "raw"
state, uncooked by cultural and artistic influences.
He built up a vast collection of thousands of works,
works which bore no relation to developments in contemporary
art and yet were the innovative and powerful expressions
of a wide range individuals from a variety of backgrounds.
Dubuffet's great collection
was eventually granted a permanent home by the city
of Lausanne and the Collection de l'Art Brut is now
one of the most powerful and overwhelming art museums
to be found anywhere in the world.
A parallel development to
the awareness of paintings, drawings and sculptures
which fell into the sphere of Art Brut, was the discovery
of environmental creations by a similar range of people.
One of the most famous of these, the Palais Ideal, built
by the postman Cheval, received much attention from
the Surrealists who admired his ability to realise his
dream in this incredible structure, the product of thirty
years of devoted toil.
In Los Angeles, the extraordinary
Watts Towers, the product of a similar commitment by
an Italian immigrant worker, Simon Rodia, became the
first step in the realisation of a vast number of environments
to be found right across North America.
Today the increased awareness
of all these forms of expression has led to a network
of small organisations in both Europe and the United
States devoted to the preservation of such works and
the support of their creators. Similar collections to
the one in Lausanne have been established in many countries
and exhibitions of different aspects of the phenonema
are a regular occurence. The diverse influence of all
these forms is now apparent in the work of an increasing
number of "trained " artists who have turned their back
on changing trends and fashions to try and form a truly
singular reality for themselves.
Michel Thevoz, Curator of
the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne has written
the following:
"Art Brut", or "outsider
art", consists of works produced by people who for various
reasons have not been culturally indocrinated or socially
conditioned. They are all kinds of dwellers on the fringes
ofsociety. Working outside fine art "system" (schools,
galleries, museums and so on), these people have produced,
from the depths of their own personalities and for themselves
and no one else, works of outstanding originality in
concept, subject and techniques. They are works which
owe nothing to tradition or fashion.
A firm distinction should
be made between "art brut" and what is known as "naif
art". The naif or primitive painters remain within
the mainstream of painting proper, even if they fail
ingenuously to practise its style. However, they accept
its subjects, technique (generally oils) and even
its values, because they hope for public, if not official
recognition. "Art brut" artists, on the other hand,
make up their own techniques, often with new means
and materials and they create their works for their
own use, as a kind of private theatre. They choose
subjects which are often enigmatic and they do not
care about the good opinion of others, even keeping
their work secret.
RAW
VISION's Definitions The controversy surrounding the
exact definition of Outsider Art and allied fields has
been going on ever since awareness of the phenomenon began.
Whatever views we have about the value of controversy
itself, it is important to sustain creative discussion
by way of an agreed vocabulary.
NEUVE
INVENTION Dubuffet realised that there
existed many creators whose work was of comparable power
and inventiveness to Art Brut, but their greater contact
with normal society and the awareness they had of their
art works precluded their inclusion within the strict
Art Brut category. These creators were often humble
workers who created in their spare time, or eccentric
and untrained artists trying to make a living from their
work - some of whom had dealings with commercial galleries.
As an acknowledgement to them he formed his "Annex Collection";
in 1982 this became the "Neuve Invention" section of
the Collection de l'Art Brut.
(examples: Gaston Chaissac,
Mario Chichorro, Rosemarie Koczy, Gerard Lattier, Albert
Louden, Frederich Schroder-Sonnenstern).
ART
BRUT Jean Dubuffet's original 1945
term for the works that he collected and revered; later
adopted by the Collection de l'Art Brut at Lausanne.
Art Brut means 'Raw Art'. Raw because it is 'uncooked'
or 'unadulterated' by culture. Raw because it is creation
in its most direct and uninhibited form. Not only were
the works unique and original but their creators were
seen to exist outside established culture and society.
The purest of Art Brut creators would not consider themselves
artists, nor would they even feel that they were producing
art at all.
Art Brut is visual creation
at its purest - a spontaneous psychic flow from brain
to paper. No works of Art Brut are allowed to be exhibited
away from the Collection at Lausanne. Equally, the name
'Art Brut' is not permitted to be used except as a description
of the works in the Collection. Similarly, the Collection
de l'Art Brut insists that it alone can officially designate
any newly discovered works as Art Brut.
(examples: Aloise, Carlo,
Henry Darger, Madge Gill, Johann
Hauser, Raphael Lonne, Laure Pigeon, Martin Ramirez,
Adolf
Wolfli).
OUTSIDER
ART The term 'Outsider Art' was
originally intended to act as an exact English equivalent
to Dubuffet's term, although Outsider Art has developed
to encompass not only Art Brut but also works that the
Lausanne Collection would not strictly designate as
such (eg. some of the works in the Neuve Invention category).
Outsider Art has not had the benefit of the unique protection
surrounding Art Brut and the definition has undoubtedly
become obscured by chronic mis-use since its introduction
in 1972.
Sadly we find today that many
use the term in the loosest way, to refer to almost
any untrained artist. It is simply not enough to be
untrained, clumsy or naive. Outsider Art is virtually
synonomous with Art Brut in both spirit and meaning,
to that rarity of art produced by those who do not know
its name.
FOLK
ART/ CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART A simple and direct term that
has become much used - and over-used - especially in
North America. Originally pertaining to the indigenous
crafts and decorative skills of peasant communities
in Europe, the term was later appllied to the simply
made practical objects of colonial days - a combination
of charm and practical craftmanship. In contemporary
terms, Folk Art can cover anything from chain-saw animals
to hub-cap buildings. The crossover with Outsider Art
is undeniable, but most Folk Art has its own traditions
and is often very different from the psychic flow of
Art Brut.
(examples: Thornton Dial,
Sam Doyle, William Hawkins, Clyde Jones, Joseph Sleep,
Mose Tolliver).
MARGINAL
ART, ART SINGULIER The works of artists, usually,
but not exclusively, self-taught, that are close to
Art Brut and Outsider artists, both in appearance and
directness of expression. These are the artists 'on
the margins', that grey area of definition that lies
between Outsider Art and normal mainstream art, very
similar to Dubuffet's Neuve Invention category. Art
Singulier encompasses French marginal artists.
(examples: Chomo, Danielle
Jacqui, Marcel Landreau, Gerard Lattier, Raymond Reynaud).
[Danielle Jacqui photograph by Ann Oppenhimer, The Folk
Art Society.]
VISIONARY
ART, INTUITIVE ART Both of these are deliberate
umbrella terms, used together they can include almost
everything of value in the field, including much tribal
art and the urban folk art of the third world, as well
as most of the works described above. They are safe and
honest general terms that avoid the specifics of Outsider
Art or Folk Art.
NAIVE
ART Often confused with Outsider
and Visionary art, this term refers to untrained artists
who depict largely realistic scenes, often in minute detail,
with people, animals, and other aspects of the observed
world, sometimes combined with fantasy images. They often
aspire to normal artistic status and are usually very
different from the visionaries to be found in the pages
of Raw Vision, and may often be seen as quite sophisticated
amateurs verging on professionalism.
(examples: James Crane, Grandma
Moses, Ivan Generalic, Joseph Pickett, Douanier Rousseau,
Germain Tessier).
VISIONARY
ENVIRONMENTS The environments, buildings and
sculpture parks built by intuitive artists almost defy
definition. They have become known by various terms, Visionary
Environments and Contemporary Folk Art Environments being
perhaps the most appropriate in current use. Although
Outsider Art has been used to describe the environments,
some feel the label to be insulting to these particular
creators, many of whom are integrated members of their
local communities. Another popular term, especially in
the US, is Grassroots Art, which can also cover the more
humble expressions and constructions of ordinary folk
in both town and country.
(examples: Simon Rodia's Watts
Towers, SP Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, Ferdinand Cheval's
Palais Ideal, Nek
Chand's Rock Garden).
