Discover The Raw Beauty Of Outsider Art: A Unique Perspective

  What pops in your head when you think of the word ‘Art’? Perhaps a classic painting like The Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre Museum on white walls or Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow by the modernist painter Piet Mondrian in 1930? Or maybe you prefer slightly more left-field approaches? Or do you prefer your art outside of gallery spaces, or from non-traditional artistic paths? Maybe art you think is not truly recognised, like those on the street and those hidden gems by non-conventional ‘outlier’ artists is more your taste. Never has the Art world been as free as it is now to interpret well what Art is. Find out more in Discover The Raw Beauty Of Outsider Art: A Unique Perspective

From the moment a French artist put a ready-made toilet in an art gallery, what could be called art changed forever. Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. His most Dada-inspired famous work was Fountain, a signed urinal, shown in a gallery space at the Society of Independent Artists in 1917. From then on what was conceived as ‘Art’ changed forever.

In our rigid and structured world of design, there is a world where creativity brings stone and concrete to life from a very different and unexpected perspective. This is the world of outsider art, where the heart communicates through hands-free conventions and traditions.

It’s a world where creativity thrives in the most unexpected places, beyond the gallery walls, telling stories of mankind with each brush and splash of colour.  It is more communally known as outsider art.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” 

Edgar Degas 

The beauty of outsider art lies in its rawness and honesty. These works are unconstrained by the standards of perspective, proportion, and composition taught in art schools. Instead, they are charged with raw, emotional intensity. This unmediated emotion frequently produces extremely creative and visually appealing works that can be both unsettling and captivating. Artists who have not gone through rigorous art school years and who fall outside of the commercial ‘art systems’ 

Outsider art can make us reevaluate our conceptions of creativity and greatness. It invites us to go below the surface and appreciate the real, unedited human experience that underpins these works.

The artists, who frequently live on the periphery of society, create works that are unconstrained by art market demands or critical acclaim. Their art exemplifies the persistence of the individual spirit and its capacity for meaningful expression, even in the most improbable situations. 

Picture a city. Its walls are tall, blank canvases for tales to be told. Outsider artists emerge, transforming the banal into the exceptional. Eduardo Kobra, a street artist from São Paulo, Brazil, creates bright murals that reflect the city’s soul.

These murals are not bound by frames; they sprawl across buildings, transforming them into living, breathing works of art that inspire passers-by to participate in their story. 

Let Me Be Myself (Anne Frank), street art van Eduardo Kobra

Consider the elaborate designs of India’s Warli paintings, which were historically created by the indigenous Warli tribe. These themes have found new homes on city walls, bridging the divide between country customs and urban culture. Each mural is a piece of legacy, a link to the past, delicately incorporated into the present for all to see and experience. 

Warli painting by Jivya Soma Mashe

The haunting sculptures created by Judith Scott, a Down syndrome artist who was deaf and mute, are out of the ordinary. Scott’s elaborate, cocoon-like constructions, constructed by wrapping random things in layers of yarn and fabric, reflect a very personal and mysterious inner world.

The haunting sculptures created by Judith Scott

Or the vivid, erratic paintings of Henry Darger, a recluse hospital janitor who spent decades quietly developing an epic narrative depicted in thousands of pages and drawings. Darger’s work, uncovered after his death, displays a rich and intricate cosmos full of imagination and wonder. 

Consider Saini, an Indian refugee child whose art began in the 1950’s with a maze of narrow walkways and sloping gardens filled with hand-crafted figurines. His art, originally titled The Kingdom of Gods and Goddesses, fell somewhere between land art, landscape architecture, and the large realm of the folkloric vernacular.

However, he did not view himself as an artist but viewed his project as a welcome contrast to Chandigarh’s sharp modernist lines, as well as a place where ordinary people might simply go, discover, and be themselves. The Gallery of Everything presents an installation of original sculptures and figures by Nek Chand Saini this summer starting 14th July 2024.

Figures by Nek Chand Saini

The world is a large tapestry, with each civilization representing a distinct thread weaved from narratives customs and creativity. Embracing world art is like opening a book full of unknown stories. The Aztec and Mayan history lives on in Mexico’s streets, where vibrant murals tell stories of heroism, love, and resilience. These public artworks serve as not just adornment; they are storytellers, educators, and generational bridges. 

For example, the early types of graffiti were used for communication and self-expression. Graffiti evolved greatly in the contemporary age, particularly in metropolitan areas throughout the 1960s and 1970s, when it became connected with young culture and rebellion while also being viewed as vandalism.

As styles and techniques evolved, graffiti was recognised for its artistic significance, with pioneers such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat bridging the gap between street art and classical art. Graffiti is now praised for its colourful aesthetics and powerful social messages, with examples found in galleries and public art initiatives all around the world.

Graffiti and other forms of public and digital art are becoming more popular. Digital art is now all over social media where it is appreciated by the artists and audience. Infact, some artists are based online where they showcase their work to people from all walks of life. While some of these artists get paid, others use their social media solely to showcase their work. Regardless of why these artists post, outsider art helps us embrace many creative forms and traditions from all around the world.

For example; Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth are hosting a “Digital Art School” show, which commemorates their three-year cooperation to improve mental health services in the UK. This comprises an exhibition from August 22 to September 10, as well as two fundraising auctions staged in cooperation with Bonhams on September 11 and 12 at Hauser & Wirth in London.

Venetia Berry, Digital Art School. Photo © Hospital Rooms

Hospital Rooms works to help people with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) diagnoses by commissioning leading artists such as Hurvin Anderson, Julian Opie, Sonia Boyce, Anish Kapoor, and Chantal Joffe to transform in-patient units and secure wards, where opportunities to experience and participate in art are severely limited.

The organisation also works in mother and baby, outpatient, and young people’s facilities, recognising the diverse variety of people whose lives are impacted by mental illness, as well as the transformational power of creative programs and lively care environments for patients, their loved ones, and staff.

Outsider art is a creative process that has become accessible in todays society. Although it comes from a different less historically run or structured background, it encourages us to go under the surface and recognise the genuine, honest human experience that underpins these works.

To find out everything you need to know about Outsider Art please visit Gallevery.com

To find out more about the Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth “Digital Art School” show please visit eventbrite.com

If you enjoyed reading Discover The Raw Beauty Of Outsider Art: A Unique Perspective why not read Outside is inside here.

 .Cent Magazine London, Be Inspired; Get Involved