Outsider Art | The naive, the pure
FROM WIKIPEDIA: "The term Outsider Art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for Art Brut (IPA: /aʁ bʁyt/; meaning "raw art" or "rough art"), a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.
While Dubuffet's term is quite specific, the English term "Outsider Art" is often applied more broadly, to include certain self-taught or Naïve art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as Outsider Artists have little or no contact with the institutions of the mainstream art world; in many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Much Outsider Art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds."
For more info check out this great article on Wikipedia:
[link]Outsider Art and the work of art savants has interested me for the last few years and was a focus of my studies when I was at art school. Recently, this area of art has begun to interest me more and more, and also to excite and inspire me.
I have had many debates and discussions with "learned" artists who hold qualifications in various areas of art who believe they are able to judge and critique with no holds barred because they have more knowledge than others. So I began to wonder, what makes an artist an artist anyway? Do you need a piece of paper to tell the world you are an incredible image maker? Or does art come from somewhere else?
I believe art comes from the soul, from the gut. There is a difference between the art of the educated and the art of the free. Having a degree in fine art does not make one person better than someone who has never been to school and doesn't know a single art term or defined technique. In my experience, I have often found that the people who leave scalding critique are the learned artists, and their remarks usually come as an attack on technique or term, rather than the subject matter itself. They ignore the Punctum and attack the way the art is made. For more info on Punctum please read my previous journal here:
[link]In my opinion, which is nothing but that, an opinion - true art, the sacred and pure lifeblood of art, comes from that deep pit of your stomach where the most uncomfortable thoughts lurk. Or from the heart where your most pure energy lies. True art, the one that hits you in the stomach and makes your eyes water, is the art that comes from an open vein. Outsider Art, or art made by the untrained - I find is unafraid, haunting, sometimes happy, sometimes heartbroken and heartbreaking.
But now to ponder the eternal question, the one that drives my own work and also drives me to consume as many images as I can: what is Art? An article on Wikipedia describes it;
"Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions."
Here is another interesting article on the purposes of art:
[link]I have collected some images by artists who may be "unlearned" and know nothing of art terms or be technically adept, but their work has inspired and affected me more than many works done by contemporary art masters. Please enjoy, and leave the artists some love.
Jessika Cannibal Cameron ~
mistress-macabreMy featured artists for this article is Mistress Macabre, aka Jess. I have watched Jess' work for a while now, and have watched her experimental photography progress and evolve as she has become braver and more in tune with herself. Through emotion, experience, memory and trauma, Jess has illustrated her life through images that are raw with power. I admire her not only as an artist but as a woman; and enjoy seeing every image she creates. The other great thing about her is she is a fellow New Zealander, and not the only Kiwi I am featuring today



And here are some other wonderful images I have found. Some of these have been previously featured.



Thanks for looking
