OUTSIDER ART FAIR ANNOUNCES EXHIBITORS & PROGRAMMING
FOR THE 26TH EDITION OF THE NEW YORK FAIR
January 18 – January 21, 2018
The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, New York
NEW YORK, NY – Wide Open Arts, the New York-based organizer of the Outsider Art Fair – the premier event for self-taught art, art brut and outsider art – is excited to announce its exhibitors for the 26th edition, taking place January 18-21, 2018 at The Metropolitan Pavilion. The fair will showcase 63 galleries, representing 35 cities from 7 countries, with 10 first-time exhibitors.
Coming off of a successful 5th Outsider Art Fair Paris, which posted a 24% gain in attendance over the previous year, the forthcoming New York fair will continue to highlight the global reach of its artists and dealers, and will include: ex-voto sculptures unique to Brazil's Afro-Indigenous-European culture at Mariposa Unusual Art; and a collection of works by self-taught artists from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean at Indigo Arts. Korea Art Brut and Beijing's Almost Art Project will make their OAF debuts, as will Antillean, who will present work by three Jamaican artists, each of whom use found materials to evoke shanty village life. Drawings by New Zealand's Susan Te Kahurangi King will be the subject of a solo presentation at Chris Byrne and the sensational ceramic sculptures of Shinichi Sawada will be shown in New York for the first time at Jennifer Lauren Gallery.
The fair is pleased to welcome several new and dynamic presentations this year, including the Plains Indian Ledger Drawings from the 19th and the early 20th century at Donald Ellis Gallery; Norman Brosterman's presentation of hand-painted, woven baskets attributed to Plains Indian inmates incarcerated at the Iowa State Penitentiary; and a series of miniature terracotta figurines by Canadian artist Jordan Maclachlan at Marion Harris. As always, the Outsider Art Fair will offer visitors the opportunity to see artworks from internationally acclaimed figures such as Eugene Von Bruenchenhein at Carl Hammer; Minnie Evans at Luise Ross; Bill Traylor at Cavin-Morris; Martin Ramirez at Ricco Maresca and Thornton Dial at Fred Giampietro.
OAF's Curated Space will be organized by contemporary artist Saya Woolfalk, who will respond with her own work to Eddie Owens Martin's (aka St. EOM) visionary environment Pasaquan, which he conceived in rural Georgia as a personal utopia, where all cultures and ethnic groups come together, connecting with the earth and the universe. As an artist who uses science fiction and mythology as tools for thinking about the world, Woolfalk is drawn to St. EOM's approach to place-building. Through her installation, which will include original furniture from St. EOM's reading parlor and an astrologer performing readings in the space, Woolfalk hopes to evoke a similar, culturally resistant mythology.
This year's OAF Talk, "The Raw and the Cooked: Outsider Art Environments and Installation Art," will be organized and moderated by Paul Laster and take place at the Ace Hotel on Tuesday, January 16th. The hotel lobby will also be host to two exhibitions; an installation of drawings and paintings by Texan artist Ike Morgan co-curated by Webb Gallery and SHRINE Gallery’s Scott Ogden; and Shear Joy, the scissors collection of Harley Spiller, aka Inspector Collector.
2018 Exhibitors:
Austria, Maria Gugging: galerie gugging nina katshnig; China, Beijing: Almost Art Project; France, Saint Sever du Moustier: Galerie Pol Lemétais; Japan, Tokyo: Yukiko Koide Presents; South Korea, Seogwipo, Jeju Island: Korea Art Brut; United Kingdom, East Sussex: Jennifer Lauren Gallery; London: Raw Vision, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, Sardac; Surrey: Henry Boxer Gallery; United States, Atlanta: Mason Fine Art; Baton Rouge: Gilley’s Gallery; Birmingham, MI: Hill Gallery; Boise, ID: Stewart Gallery; Brooklyn: Cathouse FUNeral, LAND Gallery, Magic Markings, Steven S. Powers, Phyllis Stigliano Art Projects, Winter Works on Paper; Chattanooga, TN: Tanner Hill Gallery; Chicago: Carl Hammer Gallery, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Karen Lennox Gallery; Claremont, CA: First Street Gallery; Columbus, OH: Lindsay Gallery; Dallas: Chris Byrne; East Hampton, NY: Norman Brosterman, Wilsonville; Iowa City, IA: The Pardee Collection; Kent, CT: James Barron; Lancaster, PA: Center for Creative Works; Los Angeles: Esperanza Projects, Ernie Wolfe Gallery; Memphis: Tops Gallery; Milwaukee: Portrait Society Gallery; New Haven, CT: Fred Giampietro Gallery; New York City: American Primitive, Andrew Edlin, Antillean, Cavin-Morris Gallery, Donald Ellis Gallery, Fountain House Gallery, Hirschl & Adler Modern, Humbaba Fine Art, Joshua Lowenfels, Luise Ross, Marion Harris, Mariposa Unusual Arts, Pure Vision Arts, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, SHRINE, ZQ Art Gallery; Oakland, CA: Creative Growth Art Center; Philadelphia: Fleisher/Ollman, Indigo Arts Gallery; Potter Valley, CA: Krowswork; Sag Harbor, NY: MiddleJanes; San Francisco: Creativity Explored; Summerland, CA: Just Folk; Waxahachie, TX: Webb Gallery; Wimberly, TX: J Compton.
Metropolitan Pavilion:
125 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
VIP Early Access Preview: Thursday, January 18th: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Vernissage: Thursday, January 18th: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Open to the Public:
Friday, January 19th: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday, January 20th: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sunday, January 21st: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
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About Outsider Art:
In his 1949 seminal essay, “L’art brut préféré aux arts culturels,” Jean Dubuffet coined the term “art brut” and described it as follows: “We mean by this term works created by people uncontaminated by artistic culture, works in which the sense of mimicry, contrary to what happens among intellectuals, plays little or no part, with the result that their makers draw all … from their own being and not from hangovers of classical or fashionable art.”
In 1972 British art historian Roger Cardinal coined the term “outsider art” in his collection of essays. Both men were primarily identifying artworks produced by marginalized individuals, psychotics, mediums, and eccentrics, which sometimes led to the common misconception that art brut is essentially pathological. In fact, the central characteristic of outsider artists is their lack of conditioning by art history and art world trends.
The most profound development in the recent history of outsider art has been the global emergence of events and exhibitions featuring the work of self-taught artists. During the last two decades, experimental curators and commercial art dealers have staged hybrid shows combining outsider and insider artists, and the art has had increasing recognition in established institutions of all sizes, from the American Folk Art Museum (New York), the Brooklyn Museum, the Hayward Gallery (London), The Hermitage (St. Petersburg/Amsterdam), The High Museum of Art (Atlanta), the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), La maison rouge (Paris), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), to the Museum of Old and New Art (Hobart, Tasmania), the de Young Museum (San Francisco), the Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), and the Venice Biennale.
About the Outsider Art Fair:
Founded in New York in 1993, the Outsider Art Fair is the original art fair concentrating specifically on self-taught art created outside the mainstream, and hosts exhibited works by acknowledged masters as well as contemporary figures like George Widener, M’onma, Susan Te Kahurangi King, ACM and Helen Rae. Quickly recognized for its maverick spirit, OAF played a vital role in building a passionate collecting community and broader recognition for outsider art in the contemporary art arena.
In 2012, OAF was acquired by Wide Open Arts, a company formed by gallerist Andrew Edlin. With its debut edition in 2013 the fair relocated from Midtown to Chelsea and established guest curatorial projects and the OAF Talks program. The 2013 fair enjoyed rave reviews and more than tripled its previous attendance records. Propelled by this success, Wide Open Arts took the fair to Paris for the first time in October 2013, helping to reinvigorate the city’s long tradition of recognizing and championing art brut and self-taught artists. After holding the fair at the boutique Hôtel Le A during its first two years, OAF expanded in 2015 to Hôtel du Duc, a stately nineteenth-century hotel particulier in the Opera district.
Press Contact:
Evan Lenox, Nadine Johnson & Associates
