What exactly is "Outsider Art"?
The term, "Outsider Art", leaves some people cold, as they think it refers to skinny, skate-boarding, knit cap wearing graffiti artists. In all acutality, it DOES include those kids, as well as many other "types" of people in the world.
Outsider Art is a term used to describe art in any form that is produced in a raw, untrained way. The guy in Alabama that does chainsaw carvings is an Outsider Artist, just as the little old lady in Texas, who has never been trained in any artistic way, might produce her own form of abstract expressionism.
As a general rule, most real Outsider Artists are very eccentric, tend to suffer from emotional problems, create art with traditional mediums used in very untraditional ways, and are prone to surround themselves with their creations as a buffer zone against the rest of the world.
Outsider Artists create what they do because they are compelled to create something that expresses their emotions, just as any formally trained artist does. The creative drive comes from the same place, it is just totally undisciplined, and therefore,
often very unorthodox.
There are now several museum that have opened, that are devoted totally to Ousider Art. There are now galleries and agents that are looking for Outsider Artists to represent, which, in my own personal opinion, kind of makes the term an oxymoron. How can you be an "Outsider" when you are now on the "inside"?? Food for thought, I suppose. Question for the day would be-"At what point does one stop being an "Oustider Artist" and become a "mainstream" artist"?
You can view our online Outsider Art at
Ice Originals II
Collectibles, Jewelry and Music
http://www.tias.com/stores/iceorig
Ice Originals Toonz-
Music in all formats
http://iceorig.com
Ice Originals - Inside Out!!!
http://www.iceoriginals.faithweb.com
About the Author
Owner of "Ice Originals II - Vintage Collectibles, Music and Jewelry", on the web, as well as a practicing artist for the last 15 years. She is an advocate for the "unknown" Artist and enjoys promoting new Artists and their works. She is married to an "Outsider Artist", and lives in Central Texas.
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