201 The OUTSIDER Art Exhibition

THE OUTSIDER EXHIBITION

Each year before the Christmas season starts outsider artist Stefan Maguran as project manager organizes an outsider festival, it is and always has been a love affair of Stefan and his wife to which they have had to make sacrifices along the way to keep it going.  They believe it has been very worthwhile and plan to keep the show up and running for the next five years.

An outsider artist by an outsider artist!

PAINTING PORTRAITS

This portrait painting was painted by Stefan himself and he surprised me with this as a gift when I came to drop of my paintings for this year’s show.  Wow what a lucky girl I am, such a generous thing to do and so much fun for me to have.  I was genuinely touched and felt very special, Thank you so much Stefan, you made my day, that’s for sure.  I really like the composition with my mosaics in the background with all the hearts and also with the text; far och mor, which in Swedish means Father and Mother (whom both are much loved by me)  Stefan also expressed an idea for a further portrait of me, something special he had in mind, so I will keep you posted on that.

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ART SHOW

Anyway this year is very special as it is the 5^th year anniversary show and it is free to participants and the public with artist from far and wide, this year the USA, France and Argentina are represented as well as the Australian contingent.

OUTSIDERS ART FESTIVAL

Stefan says;” From the onset the name Outsider Festival has caused controversy, as it is a name mostly used by Insiders to describe a certain type of work, rather than to describe people from the outside of the establishment. It has been named a low-key event by people getting tens of thousands of dollars from the public purse to organize similar events on a larger scale and with strict entry rules that are non-existent here. The festival has been marred by strange events such as one artist being asked by a well known gallerist ( no longer operating, sadly) to pull out on the first Saturday after the opening, another artist being threatened if he took part by one of his mentors.”

ART CRITICS

So as you can hear this festival it is not without it’s critics, which is another reason I LIKE to take part.  I like the idea that anyone who wants to can take part and the fact that Stefan puts the show on for the love of art.   I like the interesting artists and artwork on show and the library location makes it accessible to people who may not otherwise go to an art gallery.

I don’t strictly fit into the category of an outsider artist neither by the art critics’ categorization nor by Stefan’s either as for the most part the artists are unrepresented by a gallery as in my case that is clearly not the case.

OUTSIDER ART

So what is Outsider Art I hear you say?  Well it is a little bit hard to define and it depends upon who you are talking with.  However the general conscientious is that the work is out of the mainstream so to speak.  The artists are usually self taught and follow no rules and paint for themselves and because they have to, want to and cannot stop.  Their work does not conform to the fashion of the day and the techniques can be unconventional.  Another word for Outsider art is Art Brut which means art in a “raw” state, uncooked so to speak.

Jungle Phillips, Outsider artist

ART BRUT

I have seen it mentioned that there is a distinction between “art  brut” and Naive art, and that is that the Naive artist remain within the mainstream of painting proper, and they do this because they hope for public recognition.  However I cannot agree with that all, I have seen many artists work that straddle the two worlds and morph into one.

NAIVE ART

From an Naive artist perspective if anything is a point of difference between the two genres it would be that the Outsider art shows often a more troubled soul with work in the muted tones perhaps a bit more confronting and darker.  Whereas the Naive artist’s artworks in general depict a colorful and happy world.

Art by Jungle Phillips and Marie Jonsson-Harrison and Ted Jonsson

Artists taking part this year:

Stefan Maguran, Marie Jonsson-Harrison, Jungle Phillips, Claudio Braier – Argentina, Jeff Roland – France, Edward Kingsbury III – USA, Mike Retter, George Pivas, Jeanette Nash, Frederique Albou, Liz Parkinson, Sunyata, John Douglas.

This show will be open from this week until 10^th December at the The West Torrens Auditorium

1 Brooker Terrace Hilton, opening hours as follows; Mon-Tue & Fri 10am – 6 pm, Wed 8am – 6 pm, Thu 10 am – 8 pm Sat 10 am – 4 pm Sun 1pm – 4 pm

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Alan Sherman;

“A “Normal” person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee.  You know, “Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray.”

So come along and see the show and perhaps I will see you there,

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.