RAW, COLOURFUL AND VERY DIFFERENT
Usually I go with Laurent to the Halle Saint-Pierre but our last experiences were not up to standard, so this time I decided to go alone. Frankly it would have been great if Jé and Lo had been there as Jerome would have taken photographs galore instead of leaving me to sneak them. Well at least I was only caught once but there were many more photos I would have taken - if -
No doubt at all, this exhibition was different. It was called « Raw Vision ». A magazine celebrating its 25th anniversary in London. This was the first publication to present non-conventional folk art forms and bring them to International attention. By the time it was launched in 1989 there had already been considerable growth of private collections and exhibitions. Remember Aloise ? TWO DAYS OF WEALTH AND COLOUR ( 7/10/2012) It was Dubuffet who put her on the map along with this kind of « art brut » . There are 80 artists displayed from Europe, America, Africa, India, Japan brought together to present one of the most direct forms of artistic works and also one of the most inventive forms of contemporary folk art.
What is important though is that manhy of the artists in question have lived most of their lives in psychiatric centers (as Aloise) and quite often this is where their creativity starts. Some others have lived relatively sheltered lives and away from the public and others again, are just normal people. Looking at their work though it would be difficult to know without reading the paragraph on each artist if he was « normal » or not. The work is intricate, very colorful, bold and even the sculptures in some cases are overwhelming because of the detail. I heard spectators say « it’s very touching » or smiling at a painting with charm or just full of humor. Not everything is appealing but as the description « Raw Vision » is so appropriate and nothing can been really compared to the artists we know, somehow it’s a little worrying or perhaps it made me wonder if to paint or create such work, you had to be « mad »!
Johann Hauser was born in the Czech republic. Early in his life he was diagnosed as being a manic-depressive and was interned when 17 in 1949. He stayed there until he died. His psychiatrist suggested that he should paint. His preferred subject was painting women and exposing their sexual parts.
F.S-S was born on the German Russian Border. As a child he was sent to a reform school and ultimately to an asylum. After a series of menial jobs he fell ill and was bed-ridden. His artistic career starts from there.
After a Harvard Education and a period overseas in the U.S. army, a failed business career, M.M and his poet wife withdrew into virtual isolation inside their Manhattan appartment. It was then that he started his pen and ink drawings.
A.W. is from Vienna. After the death of his father he is brought up by his grandmother. Threatens suicide or to burn the house down so ends up in a psychiatric centre. He does come out and at 16 is a member of "The Artist's home" which is part of the hospital. He paints on houses, walls, and is fascinated by words, demons, color and writing
Tom Duncan is a Scot born at the beginning of the war. His spent his early years believing that war was the natural state of the world. Given clay as a child, he spent most of his time making things in his parent's bomb shelter . After the war, the family left for New York. The experience of his early life and leaving his home town provided the central inspiration of his artistic work. Many of his works are in tiny boxes obviously representing the horrors of his childhood.
Alex Grey was born in Columbus, Ohio, the middle child of a middle-class couple. His father was a graphic designer and encouraged his son’s drawing ability. Young Alex would collect insects and dead animals from the suburban neighborhood and bury them in the back yard.
Mose Tolliver painted as he sat
on the edge of his bed at home in Montgomery, Alabama. There, he welcomed
visitors interested in meeting him and buying his art. Surrounded by cans
of house paint, he composed his images on scrap lumber of all shapes and sizes
and sometimes on pieces of furniture. Tolliver was one of twelve children
born to tenant farmers outside of Montgomery. Working the fields as a child,
he briefly attended school through the third grade. Later, he worked at a
variety of jobs including shipping for a furniture factory and gardening.
Tolliver married in the early 1940s and had fourteen children, several of
whom, including his daughter Annie, have followed in his artistic footstep
Herbert Singleton’s boldly carved and painted cedar panels. He displayed keen insight into the
socio-economic limitations imposed upon many in the New Orleans area. He spoke up against hypocrisy on both sides of the racial divide. Singleton
overcame many hardships, some compounded by his own misdeeds. He
survived a near-fatal shooting, drug addiction, and all told, nearly 14
years in prison—many of them in the infamous Louisiana State
Penitentiary at Angola. He first derived meaningful income from artistic
endeavors in the early 1980s, carving walking sticks for New Orleans
buggy drivers and “voodoo protection” stumps for friends.
I love that name!
He was born Gregory Warmack in Chicago in 1948, the third of nine children who gave church concerts together as the Warmack Singers. As a child, he suffered from seizures, but they stopped at the age of 14. An inveterate collector of rocks, beads, trinkets, and myriad cast-off objects, Warmack started making and selling jewelry in his late teens. He also carved bits of bark, wood, and stone into faces that strangely resembled African tribal masks or Egyptian kings.
Apart from being a very pious man, there is little or nothing on Internet about his work, only long references to the memorial service and his family. The only reference to him at the exhibition was the title of the work.
The existence and spiritual importance of Mami Wata is deeply rooted in the ancient tradition and mythology of the coastal southeastern Nigerians (Efik, Ibibio and Annang people). Mami Wata often carries expensive baubles such as combs, mirrors, and watches. A large snake (symbol of divination and divinity) frequently accompanies her, wrapping itself around her and laying its head between her breasts. Other times, she may try to pass as completely human, wandering busy markets or patronising bars. (wiki). She is a from the Caribean Islands.
Mark Beyer is a comic artist best known for his “art brut” style featuring bleak storylines involving death, disfigurement, depression, humiliation and existential dread. His work was prominently featured in RAW Magazine and was the only artist aside from founder Art Spiegelman (Maus) to be published in every issue. Beyer had a recurring animated short series on MTV’s Liquid Television called Thomas and Nardo, and the 1995 movie, The Doom Generation, was loosely based on his well known Amy and Jordan strips. I might add as I don't follow comic strips as you know, I don't know anything about the serie
J.J. Cromer was born in Princeton, West Virginia,
to parents who were both science teachers. His mother's love of birds
inspired her naming him "John J." after famed bird illustrator John
James Audubon. Cromer was raised in rural Tazewell County, Virginia.
"We always had animals: dogs, cats, turtles, fish, ducks, chickens and a
rooster named Duke." The living room was filled with scientific
apparata—microscopes, telescopes, and the family rock collection.
Collecting and identifying bugs and plants were frequent family
activities along with extensive family camping trips during the summer.
Cromer really enjoyed drawing as a hobby until a critical seventh-grade
art teacher shut down his interest. However, once he married, his passion came back.....
C. J. (Chris) Pyle is and was a professional musician working the
live music circuit throughout the US Midwest. He drew as a release on
the road. . In
his imagery there are clear, indications that he was influenced by other artists. Evan
Hughes met C. J. at a Chicago art fair in 2012, introduced by the
latter's Chicago dealer, Carl Hammer. There was something in his energy
and the intensity of the works themselves that was instantly magnetic
and it is with much enthusiasm that the Hughes Gallery now represents
Pyle's work in Australia.
A Jamican and self taught. He lived thanks to the sale of his art work which are colourful, bold and showing his island as he saw it.
Now if you have been able to read the little bits I have put down about the artists - not always about their work but more about their backgrounds, you will see for yourself who had problems and who did not. I wonder if from the picture you could tell what the person's background was? I couldn't.
No doubt at all, this exhibition was different. It was called « Raw Vision ». A magazine celebrating its 25th anniversary in London. This was the first publication to present non-conventional folk art forms and bring them to International attention. By the time it was launched in 1989 there had already been considerable growth of private collections and exhibitions. Remember Aloise ? TWO DAYS OF WEALTH AND COLOUR ( 7/10/2012) It was Dubuffet who put her on the map along with this kind of « art brut » . There are 80 artists displayed from Europe, America, Africa, India, Japan brought together to present one of the most direct forms of artistic works and also one of the most inventive forms of contemporary folk art.
What is important though is that manhy of the artists in question have lived most of their lives in psychiatric centers (as Aloise) and quite often this is where their creativity starts. Some others have lived relatively sheltered lives and away from the public and others again, are just normal people. Looking at their work though it would be difficult to know without reading the paragraph on each artist if he was « normal » or not. The work is intricate, very colorful, bold and even the sculptures in some cases are overwhelming because of the detail. I heard spectators say « it’s very touching » or smiling at a painting with charm or just full of humor. Not everything is appealing but as the description « Raw Vision » is so appropriate and nothing can been really compared to the artists we know, somehow it’s a little worrying or perhaps it made me wonder if to paint or create such work, you had to be « mad »!
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| Johann Hauser - 1926-1996 |
Johann Hauser was born in the Czech republic. Early in his life he was diagnosed as being a manic-depressive and was interned when 17 in 1949. He stayed there until he died. His psychiatrist suggested that he should paint. His preferred subject was painting women and exposing their sexual parts.
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| Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenster 1892-1982 |
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F.S-S was born on the German Russian Border. As a child he was sent to a reform school and ultimately to an asylum. After a series of menial jobs he fell ill and was bed-ridden. His artistic career starts from there.
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| Malcolm Mckesson 1919-1999 |
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After a Harvard Education and a period overseas in the U.S. army, a failed business career, M.M and his poet wife withdrew into virtual isolation inside their Manhattan appartment. It was then that he started his pen and ink drawings.
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| August Walla 1936-2001 |
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| Tom Duncan - 1939 |
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Tom Duncan is a Scot born at the beginning of the war. His spent his early years believing that war was the natural state of the world. Given clay as a child, he spent most of his time making things in his parent's bomb shelter . After the war, the family left for New York. The experience of his early life and leaving his home town provided the central inspiration of his artistic work. Many of his works are in tiny boxes obviously representing the horrors of his childhood.
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| Alex Grey 1953 |
Alex Grey was born in Columbus, Ohio, the middle child of a middle-class couple. His father was a graphic designer and encouraged his son’s drawing ability. Young Alex would collect insects and dead animals from the suburban neighborhood and bury them in the back yard.
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| Mose Tollever 1919-2006 |
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| Herbert Singleton 1945-2007 |
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| Mr Imagination 1948-2012 |
I love that name!
He was born Gregory Warmack in Chicago in 1948, the third of nine children who gave church concerts together as the Warmack Singers. As a child, he suffered from seizures, but they stopped at the age of 14. An inveterate collector of rocks, beads, trinkets, and myriad cast-off objects, Warmack started making and selling jewelry in his late teens. He also carved bits of bark, wood, and stone into faces that strangely resembled African tribal masks or Egyptian kings.
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| R.A. Miller - Diable et Ours |
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| One of the galleries..... |
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| Mami Wata |
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| Mami Wata |
The existence and spiritual importance of Mami Wata is deeply rooted in the ancient tradition and mythology of the coastal southeastern Nigerians (Efik, Ibibio and Annang people). Mami Wata often carries expensive baubles such as combs, mirrors, and watches. A large snake (symbol of divination and divinity) frequently accompanies her, wrapping itself around her and laying its head between her breasts. Other times, she may try to pass as completely human, wandering busy markets or patronising bars. (wiki). She is a from the Caribean Islands.
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| Mark Beyer 1950 |
Mark Beyer is a comic artist best known for his “art brut” style featuring bleak storylines involving death, disfigurement, depression, humiliation and existential dread. His work was prominently featured in RAW Magazine and was the only artist aside from founder Art Spiegelman (Maus) to be published in every issue. Beyer had a recurring animated short series on MTV’s Liquid Television called Thomas and Nardo, and the 1995 movie, The Doom Generation, was loosely based on his well known Amy and Jordan strips. I might add as I don't follow comic strips as you know, I don't know anything about the serie
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| Looking down at the coffee lounge.... |
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| J.J.Cromer 1967 |
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| C.J.Pyle 1956- |
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| Ras Dizzy - 1932-2008 |
A Jamican and self taught. He lived thanks to the sale of his art work which are colourful, bold and showing his island as he saw it.
Now if you have been able to read the little bits I have put down about the artists - not always about their work but more about their backgrounds, you will see for yourself who had problems and who did not. I wonder if from the picture you could tell what the person's background was? I couldn't.
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