Some of the most progressive avant-garde art work today exists in the genre of Outsider, Contemporary Folk and Self Taught art. Barring all “rules” that apply to the traditional art world, Outsider art is unfiltered and uncommon. The art and the artists are unconventional in their process and ultimately in their ending product. Using any and all materials accessible to them, they create with a relentless drive and a personal freedom that is often unmatched.
Autistic artist Gregory Blackstock, aged 62, creates visual lists with pencil, crayon and sharpie markers, of categories such a, “The Shears,” “The Aphids,” and “The World Firecrackers.” Blackstock is a retired pot washer, who has created quite a stir locally, raising the awareness of Savantism and also the
unique view and talent of a truly Outsider artist. He is also the subject of a book recently published by Princeton Architectural Press in New York, “Blackstock’s Collections.”
Tim Fowler is a local carver who whittles social commentary and wit into his otherwise lifeless medium of varied hardwoods. He lives in the Central District in Seattle, has no formal art training and is incredibly skilled at creating refined museum quality pieces. His pieces have been exhibited at The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore Maryland multiple times.
Anne Grgich is a self taught artist originally from Portland but living in Seattle. Her obsession with the face has been ongoing for many years and she has painted faces on everything from old books to toilet lids. She is internationally shown and recognized and has been the subject on many essays on Outsider and self taught art.
Ree Brown is 82 years old and lives alone in Greenwood. He is a self taught painter known for his figurative work and his unconventional scale and materials. Ree likes to paint on discarded paper bags. His soft and timeless pieces are popular and approachable. Starting quite late in life, Ree was influenced and encouraged by his partner for many years, the late Jay Steensma.
Terry Turrell is an artist of delicate hand using unconventional, often recycled materials to create a beautiful edginess indicative of his Northwest roots. Drawn to art his entire life, Terrell’s innate ability to transform the ordinary or overlooked is as unique as his style. Working intuitively, Turrell creates work that is both innocent and confrontational.
Born in Everett, Washington in 1928, James Martin earned a BA in creative writing from the University of Washington. This background led his artwork in a narrative direction, evident by colorful a cast of characters seen throughout his paintings. William Shakespeare, Andy Warhol, Mona Lisa, Vincent Van Gogh, the Lion, and the Monkey are all frequent players in Martin’s brown paper theater.
Outsider art is appreciated and well collected on the East Coast and in Europe, but is still a relatively unknown genre in the Northwest. The Frye Museum had record attendance and overwhelming positive feedback concerning the Outsider art show they exhibited last year featuring the drawings of Chicago janitor and artist, Henry Darger. I feel it is important esthetically, but also anthropologically, to reveal this kind of work to people who may never experience it otherwise.
-Karen Light-Piña
