Raw Creation: Outsider Art & Beyond

Primitive, folk, naive, self-taught, outsider--branding art made outside of the conventional art world has become a tender task. What defines it? Who are its creators? No matter what you call it, there's no denying the visceral appeal of raw creativity unbound by rules, class, or education. Long-overdue attention is finally being awarded to self-taught artists--so often marginalized by race, economics, and social structure--allowing them to carve a solid place for themselves and their work in the world of high art. Maizel's book examines the history, study, and appreciation of this century's self-taught art, from the maniacal drawings of asylum inmates to found-object sculptures made by street people to homes surrounded by monoliths or covered in mosaic. The book bills itself as an introduction to the topic, but it is in fact quite a comprehensive study. It is divided into three sections: part one explores early studies of the work of the insane, Dubuffet and Art Brut; part two chronicles folk art and self-taught artists around the world; and part three delves into the world of visionary environments. The contemporary busyness of the design-small type, footnotes printed perpendicular to text, and seemingly random increases in font size can be frustrating, but plow through--the content is informative and inspirational.