What Is Outsider Art, Anyway?

The term "outsider art" is much used and abused and many an unscrupulous art seller has tried to pass-off professional commercial art as the works of an outsider. We're particularly sensitive to this because of the fact that survivor art is a very specific sub-genre of outsider art.

So what does calling someone an outsider artist or referring to a painting as outsider art really mean, anyway? Primarily, outsider art is art produced by an artist without formal training of any kind - purely self-taught - and showing talent and artistic insight that is often deemed missing in the cookie-cutter products of many of the world's art schools. The creative works of the naïve, the innocent, the visionary, the eccentric, the mentally ill and even the criminal are all included in this category. Similar names include art singulïer, marginal art, and naïve  or naïf art.

The original term used for these unusual works was Art Brüt - literally Art "in the raw", which referred to works produced by people who were not culturally indoctrinated or socially conditioned in a way that would be acceptable to most in the modern world. Original producers of Art Brut were often the insane or criminals, although the term certainly extended to wounded souls who for one reason or another had become society's outcasts. This term has been transliterated into Outsider Art.

Outsider artists are the fringe-dwellers of the world, the outcasts of society. They are the ones left over and left behind. These people are in the gray area of art, quite literally outsiders to the modern gallery / agent system which seems to be required for one to be recognized as a legitimate artist.

What does it really mean to be called an Outsider Artist today? Unfortunately, some people have been trying to stretch this term for the purpose of financial gain. In general, a person with any formal training in arts could not be called an outsider, since the first characteristic required for someone to be called an Outsider Artist is that they be self-taught. The idea of untrained artists producing works of fine art is what makes this field so fascinating. This has led a few unscrupulous art students to attempt to invent brush names and whole characters to try to disguise themselves as outsiders. Even the most sensitive fans of outsider art are occasionally fooled by these forgeries. However, the discerning aficionado of this genre looks for these points:

1. The artist must be truly unschooled in the arts. Being an art school dropout might qualify one as a failure, but it hardly meets the qualifications of being an "outsider." Although art students may try to fool collectors by creating false histories or feigning mental illness, one can usually find the signs of such deception through careful examination of the writings and works of the artist. Often these crooked con artists paint in what they think is an outsider style (i.e., childish or primitive). Outsider art is not a style, however. The use of this term is determined by nature of the producer, not the product. 

2. The artist must truly be outside the boundaries of mainstream society in a very tangible way. Being poor or feeling disenfranchised is not enough: Artists have been viewed as the dregs of society for centuries. Rather, to be an "outsider" as defined in the art world, one must plainly possess a characteristic which prevents them from ever achieving general acceptance in polite society, such as a diagnosable mental disorder or a visible physical deformity.

3. Despite a lack of formal training and normal socialization, the artist nevertheless displays some talent, skill and insight for art. We believe this is critical: Not every splash or splatter strewn upon paper is art. Even in the outsider art world, pastoral and impressionist art should show some understanding of composition and color while abstract and expressionist works should show some unique insight. Forgers of outsider art often give themselves away by trying to demonstrate their lack of talent, thinking that this will indicate to the casual viewer that they are the outsiders they pretend to be.

Finally, although the approbation "art brüt" in its original use often referred to people who were out of touch with reality to the point of insanity, the name "outsider" today more broadly includes people who are unable to fit-in with the world's standards and expectations. Real outsiders include the homeless, the obsessed, the compulsive, the transsexual, the hermaphrodite and all kinds of dwellers on the fringes of society.

To be a true fan of outsider art, you must have a real desire to know and understand these people whom conservative culture deems unacceptable and perhaps even as objects of contempt. You must be a person of compassion and gifted insight.

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Producers of art we call "survivor art" are almost without exception 'outsiders' in that they are usually untrained and almost universally too 'rough' for most galleries. We hope the latter fact will change someday.

Art Brut

1. Raw art, that which is produced by an untrained artist whose work shows talent but a lack of knowledge of the rules of art.

2. Art of the mentally ill.

Outsider Art

1. Art is art produced by an artist who lacks formal training in the arts which nevertheless shows insight and talent.

2. Art objects produced by non-socialized persons, such as the mentally ill or homeless.

Survivor Art

1. Art whose character displays or demonstrates survival or experience of trauma, including abuse survival, concentration camp art, etcetera.

2. Art produced by persons who are survivors of traumatic events, especially those whose trauma was sufficient to cause them to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.