Here is a run down of some interesting talks happening in the ‘Outsider Art’ world over the next couple of months. Let me know if you hear of anything else that we could add to the list by emailing: kdoutsiderart@yahoo.com
(Featured Image: Ben Wilson, source: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk)
Wednesday 7th November, 6.30pm
Inside the Outside
Where: Institute of Contemporary Art, London
Looking to re-evaluate the notion of the ‘other’ in art, Inside the Outside takes a closer look at the tendency in 20th and 21st Century art to exoticise non-traditional, non-western or non-academic creative practices. Speakers include Dr. Leslie Topp – Senior Lecturer in History of Architecture at Birkbeck, University of London, and James Brett – founder and director of the Museum of Everything, and artist and writer Neal Brown.
Price: £12 (£10 concessions)
Thursday 15th November, 6.00pm
Ben Wilson: From Wood Sculptor to Chewing Gum Artist
Where: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Ben Wilson is best-known for creating tiny pieces of art on chewing gum stuck to the street, but he also paints and sculpts and has exhibited internationally. This talk will comprise of him speaking about his life and his creative processes.
Price: Free (booking essential)
Ben Wilson. Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/3703065/Chewing-gum-art-on-the-streets-of-Muswell-Hill-by-Ben-Wilson.html
Thursday 29th November, 6pm
Roger Cardinal: The Marginal Arts
Where: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
In 1972 Roger Cardinal first coined the term ‘Outsider Art’ as an English equivalent of Art Brut. In this talk he discusses the unlikely skills, powerful emotional resonances and seductive beauty of the ‘marginal arts’ including rural Folk Art, Child Art, Graffiti and Outsider Art.
Price: Talk & wine £12
Talk only £8.50 (students £7.50)
Saturday 1st December, 2pm
Museum Talk: Kaleidoscope Cats
Where: Bethlem Museum, Beckenham
Consultant psychiatrist Dr David O’Flynn will talk about the myths surrounding Louis Wain’s ‘Kaleidoscope Cats’ series from a clinical perspective.
Louis Wain’s Cat paintings from the Guttman-MacClay Collection, Institute of Psychiatry London. Source: http://manualoracle.org/index.php?/visual/louis-wain-cats/
Saturday 1st December, 2pm
Lecture: The Weather in Darger
Where: Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, USA
Henry Darger’s fascination with the weather is one of the best known facts about him. From his weather diaries to the extreme weather events — tornadoes, floods, wildfires — that fill his writings and paintings, evocations of the weather and its effects pervade his work. This has attracted lots of attention but relatively little analysis. In this lecture, Michael Moon will present some of the connections one can make between Darger’s intense concern with extreme weather and what we can know of his religious beliefs, his creative practices, and his general way of living.
Price: Free with admission
Henry Darger’s Book of Weather Reports. Source: http://www.art.org/2012/10/lecture-the-weather-in-darger/
Thursday 6th December, 6pm
Laurent Danchin on Dubuffet
Where: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Jean Dubuffet is best known as the father of Art brut, coining the concept in 1945 and creating a celebrated Art Brut collection. Laurent Danchin, Editor of Raw Vision France, explores the complex, intricate and controversial universe of the renowned French artist.
Price: Talk & wine £12
Talk only £8.50 (students £7.50)
Jean Dubuffet, ‘Epoux en visite’. Source: http://www.applicat-prazan.com/en/en-artistes/2011/en-jean-dubuffet/attachment/en-dubuffet-2/
Friday 7th December – Saturday 8th December
Pain and its Meanings
Where: The Wellcome Collection, London
Is pain really so difficult to articulate? Or can it actually generate creative expression? If so, what do these narratives tell us about the meaning of pain? Some believe it has the power to purge sin; others interpret it as an unjust punishment. Pain can even be regarded as intrinsic to achievement – ‘no pain, no gain’.
This unique two-day symposium will bring together some of the liveliest and most widely respected creative and scholarly minds to prod, probe and discuss profound questions about the relationship between body, mind and culture. How and why do we give meaning to bodily pain?
Price: £30 (£25 concessions)
Saturday 8th December, 2pm
Museum Talk: Cats at Christmas
Where: Bethlem Museum, Beckenham
Join the Archivist for a free talk about Wain’s later life and his Christmas cats. There will also be an opportunity to pick up last minute gifts at the Bethlem Gallery’s Art Fair.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on what’s going on: @kd_outsiderart
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