Outsider Art Realms

In recent years, scholars, art collectors, and the general public have become increasingly captivated by "outsider art." Identified as intensely original artistic works, outsider art is produced by psychiatric patients, spiritualist trance mediums, reclusive eccentrics, apocalyptic visionaries, and other self-taught and untrained individuals who create things with little regard for mainstream artistic trends or the marketplace. Wojcik's interdisciplinary study examines the history and...
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In recent years, scholars, art collectors, and the general public have become increasingly captivated by "outsider art." Identified as intensely original artistic works, outsider art is produced by psychiatric patients, spiritualist trance mediums, reclusive eccentrics, apocalyptic visionaries, and other self-taught and untrained individuals who create things with little regard for mainstream artistic trends or the marketplace. Wojcik's interdisciplinary study examines the history and primary issues in the field of outsider art, investigates the lives of significant artists, and explores the meanings of the creators' works within specific cultural contexts. This analysis gives special attention to the influence of religious worldviews and vernacular tradition as well as experiences of tragedy and suffering that have inspired the art-making process, triggering a creative transformation that has helped individuals confront and cope with traumatic life events. With its detailed consideration of personal motivations and cultural milieu, this volume provides a deeper understanding of the artistic impulse and the nature of human creativity