2012 Annual Report - Nasher Museum of Art - Duke University

ANGELS, DEVILS AND THE ELECTRIC SLIDEOutsider Art from the Permanent CollectionDecember 10, 2011 - July 8, 2012Pavilion IIIThe Nasher Museum presented an exhibition of Outsider artists from the permanent collection to complementAlexander Calder and Contemporary Art. Outsider art refers to the visionary work of contemporary artists whohave never had formal training. The artists, like Calder, share the practice of incorporating found objects andunusual materials in their work. The artists in the exhibition hail from across the Southeastern United States,and their art ranges from painting to ceramics to sculpture in wood or metal. All of their works give voice to aninterior world—those personal fantasies, meditations on everyday life and unspoken fears–that most peoplecannot put into words or images.Outsider Art demonstrated the innovative strategies and imaginative visual languages that result whenOutsider artists follow their irrepressible artistic impulses. It included work by Minnie Black, the Rev. HowardFinster, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver and Purvis Young. In every case, the artists used unique materialsand creative processes to make their art. Whereas Jimmy Lee Sudduth finger-painted with pigment-tintedmud, Hubert Walters fashioned his Passenger Ship out of discarded furniture pieces and Bondo—anindustrial putty that is a staple of auto body shops and carpenter tool sheds.The exhibition was complemented by a gallery talk by Duke graduate student Katie Jentleson and a freeFamily Day event.Outsider Art included gifts and promised gifts from Bruce Lineker, New York, and the Rubell FamilyCollection, Miami.Angels, Devils and the Electric Slide2128031_Text.indd 2111/28/12 1:36 AM