INSIDER / OUTSIDER
The definition of Outsider Art is fraught with issues—as online trolls will attest—and, I will not attempt to define it here. However, to further confuse the issue, I will bring forth a few of what I would call “insider/outsider” artists such as Forrest Bess, Frank Overton Colbert, Ida Jones and John Roeder. Individuals that are hard to pigeonhole and overlap with Outsider, Folk, Self-taught, and schooled artists. Can an artist be an “outsider” if you they had some instruction, but have a minority’s perspective? Are all outsider artists self-taught? If they spent time in a mental institution are they automatically an “outsider?” Can one be an “outsider” if they were on the fringe of society, but then thrust into the New York gallery scene and continued to create art that was then for resale? As with most things, a case-by-case examination and identification of context is key to aiding any definition (if one must be so defined). In the following pages, we will present a number of artists and works of art that overlap, transition or fit by context into this insider/outsider scheme. In addition. we will have works by Dilmus Hall, George Morgan, Henry Speller, George Ohr, Eugene Andolsek, Henry Ray Clark and others. January 18-21, 2018. Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011
The definition of Outsider Art is fraught with issues—as online trolls will attest—and, I will not attempt to define it here. However, to further confuse the issue, I will bring forth a few of what I would call “insider/outsider” artists such as Forrest Bess, Frank Overton Colbert, Ida Jones and John Roeder. Individuals that are hard to pigeonhole and overlap with Outsider, Folk, Self-taught, and schooled artists.
Can an artist be an “outsider” if you they had some instruction, but have a minority’s perspective? Are all outsider artists self-taught? If they spent time in a mental institution are they automatically an “outsider?” Can one be an “outsider” if they were on the fringe of society, but then thrust into the New York gallery scene and continued to create art that was then for resale? As with most things, a case-by-case examination and identification of context is key to aiding any definition (if one must be so defined).
In the following pages, we will present a number of artists and works of art that overlap, transition or fit by context into this insider/outsider scheme. In addition. we will have works by Dilmus Hall, George Morgan, Henry Speller, George Ohr, Eugene Andolsek, Henry Ray Clark and others.
January 18-21, 2018.
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011
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Lady of The Town<br />
Henry Speller (1903 - 1997)<br />
Memphis, Tennessee<br />
Crayon and pencil on paper<br />
Circa: 1987<br />
Size: 24" (w) x 18" (h)<br />
Provenance: Marvill Collection<br />
Speller was an artist and accomplished blues musician. His subjects<br />
tended to be women of fantasy.<br />
Born the son of African-<br />
American sharecroppers in<br />
the Mississippi Delta, he was<br />
raised by his maternal<br />
grandmother. Speller dropped<br />
out of school at the age of<br />
twelve.<br />
Works by Speller are included<br />
in many museums and private<br />
collections including the High<br />
Museum, Atlanta, and the<br />
Smithsonian, Washington,<br />
DC.<br />
Photo of Henry Speller on his porch from the Souls<br />
Grown Deep Foundation website.
![NEEDLE • KNIFE • TORCH [&] BRUSH](https://img.yumpu.com/55309753/1/190x219/needle-o-knife-o-torch-brush.jpg?quality=85)
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