What makes an outsider?
A trip to the Wellcome Collection this weekend has tied in nicely with a train of thought that I've been following since seeing the play The Pitmen Painters at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on Monday. The Wellcome is currently staging a show called Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan, which show-cases the work of 46 self-taught artists who live within Japanese social welfare facilities.
The opening panel considers the term 'outsider art' and how it has been applied to 'raw' art since Roger Cardinal coined the term in the 1970s. It is used to describe untrained artists who have developed their work outside of the establishment, and tend to do so for their own enjoyment alone, irrespective of an audience. The show includes some beautiful and arresting pieces. I was particularly drawn to work by Seiji Murata and Masao Obata, which reminded me strongly of the paintings of Alfred Wallis, in their colouring and handling of form and materials. Wallis is the prime example of an 'outsider' discovered and feted by the artistic establishment, his work now one of the prize features of Kettle's Yard.
Wallis was also referenced in The Pitmen Painters, a play by Lee Hall which deals with a similar group of 'outsiders': a group of miners from Ashington in Northumberland who learnt to paint in the 1930s and 40s and were celebrated by contemporary collectors and artists for their social realism and naive style. The play was very witty and enjoyable, featuring projections of work by the group, and engaging discussions of what it means to do art and be an artist. I was pleased that it didn't try to tell a narrative of native genius triumphing against the odds, but instead painted a compelling picture of the relationship between such artists and their 'discoverers'. It showed what the expectations of the establishment and the market can do to such artists once 'discovered.' It also didn't try to show them at work, under the fire of inspiration, as many plays now do in a particularly irritating manner, notably Red at the Donmar a couple of years ago.
What the play left me asking is how far such artists can remain outsiders. Once 'discovered' they become a particular type of insider, frozen in place by the expectations and enthusiasm of the establishment. What is the difference between the Souzou artists and their countrywoman Yayoi Kusama? She who works in visually similar ways and is known to draw inspiration from her mental health issues. It is that she is shown at the Hayward and the Whitney. I wonder what being shown at the Wellcome will do for these artists?