A publication of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art VOLUME 22
FALL 2017
OUTSIDER
THE
THE OUTSIDER 1
LINDSAY GALLERY
Hawkins Bolden, 18” x 28”
Please join us at the 2018 Outsider Art Fair NY January 18 -21 at the Metropolitan Pavilion 986 N. HIGH ST. COLUMBUS, OH 43201 | 614-291-1973 | EMAIL: lindsaygallery@hotmail.com
www.lindsaygallery.com
CONTRIBUTORS Alison Amick Alison Amick is the senior manager for development and exhibitions at Intuit. Alison recently curated Darger + War: Violence and Loss in Self-Taught Art, on view at Intuit Sept. 15-Dec. 10, 2017.
The Outsider FE AT U R E S
Ann Cernek Ann Cernek is a graduate of McGill University, where she studied English, French Literature and Art History. She is also a former Intuit intern and a periodic contributor to The Outsider. Claire Le Gouriellec A student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, and is currently working towards earning her master’s degree in English literature and civilization, with a focus on American postwar literature and society. She explored her interest in art this year by volunteering at Intuit. Leisa Rundquist Leisa Rundquist, an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of North Carolina Asheville, received her Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007. Rundquist’s research is primarily concerned with the intersections of childhood, religious piety, gender, and race in the art of Henry Darger. Sara Scherper Sara Scherper is a student at Loyola University Chicago, where she is pursuing a bachelors in Art History and Psychology. Sara is the education intern for Intuit and was previously part of the museum ambassador program at the de Young Museum. Thorough pursuing the field of museum education, Sara seeks to changes this by being part of the effort to make museums an integral component of the education system. William Swislow An Intuit board member and frequent contributor to The Outsider, Bill is a digital business consultant, writer and operator of the cultural website interestingideas.com.
7
Henry Darger’s macabre fire scrapbook reveals tension between innocence and tragedy BY LEISA RUNDQUIST, PH.D.
13 From the field: What’s next or the genre?
BY CLAIRE LE GOURIELLEC
19 Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow
BY ALISON AMICK
D E PA R T M E N T S
5
Intuit reaches toward its vision
22 Recent Acquisitions & Promised Gifts 24 Education 26 Book Reviews
ISBN 978-0-9990010-3-5 The Outsider is published once a year by Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, located at 756 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60642. Prior to Fall 1996, Volume 1, Issue 1, The Outsider was published as In’tuit. On the Front Cover: Henry Darger (American, 1892-1973). Detail, At Wickey Sansinia, mid-twentieth century. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 19 x 47 ¾ in. Collection of Robert A. Roth. On the Back Cover: Henry Darger (American, 1892-1972). Untitled [photograph of Henry Darger's trunk with scrapbooks], n.d. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Photo © John Faier. THE OUTSIDER 1
“Looking Life Right Straight in the Face”: The Art of Purvis Young
Image: Purvis Young, Landscape with Figures, ca. 1990, Painting on found board. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art Northwestern University, gift of Selig D. Sacks Family Collection; 2013.6.7.
ON VIEW UNTIL DECEMBER 10, 2017 FREE AND OPEN TO ALL
outSIdEr and foLk art
inquiries | 312.334.4205
aronpacker@lesliehindman.com
friday, december 15, 2017 | 2Pm cT | chicago grandma moses / anna robertson, Mountain Landscape, 1939 or earlier To be sold in our december 15 outsider and folk art auction
accePTing consignmenTs for uPcoming aucTions
LESLIE hIndman
auctIonEErS c h i c a g o | at l a n ta | d e n v e r | m i lw a u k e e | n a p l e s | pa l m b e a c h | s c o t t s d a l e | s t. l o u i s 2 THE OUTSIDER
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Distant Space Vehicle, No 867, 1960. Untitled (crown), c. 1965–75. Untitled (flower), n.d. Untitled (flower), n.d. Untitled (bone chair), c. 1965–70. John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection. Photo: Rich Maciejewski.
MYTHOLOGIES: EUGENE VON BRUENCHENHEIN An unprecedented view of the artist’s extensive oeuvre On view through January 14, 2018 FREE admission
4 THE OUTSIDER
INTUIT REACHES TOWARD ITS VISION AS A PREMIER ART MUSEUM
2017 marks the 125th birthday anniversary of Henry Darger, the artist who, for many, marks an entryway into the world of
BETWEEN 2017’S CELEBRATION OF
outsider art and is the artist most closely associated with Intuit,
CHICAGO’S HENRY DARGER AND 2018’S
thanks to the Henry Darger Room Collection, the installation of
CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO’S ROLE IN
Darger’s personal belongings in a re-imagining of his one-room home in Chicago. Intuit worked with the City of Chicago to have April 12, 2017, declared “Henry Darger Day.” A series of five exhibits exploring various aspects of Darger and his work—from artist as author to creators of imaginary worlds to gender transformation to his desire to adopt a Vietnam war orphan to outsider representations of war— advanced the scholarship on this mysterious character. Please
ADVANCING THIS GENRE, INTUIT STRENGTHENS ITS POSITION AS A CHICAGO CULTURAL GEM WHILE TRANSFORMING ITSELF INTO A WORLD-CLASS MUSEUM OF OUTSIDER AND SELF-TAUGHT ART.
see the article by Leisa Rundquist, curator of Betwixt and Between: Henry Darger’s Vivian Girls, for a fascinating look at
2018 will bring Art Design Chicago, a celebration of Chicago’s
Darger’s obsession with fire.
international influence. Our good friends at the Terra Foundation for American Art are generously supporting Intuit’s
The year-long celebration is dubbed “Chicago’s Henry Darger,”
exhibition, Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow, which tells
to emphasize his significance in his hometown, where he is
the story of Chicago’s early support and promotion of outsider
less well known by the average Chicagoan than he is in the
art and artists.
international art world. We honor Darger’s landlady and steward of his legacy, Kiyoko Lerner, with Intuit’s 2017
Thank you, friends, art enthusiasts, members, donors,
Visionary Award. She said, “On behalf of Henry, I thank Intuit,
volunteers and inquisitive others, for your support and
who cares not only of his works but Henry as an artist. I can’t
excitement for Intuit.
imagine any better home to let go of my responsibilities for Henry than Intuit.” Thank you, Ms. Lerner.
Photos by Intuit and Cheri Eisenberg.
— DEBRA KERR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
THE OUTSIDER 5
(Fig. 2) Henry Darger (American, 1892-1973). Cover, Pictures of fires big or small in which firemen or persons lose their lives, c. 1950-70. Mixed media scrapbook. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Kiyoko Lerner. 6 THE OUTSIDER
HENRY DARGER’S MACABRE FIRE SCRAPBOOK REVEALS TENSION BETWEEN INNOCENCE AND TRAGEDY BY LEISA RUNDQUIST, PH.D.
“SECONDS BEFORE DEATH”… “Dick speeds along on his
The articles relay mostly Chicago incidents and a few from
home made Scooter Car.” (Fig. 1).
central and southern Illinois. Additional stories stem from other American cities. All are reported by local Chicago newspapers.
Childhood pleasure and impending tragedy overlap on a page
Flipping through the scrapbook, one becomes aware of its
within Henry Darger’s scrapbook, Pictures of fires big or small
repetition—story upon story of children, women and firemen
in which firemen or persons lose their lives (c. 1950-70). This
perishing in flame. Darger’s hand-written marginalia
macabre, handmade album places journalistic narratives
emotionally disengages from these tragedies, focusing instead
of fatal fires and newspaper photographs of burning homes
on statistics, “this fire caused 39 lives to be lost,” or on
and victims onto a ground of coloring book imagery depicting
reminders to not cover up a particular coloring book page
light-hearted child’s play. By pasting newspaper articles from
featuring a sweet girl, “no cartoons please.”
1953, 1962-64, 1968, and 1970 onto conjoined coloring book pages, Darger overlays tragic stories onto the buoyant
As a scrapbook of pasted together images and stories, it is less
bodies of boys and girls. Likewise, disparate worlds collide as
tied to the conventions of picture making than Darger’s opus,
news headlines announce on another page that, “Blaze in Flat
In the Realms of the Unreal, and, thus, less of a work of
Kills Mother, 2 Children Trapped in Bedroom,” while below a
conventional art. The scrapbook does, nonetheless, follow
coloring book caption reads, “The little bird sings at the door
some of the personal and cultural patterns found elsewhere
of his house.”
THE OUTSIDER 7
(Fig. 1) Henry Darger (American, 1892-1973). Interior, “Seconds Before Death,� Pictures of fires big or small in which firemen or persons lose their OUTSIDER lives,8c.THE 1950-70. Mixed media scrapbook. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Kiyoko Lerner.
THE OUTSIDER 9
in Darger’s work. In particular, it showcases and arguably
Far from being an individual’s obsession, Darger’s boyhood
magnifies incongruous couplings of cute, idyllic childhood and
fascination with fire indicates a larger cultural phenomenon
lingering tragedy (even death).
of fire watching in early twentieth-century Chicago. Historians note that fires served as mass entertainment, drawing
The first portion of this scrapbook contains the coloring and
thousands of onlookers; blazes filled newspaper stories and
activity books, “Coloring Gallery” and “Color and Spell,”
provided the subject of theatrical performances. Firemen
featuring images of children at play. Of all the coloring books,
became “protectors of the innocent,” as they claimed a
Darger seems to favor “Coloring Gallery,” as its front cover
reverent status in the popular imagination. While Chicago
image of a precocious boy wielding a slingshot comprises
commemorated the city’s watershed event, the Great Fire
multiple components of the approximately 100 pages of this
of 1871, with parades, pageants and firework displays, fire
scrapbook (Fig. 2). A “Nursery Rhymes” edition follows these
continued to threaten human life and property. In 1903 alone,
initial components. Subsequent, conjoined coloring books (“Zoo
more than 6,000 fires raged in Chicago, including the
Parade,” “Bar Z,” “Little Chief” and “Pioneers,” among others)
deadliest single building fire in United States history—the
are not augmented with newspaper clippings and, accordingly,
tragedy at the Iroquois Theatre. Several destructive blazes
do not function as a scrapbook, per se. These coloring book
throughout the following decades rekindled the social and
sections remain untouched and retain their original illustrations
cultural significance of Chicago’s battle against flame.
of imagined lifestyles of frontiersmen, stereotypic renditions of
As Darger’s scrapbook Pictures of fires big or small attests,
“cowboys and Indians,” and wild animals.
popular coverage and civic investment in Chicago’s fires continued well into the late 1960s.
Darger’s juxtaposition of tragic news stories exclusively with representations of childhood play and nursery rhymes may be
Darger includes a reference to the Iroquois Theatre Fire of
understood as a result of random placement or as evidence of
1903 in this scrapbook. The coupling of a 1968 newspaper
an unfinished scrapbook project. However, I would argue that
article about this tragedy with the image of a crying Bo Peep
this selective grouping is intentional and significant, not
sentimentalizes death with an unsettling sugary sweetness
only because of the artist’s own stories about his childhood
(Fig. 3). The relatively small article commemorates the 65th
experiences with fire, but also because of the reflexive
anniversary of this tragic fire that shocked Chicago. The
relationships between coloring book imagery and newspaper
article’s diminutive size confirms the event’s forgotten status,
stories, most notably one page featuring Little Bo Peep.
lost within Chicago’s recent violent history of racial strife and
This imagery forms a dialogue with headlines and news
Vietnam War protests. Darger clipped the article and its single
photographs that at times reiterates and compounds the sense
photographic image from the back pages of the daily news,
of communal loss reported in the media’s tales of fiery death.
resurrecting the infamous “tinderbox”—a fatal fire killing 602 people, mostly women and children during a matinee at a new
Darger’s autobiography, penned while in his sixties,
playhouse. The article recounts the scream-filled inferno that
nostalgically recounts moments of watching and setting
razed a building revered for its so-called fireproof structure.
fires (rarely, if ever, does he speak of other forms of play or
The press referred to the hundreds of dead children as
entertainment). Numerous anecdotes suggest that his
“martyrs.” Many died inside the building, asphyxiated
interest in flame evolved well beyond his formative years.
and/or crushed by waves of confused patrons trying to
Descriptive passages indicate the variety of experiences and
escape through a maze of unfamiliar corridors and locked
social interactions that fire-watching and fire-play offered—
emergency exits.
from moments of reverie and familial bonding with his father to reactions of fear and, at times, to acts of revenge. Fearful of
At the time of this tragedy, Darger was 10 years old, a breath
buildings on fire, “big or small as they were,” Darger confesses
away from 9, the median age of many who perished. Living
he would, “never run to go to fire.” Instead, the young Darger
in Chicago at Our Lady Mission (known as the News Boys
would, “stay at home to watch the great cloud of smoke or the
Home), he surely saw the newspaper coverage recording
glow in the sky at night-time.”
Chicago’s “greatest horror” and the spectacle of hundreds of white funerary carriages (carrying small white coffins)
10 THE OUTSIDER
(Fig. 3) Henry Darger (American, 1892-1973). Interior, “Horror of Iroquois, Fire Remembered,” Pictures of fires big or small in which firemen or persons lose their lives, c. 1950-70. Mixed media scrapbook. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Kiyoko Lerner.
backed-up for days following the tragedy along the streets of
handkerchief. Her distress is clear. Although no visible
Chicago. The death toll was legendary, exceeding casualties of
coloring-book caption accompanies her image, her well-known
the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, and, even today, the event ranks
nursery rhyme speaks for her grief. Here, Darger compares
as one of our nation’s worst urban fires. The Iroquois Theatre
and allegorizes this nursery rhyme about lost sheep and
Fire affected the hearts and minds of the entire city, spawning
Bo Peep’s remorse with that felt by Chicagoans for the child
memorials for the deceased, new fire codes, a lengthy
victims in this tragedy. A tone as of elegy takes shape as
indictment of corrupt building inspectors and months of
Darger conjures a haunting and mythic memento mori, or
ensuing newspaper coverage. Chicago continued to mourn for
reminder of mortality, out of incongruous and banal pop
decades, commemorating the date of this fire, December 30,
culture material.
as “Mercy Day” until the early 1960s. Sixty-five years later, this horrific event materializes as a rather innocuous little article
For someone like Darger, a self-proclaimed “protector of
in Darger’s scrapbook. Easy to overlook, the article follows a
children,” his choice of coloring books as a ground for this
string of other stories, other fires, and other fatalities.
scrapbook offers a rich, fertile backdrop for expressing myriad child-saving concerns. Within Pictures of fires big or small,
Although no different from other scrapbook pages (an article
however, death and destruction abruptly disrupts the coloring
pasted onto a coloring book image), this page reveals itself
book’s pastorale featuring boys and girls at play. Unlike In the
to be a potent conveyance of larger narratives structuring
Realms of the Unreal, Darger’s 15,000-page good-versus-evil
Darger’s artistic production as well as those contributing to
opus, no overarching narrative exists within this scrapbook
civic memory. Specifically, in accordance with Darger’s art,
that speaks of Christian goodness, redemption, or eventual
one finds an appropriated, imaginary yet beloved little girl type
closure. We are left with only the pull of continuous danger
conflated with a story about the tragic loss of childhood. The
and the sharp, repetitive sting of loss and tragedy. ■
pasted article sits to the left of Little Bo Peep, obscuring only a small part of her defining attribute—a harp-shaped staff. The placement of the article allows for nearly a full profile of Bo Peep displaying her sorrow with a single tear and raised THE OUTSIDER 11
Howard Finster (American 1916-2001), Elvis at Three , 1990. Paint and ink on wood. 51 x 29 in. 1194.206. Courtesy of High Museum of Art. Purchase funds from the Cousins Foundation, Inc., and donors to the Paradise Project Campaign. 12 THE with OUTSIDER
FROM THE FIELD: WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE GENRE? INTERVIEW WITH LAURA BICKFORD, KATHERINE JENTLESON AND KAREN PATTERSON
The future of outsider art—and even its name—is a hot topic
outsider art auctions for the magazine Art+Auction where I
in the contemporary art world. To learn more, Intuit’s Claire
worked, which opened up a world I hadn’t experienced in my
Le Gouriellec interviewed three curators involved in the genre.
art classes—and I really fell in love.
Laura Bickford holds dual master’s degrees in arts administration and modern art history, theory and criticism. She is the
Laura Bickford (LB): I did my undergrad at the University of
exhibition and special projects manager for the Souls Grown
North Carolina in Chapel Hill in art history and folklore and
Deep Foundation, an organization dedicated to the work of
found that I wasn’t fully satisfied by either. Art history felt too
African American artists from the American South. Katherine
imperial and in some ways removed from the social life of the
Jentleson holds a doctorate in American art specializing in
cultural artifacts that we were studying. Conversely, folklore felt
outsider artists and works as the Merrie and Dan Boone curator
sometimes too removed from the intensive study of objects.
of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum of Art in
It was when Dr. Bernard Herman joined the faculty as an art
Atlanta. Karen Patterson holds a master’s in arts administration
history professor that I became interested in the field; he
and is curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in
had a new perspective, coming from an American studies
Sheboygan, Wisc., focusing on its premier collection of folk
background, and, within a very small seminar that he led on
and self-taught art.
outsider art, the other students and I were able to carry out individual projects. In that class, we spent a week traveling
Claire Le Gouriellec (CLG): What first attracted you to self-
throughout Georgia and Alabama, touring William Arnett’s
taught/vernacular/art brut/outsider art?
collection and meeting the artists Joe Minter, Lonnie Holley and Thornton Dial. I found what I was looking for in that
Katherine Jentleson (KJ): I was working as a journalist in New
specific group of artists—a complete engagement in politics,
York around 2006, which was a great time for this art in that
language, emotions, communication—and through that work
city—there were many wonderful exhibitions, at places like the
I became engrossed, more broadly, with the field of so-called
American Folk Art Museum and Galerie St. Etienne. I had the
outsider art.
chance to cover events like the Outsider Art Fair and Christie’s THE OUTSIDER 13
Karen Patterson (KP): I come from a background in commu-
transparent and challenge the use of these words but, at the
nity radio and worked in northwestern Canada. My undergrad-
same time, recognize the history of these terms that have been
uate work was in folklore, with a focus on the representation
part of a conversation for over a century now.
of traditions in architecture and regional beliefs. Later, my job working for the city of Halifax allowed me to work with two
CLG: Do you think there is still a need for the audience to
intersecting interests: house museums and public art.
learn more about this genre? In what ways can they benefit
I became very interested in how aspects of contemporary art
from further education?
can enrich the understanding of unrepresented aspects of history—and vice versa. I decided to deepen my understanding
LB: It’s interesting; the organization I work for, the Souls Grown
of these two things in graduate school at the School of the Art
Deep Foundation, recently removed the word self-taught
Institute of Chicago, where I worked with Lisa Stone and the
from their website and any literature we produce. We now
Roger Brown Study Collection.
refer to our collection as contemporary art and the artists as contemporary African American artists from the American
CLG: The term outsider is controversial—what is your
South. Of course, there is always space to educate. But I don’t
standpoint on the use of the word?
make it my primary mission. And the Foundation’s aim is to change the accepted canon of art history by putting the work
KP: I don’t know about controversial, but it is definitely a term
of these artists alongside the work of other so-called
that keeps certain types of artists marginalized, which is why
mainstream artists and then allowing the public to decide for
I’m not personally interested in using it. However, I understand
themselves. So I see that as a form of education, just not
the historic value of the term, because to give something a
specifically around a codified field of self-taught art.
presence in the art world, you need to name it. I do think, as the art world expands and contracts, labels like this can
KJ: Generally, people want a fixed definition of what
become limiting and no longer serve the original intent of
self-taught art is. Our docents, for instance! I mean they are
education or exposure.
on the front lines every day trying to explain art of all kinds to hundreds of visitors of diverse ages and backgrounds, and they
KJ: I agree. Today, nobody believes there is only one way to
need to have clarity. What I try to emphasize for them is that
define art or artists; multiple terms are relevant. And picking
these labels are imperfect and not the most important thing.
which identity signifier to use is a political choice, one to which
I would like to give them a nuanced, footnoted version, but I
our generation is very sensitive. For me as a curator, because
can’t—not because it would be impossible, and they are highly
this type of art shares spaces with so many different kinds
intelligent people, but because that isn’t the way for them to
of art, it is still useful to have a term to underline one of the
communicate with young audiences or people just dipping their
things that distinguishes these artists. As curators we struggle
toes into the museum for the first time. We all agree on the
to find terms that are sufficient for both high level, academic
difficulty of defining this art; I think we also agree on the fact that
discussions of this art and for the average museum visitor who
there are more important challenges for us. It isn’t essential that
doesn’t need or want to get into the trenches of term warfare.
we coin or agree on the perfect term, but it is essential that we
There is no ideal term, and there never will be; the art world
commit to more and better visibility for the artists.
has tried for years now, and it is a losing battle. KP: Even though we exhibit our collection often, we don’t have LB: I agree with what Katie and Karen both said. Personally, I
a specific gallery dedicated to it. The collection is
am not interested in using any of the terms. But I do just want
exhibited alongside a variety of art forms in shows that center
to add that however you want to constitute this field, or whatever
on overarching themes or ideas. So it becomes more
term you choose to use, a lot of critical history gets lost when
important for me to communicate what the artist wants to
these terms are used interchangeably, and we collapse the
convey, the context in which the work was created, and how
distinctions that do exist between them. It is important to
they articulate that larger theme or idea.
remain specific: folk, self-taught, art brut. These terms have meaning and are not interchangeable. We have to remain 14 THE OUTSIDER
Thornton Dial, Sr. (American 1928-2016) Heading for the Higher Paying Jobs, 1992. Enamel and oil paints, cloth, tin, wood, and industrial sealing compound on canvas mounted on wood. 64.5 x 90 x 9 in. Courtesy of the High Museum of Art. T. Marshall Hahn Collection.
CLG: Can you identify the specific challenges that come
KP: I think working in a field that sheds light on types of
with being a curator of self-taught, outsider, folk, etc., art?
art-making that were not initially designed for museums—that
Is it any different?
are now being put in exhibitions—is an interesting challenge.
The issues range from practical, i.e., conservation, to
KJ: I don’t have a lot to contrast it with, but I think that the
conceptual, i.e., interpretation. It’s about making strategic
challenges that are presented to us are the same challenges
choices: How do you display these pieces? What has worked
that curators from many other fields face. Contemporary
in the past, and what are new exhibition strategies?
departments deal with the unique challenges of displaying site specific and performance art, art based in ephemeral materials
CLG: Is it still possible for self-taught artists to create
and experiences, that can be hard to set up in a space that
unencumbered and uninfluenced by mainstream art?
has been designed to showcase more traditional paintings and
Does it matter?
sculptures. Same goes with pieces found in European, African or arts of the Americas departments that have a spiritual or
KJ: Mass culture and technology are so pervasive today that
social ritual associated with them. But with this come many
they have shattered our mythical projection of self-taught
opportunities to be creative about how to present this art and
artists as working alone, removed from the world. But I believe
not always conform it to standard practices of museum display.
there is an under-appreciation of how much these artists have always been influenced by mainstream culture, by advertising,
LB: I agree; I think we have the same set of challenges faced
by Hollywood, by mass-produced goods that entered their
by other curators, particularly of contemporary art, wrapped up
homes and became part of their artistic practice. When I talk
in a different name. I’m personally eager to broaden the notion
to collectors who have been dedicated to this art for longer
of the art world and open it up to intersections of different types
than I have, they talk about a golden age of artists, like the
of art-making. I think the work of the artists I am interested in,
ones who were featured in the Black Folk Art in America
regardless of what art world they exist in, are doing that. THE OUTSIDER 15
exhibition, that has passed. There has definitely been a generational passing of African American artists who endured the Jim Crow South and whose art attends so much to that experience. I know that the field is definitely changing, it’s becoming more global, and, of course, it has never been just an American phenomenon. LB: I don’t think this was ever really the case, as Katie alluded to. And I would argue that most of the artists that are often called self-taught were consciously putting their art out to reach out, even if they didn’t really know how to or who they were looking for. The artists in our collection, some of whom were featured in the Black Folk Art in America exhibition Katie mentioned, were definitely not working in isolation or unaware of a mainstream art or culture. They were reacting to the fact that they were forcibly left out of what was being constituted as the mainstream, so they made their own space. They were responding to a very specific kind of experience: being black in the South. They were trying to make sense of this, to
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, No 701, 1958; oil on fiberboard; 23 5/8 x 23 1/2 in. John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection. Photo: Rich Maciejewski, courtesy John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
celebrate their own victories and joys, struggles through their failures, define and expand the boundaries of their cultural heritage and future. In most ways, for me, being a curator for
KJ: Art from the American South is the core of our collection,
these pieces, or a viewer of them, means we are the outsider—
and what I love about it is how it tells a different story of
to their universe, to their language, to their experience.
American art, one that reflects who we are as a society. That’s always been part of what drew me to this art—how it comes
KP: In the same vein, most of the art environments built in
from people who were all too often silenced, or who are simply
Wisconsin were meant as a means of communicating with
just not heard. Because of the inequity of our society, they
neighbors, of building that sense of community. It was a highly
weren’t born with cultural capital, but they created it for
effective and creative way of telling someone who you are and
themselves. My favorite thing about my job is seeing
what you value.
thousands of school children seeing the collections and knowing that, even if they might not be able to pursue an
CLG : What are your predictions for the future of the genre?
education in art, it doesn’t mean they can’t be artists. That’s
Are you excited about it?
part of what drives me every day.
KP: I’m personally excited about the potential for more open
LB: I would echo both sentiments. I love working in art
communication and collaboration, across disciplines, with other
because I think it’s the best vehicle to start conversations.
experts, and among museums. The conversations that are
Naturally, I’m excited for new progressive conversations about
happening are really conversations about ourselves and our
art, through the historical, political and social lenses. I want us
perception of the world. I agree with both Katie and Laura about
to continue to challenge the canon and to question political and
the need for scholarship, so I’m excited to see more students
cultural norms. I feel that we are at a moment where people are
focusing on the field itself. I’m excited that this career path has
looking for art to help do that, and it’s very exciting. ■
sustained a high level of curiosity and interest for me; there always seems like there’s something new to do or new to learn.
16 THE OUTSIDER
Installation view of Mythologies: Eugene Von Bruenchenhein at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2017. Photo by Rich Maciejewski, courtesy of John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
THE OUTSIDER 17
Aldo Piacenza (1888-1976), Untitled (Milan Cathedral), c. 1950s-60s, wood, paint, 24 x 13 1/2 x 13 in. 18 THE OUTSIDER Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
CHICAGO CALLING: ART AGAINST THE FLOW
Intuit is thrilled to participate in the Terra Foundation for
Ken, Lisa and Dana are well into the project realization.
American Art’s Art Design Chicago, an exploration of Chicago’s
Considering a wealth of works by the 10 artists, they’ve been
art and design legacy. Art Design Chicago exhibitions and
inspired by collectors’ singular passions, recollections and
projects will unfold throughout city museums during 2018.
personal experiences with many of the artists. They are
Intuit is organizing Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow,
compiling a checklist of works representing a range of
an exhibition that explores Chicago’s robust history of
Chicago-area collections, curating a distilled representation of
recognition and early acceptance of self-taught and outsider
each artist’s work, while allowing visual and conceptual
art and artists. Curated by Kenneth Burkhart and Lisa
conversations between and among the artists to be discovered.
Stone, with research scholar Dana Boutin, Chicago Calling will
Among emerging themes and concepts, the expressions
present intrinsic themes and congruent concepts embodied
of survival and endurance amidst the emotional geography
in the works of 10 artists––Henry Darger, William Dawson,
of Chicago are strong currents. The curators are excited
Lee Godie, Mr. Imagination, Aldo Piacenza, Pauline Simon,
to present a show that will challenge as well as exceed
Drossos Skyllas, Dr. Charles Smith, Wesley Willis and Joseph
expectations.
Yoakum––all of whom created exceptionally original oeuvres,
holding definitive roles in the art culture of the city. THE OUTSIDER 19
Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow will premiere at Intuit on June 29, 2018 and run through January 6, 2019. The exhibition will travel to La Halle Saint Pierre (Paris), the Prinzhorn Collection (Heidelberg), Collection de l’Art Brut (Lausanne) and the Outsider Museum (Amsterdam) in 2019-20. This layer of cultural exchange promises to enrich the conversation around how Chicago became home to an exceptional array of independent artists who were embraced by artists, educators, curators, dealers, collectors and appreciators. Art Design Chicago is an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. ■
Joseph E. Yoakum (American, 1886-1972). Mt. Japvo peak in Himalaya Range, February 5, 1971. Colored pencil on paper, 19 x 11.875 in. Collection of Intuit: The Center of Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Martha Griffin, 2014.5.2
20 THE OUTSIDER
Left: Mr. Imagination (American, 1948-2012). Women of Somalia, circa 1995. Bottle caps, whisk brooms, wood putty, paint, paint brushes, buttons, shells, 90 x 12 x 10 in. Collection of Cleo F. Wilson. Right: Mr. Imagination (American, 1948-2012). Untitled (Totem), n.d. Composite stone and found objects, 80 x 32 x 30 in. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Lyn M. Wolfson, 2006.20.
NEW ADDITIONS TO INTUIT’S COLLECTION: WORKS BY MICHEL NEDJAR
Intuit recently received two Michel Nedjar paintings, one from Kiyoko Lerner and one from Judy Saslow, that have been accessed into its collection. Intuit appreciates these generous gifts and other recent additions to its collection. Born in Paris, France, to Jewish Algerian and Polish parents in 1947, Michel Nedjar was aware of the physical and mental devastation that the Holocaust wrought on his family from a very young age. Among the few family members that were not killed during the war were two aunts, who were both survivors of Auschwitz. The immense brutality of the Holocaust, though always present in his life, became a central preoccupation of Nedjar’s when he saw the 1956 film Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) at 13 years old. This documentary by Alain Resnais, which sought to expose the genocidal horrors of the war, is an important influence in the creation of Nedjar’s dolls or poupées. As the son of a tailor and grandson of a flea market cloth seller, Nedjar’s aptitude for sewing is hardly surprising. He began sewing doll clothes for his sisters as a young boy and, unable to buy his own because of the prevailing gender norms, learned to construct his own dolls from scrap cloth and old doll parts. His sewing skills did not go unnoticed: At the age of 14 he was removed from school to work as a tailor’s apprentice. By 1970, however, after a failed stint in the army and a year-long battle against tuberculosis, Nedjar left France to travel in the company of filmmaker Téo Hernandez. Over the next five years, he lived in Northern Africa, Asia and Central America, immersing
22 THE OUTSIDER
Michel Nedjar (French, b. 1947). Untitled, n.d. Paint on paper. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Judy Saslow. 2016.
himself in the non-Western world and learning about different cultural practices, specifically those involving dolls. Nedjar’s approach to sewing became less functional and more artistic upon his return to Paris in 1975. He began building dolls using bits of recycled materials he found in the street. Most of his early dolls were fashioned into corpse-like bundles, their almost-indistinct features dunked into mixtures of blood, dyes and mud before being left out to dry. Nedjar has spoken of the link between these poupées and the legacy of the Holocaust, admitting that he handles them the way he saw Nazis treat dead bodies on footage from the death camps. Nedjar’s later dolls are less gruesome and more colorful, inspired by his travels and encounters with different cultures. They are reminders of life, rather than death. His output is not limited only to dolls, though; he has also produced a large number of paintings and drawings. At times in his career, he has even taken on the role of experimental cinematographer. The vast amount of work he has produced over the last 40 years is not the only contribution he has made to the outsider and art brut world. L’Aracine, a collection of art brut he founded with Madeleine Lommel and Claire Teller in 1982, is still considered one of the most important art brut collections in France.
Michel Nedjar (French, b. 1947). Untitled, n.d .Mixed media on paper. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Kiyoko Lerner
Michel Nedjar is still living and working in Paris today. ■ — ANN CERNEK
THE OUTSIDER 23
INTUITEENS EMPOWERS STUDENTS TO BECOME LEADERS
a hard worker. He consistently came to Intuit early, before the IntuiTeens sessions started, and was eager to help. One of the key initiatives of the IntuiTeens program is the series of workshops the teens lead at Chicago Public Library branches. IntuiTeens create their own art workshop, this year with a focus on artist Henry Darger, to share with other youth at the teen-facing spaces in the libraries, through which they interacted with 97 Chicago youth in 2017. At the first library workshop Anthony led, he needed a bit of coaxing to interact. But, over the course of the summer, his work ethic and passion for the art served as a foundation for his continued growth and confidence. Then, an unexpected opportunity presented itself. The teens were enlisted to create a crate for the Floating Museum, a project designed by artist Faheem Majeed (Intuit 2017 The Floating Museum traveled from SkyArt in southeast Chicago to the Eleanor Boathouse in Pilsen/Bridgeport to the Chicago Riverwalk's River Theater in August, landing at Navy Pier's Polk Bros Park in September.
Trendsetter award winner) and others, to bring the Chicago River alive with free, interactive public arts and culture programming. Celebrating the river’s industrial past, Floating Museum transformed a barge into an aesthetically striking mobile gallery filled with art crates displaying work created by local
When I heard that a 14-year-old was going to be part of the
artists and our collaborators. Faheem himself stopped by Intuit
IntuiTeens program, I was not sure what to expect. Anthony is
to talk about collaboration and encourage the IntuiTeens,
one of the younger participants Intuit has had in IntuiTeens, a
who chose to embellish their crate with an homage to Chicago
summer leadership internship for high schoolers. Participants
self-taught artist Mr. Imagination.
are a diverse group of individuals coming from various local high schools. Initially, Anthony seemed a bit hesitant and removed.
Once again this summer, Intuit partnered with Marwen, an arts
His headphones were usually on, and he didn’t typically sustain
organization that places creative teens in relevant internships,
eye contact with others in the group. Yet, he was a quiet, gentle
with four Marwen teens participating in IntuiTeens. The entire
presence among his fellow teens. Despite his shyness, he was
cadre went on field trips to other art museums; they attended
24 THE OUTSIDER
The 2017 IntuiTeens pose with their crate for the Floating Museum.
The IntuiTeens crate paid homage to Chicago artist Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack).
a workshop led by Hugh Musick, making masks they’ll wear
fourth summer of partnership, “A rewarding and creative
in the City of Chicago’s Arts in the Dark parade; and, best of
experience was had by all. Thank you for sharing your time,
all, they collaborated with About Face Theatre, which creates
energy and expertise with CPL Teen Services! Our partnership
exceptional, innovative and adventurous plays to advance the
can only grow and get better.”
national dialogue on gender and sexual identity. This partnership was a chance for the teens to work on their own creativity and
IntuiTeens is a program that benefits both the youth involved
leadership skills by learning from others in their age group.
and the surrounding community, encouraging teens like Anthony to grow in confidence as they explore and teach outsider art to
These opportunities contributed to Anthony’s and his peers’
their peers. ■
overall experience. Not only did he flourish in the IntuiTeens, his artwork was recently featured in a fundraiser to support his
— SARA SCHERPER
neighborhood. In the words of Robin Willard, the young adult specialist from the Chicago Public Library, commenting on this
THE OUTSIDER 25
BOOK REVIEWS As Essential as Dreams: Self-
This book, like most of its kind, is organized by chapters on
Taught Art from the Collection
each artist, but the emphasis is not so much on the artists’ lives
of Stephanie and John Smither,
as on their work. Each creator is represented by multiple pieces
by Michelle White, with
rather than the usual one or two, with only a few artists featured
contributions by Lynne Adele,
in their native environments. Nor is too much ink spilled
Brooke Davis Anderson, Haley
counting the number of labels that can fit on the head of a pin.
Berkman, David Breslin, Víctor
(Scholarly agonizing over what to call these kinds of artists is a
M. Espinosa, William Fagaly, Edward M. Gómez, Jo Farb
standard feature of volumes like this one.)
Hernández, Lee Kogan, Colin Rhodes and Leslie Umberger. The Menil Collection, Houston, 112 pages, 114 color illustrations,
The artists do each get capsule biographies, but the real center
2016. ISBN: 9780300218411. Hardcover, $45.
of gravity is the close readings of their work by A-list writers, people expert enough to open up a deeper understanding of the
As Essential as Dreams could easily have been another routine
art. These include Lynne Adele, Brooke Davis Anderson, Victor
entry in a long line of vanity art projects—exhibits of personal
Espinosa, William Fagaly, Edward Gómez, Jo Farb Hernández,
collections, ideally at prestige museums, with catalogs just
Lee Kogan, Colin Rhodes and Leslie Umberger.
weighty enough to prove the collectors' good taste and sound artistic investment.
It’s no surprise that this authoritative cohort uses quotations judiciously, more to shed light on the work and the art-making
That’s not to say the shows can’t be fun to visit and worthily
process than to recite self-reported personal histories. Fagaly
eye-opening. Indeed, the collections they feature seem to be
helps elucidate Sister Gertrude Morgan’s densely-packed
maturing in sophistication and depth, while the rising profile of
drawings, beyond the usual Bride of Christ narrative. Espinosa,
scholars is helping equalize the intellectual and physical heft of
the world’s leading Martín Ramírez expert, takes on landscapes
their catalogs.
that can lend themselves to superficial appreciation, relating them to the artist’s experience of life in California. Same level of service
The 2013 Great and Mighty Things exhibit at the Philadelphia
from Hernández on Jon Serl and Umberger on Charlie Willeto.
Museum of Art was a breakthrough show from a personal collection, and 2016’s Stephanie and John Smither show
For me there was new discovery in some of these essays—and
represents another gratifyingly substantial exhibit mounted
new appreciation for artists like Serl and Willeto whom I haven’t
by a highly-respected mainstream museum, Houston’s Menil
followed closely. While all the artists just named have received
Collection. Reports say the show was impressive in person, even
lots of attention over the years, the book also features a handful
if smaller than the Philadelphia blockbuster.
of creators not often included in surveys like this, including the Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi, the Colorado wood carver Oscar
The catalog is also on a lesser scale physically—but still a
Hadwiger and the Italian artist Domenico ZIndato.
contender in terms of content. Its account of the Smithers' voyage of discovery into the world of self-taught art might be old
There are a few editing misses in the book. For example, the
news to collectors who took similar trips, figuratively and literally,
biography of Solange Knopf has a gallerist discovering her
in the 1980s and ‘90s. Stories like these will have increasing
Facebook album of drawings in 2001, though Facebook didn’t
interest, however, as those who lived this slice of art history pass
exist until 2004. But overall, alongside Great and Mighty Things,
on (as have the Smithers and many of the artists they met).
this is one of the best examples so far of a catalog devoted to a single collection. Wrapping up the fine publication is the spectacular Carlo Zinelli drawing used for the dust jacket.
26 THE OUTSIDER
Outsider Art: Visionary Worlds
expression apparently insults an artist’s heritage, at least for those
and Trauma, by Daniel Wojcik.
seen as having one, African Americans in particular.
University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 276 pages, 174
Like many of his colleagues, Wojcik criticizes “the decontextualized
color illustrations, 2016.
and formalist approaches that continue to pervade the descriptions
ISBN: 978-1496808066.
of outsider art,” disrespecting creators and denying their voices.
Hardcover, $45
Citing the art historian Kenneth Ames, he implies that formalist standards might be OK for “elite” artists, because they themselves
Can we agree that the art still
embrace this “elitist mode.” But contextualization is apparently
sometimes known as outsider is much more interesting than
the form of appreciation preferred for others, even if it’s hard to
what to call it? It might seem a simple enough proposition, yet
imagine most self-taught artists finding it offensive to enjoy one
arguments over the label continue to distract from the art, even
of their pieces entirely on its own merits and separately from their
among those who consider the debate mostly fruitless.
cultural context.
Daniel Wojcik’s book is a case in point. When it’s good, it's very
Despite the whiff of paternalism in the passion for protecting
good, providing sensitive, thoughful accounts of the art and its
these artists from formalist admiration, there is no doubt that how
creators, with real insights into the psychological, cultural and
powerfully art expresses culture can contribute to its importance.
practical dimensions of their art making. Wojcik does consume a
But is that the only way to understand it? “Elite” artists often
few too many precious pages diving into decades-old polemics,
achieve greatness precisely in how they step outside or beyond
however, recounting the traditional indictment that charges the O
their cultural moorings. Why isn’t the uniqueness of individual
word with elitism, exclusion and marginalization.
expression just as valued in the work of self-taught artists? Of three poles of understanding—biography, context, form—who is
All the imperfect terms used to describe this (or almost any)
to say that only one or two matter or, even, that all must matter
art are bound to be off the mark—too broad or too simplistic,
equally all the time? All three can be mutually enriching, but what
reductionist or vaporously general, elitist or blandly inclusive.
to emphasize is a reasonable choice we can all make, with the
Yet “outsider art” is entrenched, in part because it captures
right emphasis depending on our own context.
something distinguishing about the art, including its creation outside the mainstream art world by people who typically don’t
Wojcik is certainly correct to emphasize how a sympathetic
consider themselves artists, at least at first. Stubbornly, it remains
understanding of an artist’s own thinking and environment helps
a convenient descriptor for dealers and collectors who would be
elucidate their work. “Many individuals labeled as outsiders are
exhausted by the ordeal of finding a label acceptable to scholars
actually ‘insiders’ within the context of their own communities,
and critics who take labels far more seriously than they do.
and they create art that draws upon common aesthetic and cultural traditions; but their ways of making things are unfamiliar
Taking things seriously is part of a scholar’s job, of course, and
and appear idiosyncratic to the urban and white-dominated
the promotional narratives of dealers and shorthand enthusiasms
community of outsider-art dealers, collectors and writers.”
of collectors are no substitutes for real research. But not all the problematic implications that can be unpacked from the term
That is true to a point—and true of some artists more than
are necessarily intended by its users. Even if the rest of us don’t
others. Howard Finster’s beliefs certainly seemed alien to many
always go deep in our understanding of the art and artists, being
of his fans, yet it’s safe to assume that his self-presentation as a
shallow is not a moral failure, nor does it necessarily make you an
“stranger from another planet” meant stranger to his neighbors
elitist marginalizer.
as well to urban elites. His fascination with aliens and his friendly incorporation of mainstream pop icons like Elvis, aliens and
It appears the battle will drag on until unconditional surrender is
dinosaurs into religious iconography clearly separated Finster
achieved among those who still call the art outsider. Even then,
from his vernacular religious context—not a total disconnection
god still help you if your appreciation of the work is “formalist.” An
but enough to move him somewhat outside north Georgia
emphasis on core artistic qualities rather than quality of cultural
community norms, whatever you want to call his art. Wojcik is THE OUTSIDER 27
right to argue that Finster's beliefs, including his views on aliens,
Living on the odder size of that continuum does not mean you are
were not unprecedented—and should be taken seriously—but
crazy. It’s not hard to sympathize with Ionel Talpazan’s objection
at times he works a bit too hard at trying to make them seem
to being labeled an outsider artist, which he took to mean he was
conventional.
being called psychotic, according to Wojcik. In fact, creation of alternate worlds is not unique to the insane, unless you consider,
The impulse to normalize outsider artists is understandable given
say, model railroad hobbyists to be insane. But if Talpazan was
a not-uncommon tendency to patronize them as "special" in
not psychotic—and I've heard no one assert he was—his obsession
some vaguely mental or spiritual way. There’s also the art brut
with UFOs is still arguably the very definition of weird.
heritage of seeking wellsprings of creativity in asylums, those monuments to marginalization and otherness. Seeing any of
That weirdness really has little to do with the quality or outsider
these artists as untainted by culture, pure in spirit or magically
status of his work; it’s just an obvious observation among sane
authentic, is a reductionist barrier to understanding them and a
adults (that group including Talpazan). It also doesn’t reframe
misrepresentation of their actual existence.
everything about Talpazan as simply weird. Wojcik makes the very astute point that discounting his UFO-inflected worldview
Only someone in cultural denial doesn’t notice the strong
as mere eccentricity misses the coherent reality it represented
presence of shared symbols and meanings in the work of a
for Talpazan. And via that reality he was able to penetrate and
Martín Ramírez. Ditto for many artists of African American
represent truths that should matter to all of us. That’s part of the
extraction, many of whom are undoubtedly far more comfortable
very real impact of his art.
within their communities than outsiders to those communities are liable to grasp.
Wojcik’s assessment of Talpazan, his processes and perspectives is based on first-hand encounters and constitutes some of the
Recognizing artists as people tied to a surrounding culture and
strongest material in the book. He eloquently describes the power
community does not require squeezing out every last drop of
released when artists map for us inner worlds that can contain
otherness, however. The creativity of these artists (and their
“vast alternative realities.” To the extent that sloppy use of labels
trained counterparts) really does set them apart from the vast
makes it easier to trivialize that achievement, caution is advisable.
majority of us who cannot hope to match anything like their
Talpazan was a significant artist who well deserves extended
artistic attainment or their visionary worldviews.
consideration, and Wojcik here lives up to the promise in his book’s subtitle, exploring the significance and meaning of trauma
Is it the ways they are like everyone else that make them
for an artist’s visionary world.
interesting—or the ways they are different? The best answer might be both, but insistence that any answer but the former is
But at times Wojcik seems caught in a trap of his own making as
unethically marginalizing does no one any favors. It becomes its
he tries mightily to normalize these artists while at the same time
own form of marginalization by robbing these artists of their
exploring the exceptional nature of their creations. The singular
highly personal visions and agency, of the extraordinary
experience of trauma he takes as a primary subject has actually
idiosyncratic creativity they share with the artistic elite.
worked to set these creators apart. Their ability to reach out from trauma through the medium of art is both impressive and
In this sense, it’s hard to accept that Jean Dubuffet’s celebration
engaging. Several of the artists Wojcik considers fully recognize
of “uncanny strangeness” was entirely untoward. The description
this, speaking, themselves, about the importance of their traumatic
doesn’t fit all self-taught artists, but no matter how hard you try to
experiences and the therapeutic value of their art-making.
contextualize an artist like Adolf Wölfli, his work remains uncanny strange. Noticing this is not a “relentless fetishizing of difference,”
In the end this is a nicely illustrated book that is well sourced,
as Wojcik quotes Joanne Cubbs with evident approval. Partly, it is
well written and well illustrated, leading to hope that Wojcik’s next
responding to artists as normal human beings, who all exist on a
effort will see his formidable analytic powers less distracted by last
continuum of eccentricity.
century’s terminological arguments, so he can reveal more of the inner processes and evolution of these fabulous artists. ■ — WILLIAM SWISLOW
28 THE OUTSIDER
Board INTUIT: THE CENTER FOR INTUITIVE AND OUTSIDER ART
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Cleo Wilson, President Matt Arient, Vice President and Co-Chair, Exhibitions Tracy Holmes, Secretary
2016 Financials
Patrick Blackburn, Treasurer and Chair, Finance
(Year ended December 31, 2016)
Tim Bruce, Chair, Marketing and Communications Kevin Cole, Chair, Collections and Acquisitions
Support and Revenue
Scott Lang, Chair, Development
Special Events............................................................... $98,791
Jan Petry, Co-Chair, Exhibitions Jerry Stefl, Chair, Education
Entrance Fees............................................................... $14,795 Membership................................................................. $19,325
MEMBERS
Store............................................................................ $36,750
Rich Bowen
Other (Advertising, Miscellaneous)................................ $24,230 Earned............................................................... $193,945
Ralph Concepcion Susann Craig Cheri Eisenberg Marjorie Freed
Foundations................................................................ $268,560
Rob Grossett
Government.................................................................. $26,265
Rob Lentz
Individual ................................................................... $185,294 Gift InKind.................................................................... $51,527 Contributed:.........................................................$531,646
Bonnie McGrath Elizabeth Nelson Benedicta Badia Nordenstahl Phyllis Rabineau Twisha Shah-Brandenburg
Total Support and Revenue....................................$725,591
Bill Swislow David Syrek David Walega
Expenses
Steven Wang
Vivian Society Carl Hammer Eugenie Johnson Ann Nathan Administration
16%
Education
20%
Bob Roth Judy Saslow Lisa Stone
Exhibitions Fundraising
15%
18% Marketing
Other
16%
8% Capital Campaign
7%
Staff Debra Kerr, Executive Director Alison Amick, Senior Manager of Exhibitions and Development, Chief Curator Julie Blake, Marketing Associate Jane Castro, Education Associate Claire Fassnacht, Development Coordinator Katherine Gorman, Graphic Designer Jamillah Hinson, Administrative Associate Joel Javier, Education Manager Catherine LaMendola, Administrative Associate Sandra Mars, Graphic Designer Melissa Smith, Senior Manager of Learning and Engagement Christina Stavros, Collections and Exhibitions Assistant THE OUTSIDER 29 Annaleigh Wetzel, Marketing Coordinator
2018 Exhibitions December 22, 2017–March 11, 2018 In the Land of Pasaquan: The Story of Eddie Owens Martin January 26–May 13, 2018 Stephen Warde Anderson May 19–June 17, 2018 Teacher Fellowship Program Student Exhibition March 23–June 17, 2018 To Be Seen and Heard June 29, 2018–January 6, 2019 Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow
Founded in 1991, Intuit is one of the premier museums in the world of outsider and self-taught art. Intuit offers world-class exhibitions; resources for scholars and students; a collection of 1,200 works of art; the Henry Darger Room Collection, a permanent exhibition; the Robert A Roth Study Center, a non-circulating collection with a focus in the fields of outsider and contemporary self-taught art; and educational programming for people of all interest levels and backgrounds.
ISBN 9780999001035
90000 >
756 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60642 312.243.9088 www.art.org
30 THE OUTSIDER 9 780999 001035