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Private Visions: Outsider Art on Utah’s Cultural Landscape
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Some of Utah’s most captivating historical constructions are the artistic installations that have been labeled outsider art. This article highlights seven examples of Utah’s outsider art over the past 130-plus years, arranged roughly in chronological order. They include the following: “The Old Curiosity Shop or Crazy House” in Salt Lake City; the “King World Inscription” near Moab; Van’s Hall in Delta; Gilgal Garden in Salt Lake City; the Bottle House in Teasdale; Pizy Alldredge’s yard art in Oak City, Millard County; and Ralphael’s Church/School in Salt Lake City. The term outsider art was coined in the early 1970s and refers to the large-scale artistic creations of individuals working outside the realm of traditional art—and even traditional construction.1 Many cultures from around the world have produced significant examples of outsider art and scholars have used a number of terms to describe the artistic works of the craftspeople, artisans, and visionaries who have followed their own private muses to generate unique cultural environments. These terms include marginal art, naïve art, rural folk art, self-taught art, primitivism, vernacular and popular urban art, art of the mentally deranged, Art Brut, and visionary art environments.2 Regardless of the labels assigned to these works and regardless of their wide variety and individualized nature, they share a number of common characteristics. Their creators were usually manual workers who embarked on their artistic careers after retirement. They were mostly men, oftentimes widowers, although there were some women and even a few couples. The artists generally used salvaged or recycled materials such as broken crockery, glass, beads, metal, or broken equipment. Concrete and stucco were especially favored materials because of their malleability, strength, and low cost. Most outsider art is located outdoors, usually on the artist’s property. A good number of the creators took many years, sometimes decades, to complete their works. They commonly employed themes of religion and patriotism, God and country, as well as tributes to honorable labor: farming, lumbering, the building trades, pioneering and settlement, and the hard work of common folks. Artists’ works were often unpopular with their neighbors and sometimes prompted questions
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