« Stop the Presses - Advertising Works. | Main | Opening to Charters »
April 27, 2005
Outsider Authenticity
Here's a good review of a serious book on Outsider Art -- what makes it work? The reviewer thinks the book does a good job of treding the line between the aesthetic and the biographical - the hunt for authenticity:
Then there is the intriguing case of "Clyde Angel," who had the correct pedigree for an Outsider Artist -- a backwoods recluse who had been hospitalized for schizophrenia. His work is delivered to a Chicago gallery by his "authorized agent." The trouble is, nobody's ever met Clyde Angel, and efforts by an enterprising journalist to track him down failed. There's speculation, says Mr. Fine, that Clyde Angel may not exist, that his "Outsider" work is really being produced by a trained artist in hiding. If that ever turned out to be true, a lucrative market would collapse overnight.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at April 27, 2005 7:25 AM