Outsider Art

An updated and substantially revised edition of this comprehensive introduction to outsider art, distinguished by its wider international scope and inclusion of global developments since 2000.

Outsider Art is the work produced outside the mainstream of modern art by self-taught, untrained visionaries, spiritualists, recluses, folk artists, psychiatric patients, prisoners and others beyond the imposed margins of society and the art market. Coined by Roger Cardinal in 1972, the term in English derived from Jean Dubuffet’s ‘Art Brut’ – literally ‘raw art’, ‘uncooked’ by culture, unaffected by fashion, unmoved by artistic standards.

In this comprehensive and indispensable guide, Colin Rhodes surveys the history and reception of Outsider Art – first championed by Dubuffet and the Surrealists, now appreciated by a wider public – while providing fresh insights into the achievements of both major figures and newly discovered artists as well as the emergence of specialized studios, as the relationship between outsider art and the contemporary mainstream art world has developed and become more intertwined. From spirit-guided Madge Gill to schizophrenic Adolf Wolfli, Rosemarie Koczÿ’s expressions of trauma to Nek Chand’s outdoor creations, these individuals passionately and obsessively pursue the pictorial expression of their vision.

Now illustrated in full colour, with the exception of some archival photographs, this new edition has been substantially revised with a greater focus on global Outsider art as well as including more recent talents to the field.

About the Author

Colin Rhodes is a writer, artist and educator. He has written and lectured widely on modern and contemporary art, and is a specialist on expressionism, primitivism and outsider art. He is author of Primitivism & Modern Art (1994), Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives (2000) and The World According to Roger Ballen (2019), all published by Thames & Hudson. He has worked in universities in the UK and Australia and is currently Distinguished Professor at Hunan Normal University, China.