| More Definitions of Outsider Art |
| Abcd (Art Brut Connaissance and Diffusion) They do not know anything about the culture of the Beaux arts, its rituals and places that constitute it (schools of art, salons, fairs, market circuits, museums, institutions, communication means, etc.). They ignore all currents, stylistic influences, labels and habitual technical procedures. They are often mental patients; some of them have lived isolated in the country, in the anonymity of the cities or in an almost autistic solitude. Source: http://www.abcd-artbrut.org/english.html
Abcd quotes Jean Dubuffet Art Brut designates "works executed by persons unharmed by artistic culture, in which mimesis, in contrast to what happens in the case of intellectuals, has little or no part at all. Consequently, the authors draw their inspiration (themes, materials, the means of transposition, rhythm, different styles of writing, etc.) from their resources and not from the clichés of classical or fashionable art." Source: http://www.abcd-artbrut.org/english.html
Raw Vision Michel Thevoz, Curator of the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, [home of Jean Dubuffet's collection of psychiatric art] has written the following: "Art Brut", or "outsider art", consists of works produced by people who for various reasons have not been culturally indocrinated or socially conditioned. They are all kinds of dwellers on the fringes of society. Working outside fine art "system" (schools, galleries, museums and so on), these people have produced, from the depths of their own personalities and for themselves and no one else, works of outstanding originality in concept, subject and techniques. They are works which owe nothing to tradition or fashion. The term 'Outsider Art' was originally intended to act as an exact English equivalent to Dubuffet's term, although Outsider Art has developed to encompass not only Art Brut but also works that the Lausanne Collection would not strictly designate as such (eg. some of the works in the Neuve Invention category). Outsider Art has not had the benefit of the unique protection surrounding Art Brut and the definition has undoubtedly become obscured by chronic mis-use since its introduction in 1972. Sadly we find today that many use the term in the loosest way, to refer to almost any untrained artist. It is simply not enough to be untrained, clumsy or naive. Outsider Art is virtually synonomous with Art Brut in both spirit and meaning, to that rarity of art produced by those who do not know its name. Source: http://www.rawvision.com/outsiderart/whatisoa.html
American Visionary Art Museum This is taken from their Mission Statement, which equates Visionary Art with Art Brut. Visionary Art, as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself." Source: http://www.avam.org/stuff/whatsvis.html History and definitions of outsider art, art brut, folk art, etc:
Art Brut Museum in Lausanne Switzerland The idea of "Art Brut" appeared around 1945. Its conception is generally attributed to the French painter Jean Dubuffet who meant by the term "works executed by those immune to artistic culture in which imitation has no role; in which their creators take all (subjects, materials, transposition, rhythm, style etc.) from their own individuality and not from the base of classical art or stylish trends". One can understand from this definition that parctitioners of "Art Brut" are mentally or socially marginal: prisoners, patients of psychiatric hospitals or other institutions, originals, solitary beings, condemned, all individuals who have a social status removed from the constraints of cultural conditioning. Their work is conceived and executed outside of that which we normally regard as the domain of the Fine Arts; that is to say, schools, galleries, museums, etc. Source: http://www.artbrut.ch/artbrut/sansnom.html
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