A Better Approach to Outsider Art

Ken Johnson of the NY Times reviews an exhibition a the American Folk Art Museum, Approaching Abstraction. He sees this exhibition as an example of a trend towards mainstreaming outsider art by not ghettoizing the artists. Engaging the works' formal qualities seems to help the viewer to resist the temptation to marginalize the artists.

Though according to Johnson, there may be a problem to this approach. He says, "It is very difficult — practically impossible — to separate the formal, nonrepresentational aspect from less tangible qualities." And he correctly argues, "There is not a single artist in the exhibition who tried to make something strictly nonrepresentational."

I agree that approaching these works formally is a good though difficult exercise, but not to the goal of making them "seem more 'normal.'" A formal approach to Outsider Art does not make it less fascinating, but adds to the fascination of the work of a self-taught or outsider artist. The viewer's tendency to ignore the formal elements is the challenge these artists face. As with all works of art, the formal approach is a wonderful first step to appreciating not mainstreaming Outsider Art. Approaching Abstraction is right to demand viewer to address the artwork first.