You may know Outsider Art as a controversial concept that breaks through all forms of discourse, positioning itself right in the center of the art world.
(For those who don’t: Outsider Art refers to art that was or is created outside the boundaries of official art culture, by amazing individuals with special backgrounds).

Allow us to explain: The concept began to receive attention right after the First World War. The first formal study of artwork by mentally ill people in psychiatric institutions appeared in 1922, when Bildnerei der Geisteskranken (Artistry of the mentally ill) was published.

This study, by German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1993), captured the interest of the avant-garde artists of the time and is known to have inspired renowned names as Salvador Dalí, Karel Appel, Max Ernst and Asger Jorn.

In 1929 Alfred Barr, director of the Museum of Modern Art, already proclaimed this form of autodidactic art to be ‘one of the three great movements of modern art’, together with surrealism and abstraction.

The next big involvement in the movement was by French artist Jean Dubuffet. He was particularly struck by Bildnerei der Geisteskranken, and named the products of the movement art brut, or raw art.

In 1948 he formed the Compagnie de l'Art Brut along with other artists, including André Breton. They established an interesting collection which became known as the Collection de l'Art Brut. It is permanently housed in Lausanne, Switzerland and contains thousands of works. The diviersity of this collection also demonstrates the fact that Outsider Art cannot be described as a general style: the autodidactic artists that identify with this movement all follow their own path in creating an artwork.

_{Jean Dubuffet, Michel Thévoz and the artist Slavko Kopac (a collaborator with the Compagnie de l’Art Brut) at the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland,
on the eve of the new museum’s opening, February 1976 (photo by Jean-Jacques Laeser, courtesy of Collection de l’Art Brut)}

The exact term ‘Outsider Art’ was coined in 1972 by the English art historian Roger Cardinal. Following the Venice Biennale of 2013, it has become abundantly clear that the movement has broken through to the international art scene and can no longer be ignored.

With the current opening of the Outsider Art Museum in March 2016, the Hermitage Amsterdam is offering a major platform to this manifestation in contemporary art.

At the upcoming KunstRAI in Amsterdam – from May 31st until June 5th 2017 - the Outsider Art Museum will present its surprising and unpolished art in collaboration with Galerie Hamer and Galerie Atelier Herenplaats.

Public: be sure to brace yourselves! The inner world of Outsider Artists is often so full it overflows into a great oeuvre. Because these artists sometimes go about their work almost manically in order to achieve it, you will find yourself strapped into their personal wild roller coaster rides. In this exhibition visitors learn to look at art in a different way for sure… Names as Sijtze Keur and Evert Panis are to be represented. Curious about the rest of the program ? Find out more here.

If you haven’t got the time to see this special exhibition or even if you just can’t get enough of this work: we advise simply paying the Outsider Art Museum in Amsterdam a visit. It is located in the beautiful Hermitage Museum, open to visitors everyday.

For more details: Outsider Art Museum Amsterdam

For more fine and curated art please have look at our collection at Gallerease!

Main Image: A detail from the work of Qiao Yulong made in 2000 in China now to be seen in the Outsider Art Museum