Published: 18 July, 2007, 11:16
Edited: 18 July, 2007, 11:16
The Outsider art, or art-brut in French, attracts many people all over the world. According to the definition of a French artist of the 20th century Jean Dubuffet, art-brut is a spontaneous psychic flow of a person, who is almost not influenced by any soc
In Russia art-brut is in its early stages. More then ten years ago the Museum of Outsider Art occupied the basement of an ordinary apartment house in Moscow. Not many people know about this unusual museum. The creators do not advertise it.
The outsider artists are mental patients, lonely seniors, odd persons on their own. They are strangers, who create outside the world of official culture. They have no formal artistic background. Their works are based on pure subconscious experiences.
We are living in the epoch of dilettantism. In the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century people got tired of the professional art and got used to it. They are looking for some pungent and unusual feelings.
The walls in the Outsider Art Museums all over the world are invariably black. It sharpens the perception of the works. It's no use looking for secret meanings in them. It's just the purest flow of imagination.
Each work in the collection has its own mysterious story. Some paintings were found in really unexpected places.
“We were looking through the works of the patients and hadn't found anything interesting. We were already leaving when I noticed this picture. It was inserted into the window instead a windowpane,” Vladimir Abakumov, museum host, said.
Vladimir Abakumov has been dealing with outsider art for almost 20 years. Gathering the collection, getting into contact with the art-brut experts from Europe and America. Now he is working on a documentary about outsider art interviewing the art-brut specialists from other countries.
There are special collections and museums in Germany, in ex-Yugoslavia, in France, in Belgium, in Holland, in Sweden, in Norway, in Iceland, in Ireland. They're all over the world, and one really important one that exists the last few years is the Moscow Museum of the Outsider Art.
The interest in outsider art is growing rapidly. Art-brut attracts the attention of professional artists. Famous Moscow artist Tatyana Nazarenko has been painting since childhood. She was really impressed by some works of the outsiders.
“It's very remarkable. Not every professional artist could paint like that,” Tatyana said.
Maybe the outsiders can even become rivals to the professional artists.
“We are living in the epoch of dilettantism. In the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century people got tired of the professional art and got used to it. They are looking for some pungent and unusual feelings,” she added.
Which works belong to genuine art and which are just unusual or shocking, only time can show. Real art could be created both by outsiders and professionals. However, every true artist should be a little bit insane.