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OUTSIDE IN Outsider Art Show - 2008

This is the second year that GAGA will be featuring outsider art. Over fifteen thousand square of gallery space will be made available. "It’s just a natural fit for GAGA. People loved last year's Outside In show, so we are making it even bigger and better for 2008.”says Executive Director James Tyler.

The paintings and sculpture of fifty self-taught ‘outsiders’ and American folk artists will be on display at the GAGA Arts Center as a part of this year’s GAGA Arts Festival. Exhibition will include new works by:

Matt Sesow - Bob Justin - Ed Kirkland - Ross Brodar

Brendon Burke - Alison Silva - Carl Mullen - Rick Johnson

David Eddy - Larry Zingale - Eric Von Ploennies

Ted Ludwiczak - Patricia Stewart - Candyce Brokaw

In GALLERY ONE - Outside In, premier film screening

featuring artists Ed Kirkland, Bob Justin, and Ted Ludwiczak.

also showing:

Not Like In The Movies - A film by Kevin Frech.

Ross Brodar

Rick Johnson

Ed Kirkland

Matt Sesow

Karl Mullen

Bob Justin

Brendan Burke

Eric Von Ploennies

Candyce Brokaw

Ted Ludwiczak

Ralph and other artists from Camp Venture

This year GAGA is being joined by HAI of New York City.

The HAI Outsider Art: SURVEY 2008 exhibit will include works by renowned outsiders:

Everette Ball - David Blaisdell - Jim Bloom - Oscar Brown

Julius Caesar Bustamante - Donna Caesar - Carl Greenberg

William Gonzalez - Harper Deering Hair - Adam Elias Hines

David Kime - Gene Legay - Blake Lenoir - Renee Leshner

Kenny McKay - Frances “Lady Shalimar” Montague

Adeyinka Perry - Irene Phillips - Jose Rivera - Joe Simms

Laura Anne Walker - Melvin 'Milky' Way

Ray Hamilton - George Zuniga

HAI
HAI inspires healing, growth and learning through engagement in the arts for the culturally underserved. HAI (Hospital Audiences, Inc.) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1969 by Michael Jon Spencer. Each year, HAI touches the lives of more than 400,000 people in the New York City community whose access to the arts has been limited by health, age or income. HAI provides cultural access through music, dance, theatre and the visual arts, reaching out to the frail elderly, mentally and physically disabled, seriously ill children at health and social service facilities, and youth in grades K - 12. Services include tickets to cultural events; arts workshops; onsite performances of music, theater and dance; audio description for visually impaired theater-goers; youth-leadership, conflict resolution, HIV and life skills workshops using role play technique; and transportation for people with disabilities on two specially designed Omni*Buses.

The HAI program brings professional artists to work community based mental health programs throughout New York City. These Outsiders were discovered in mental health programs that help people with major mental illnesses live successfully in the community. They have achieved recognition as American Outsiders, following in the art brut tradition of early 20th century Europe, but with a contemporary American touch.

MELVIN "MILKY" WAY
Melvin Way was discovered in a mental health program at a homeless shelter during an HAI workshop when Way revealed his enigmatic formulae resembling hieroglyphics. Way has rarely joined any collective art-making situation but maintains a relationship with HAI, visiting regularly and sharing his work. Way’s drawings have been shown extensively and sold beyond The Gallery at HAI.

In his early 50’s, Way was born in South Carolina and moved between South Carolina and Brooklyn during his childhood. He worked as a machinist and played bass guitar in a band before the onset of mental illness. Eventually homeless, Way stayed in a shelter for a long time before moving to a supportive apartment program. Way continues to be fiercely independent.

His formulae, which he never refers to as art, has drawn considerable attention and sales. He has been the subject of a feature article in Raw Vision and his art has been reproduced in The New York Times. After selling a work to collectors, he requested that they be informed that they should not try to create formula in the drawing as it was extremely powerful and dangerous.

JIM BLOOM Jim Bloom, 38 years old, is originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania. He now lives in Philadelphia after traveling around the country and staying briefly in Key West, Los Angeles and New York. While traveling around the country he became a “doodler”. As a young adult, he fell into a pattern of depression and anxiety. Later, he suffered a debilitating back injury as a result of an auto accident; he was also diagnosed with a neurological condition, dystonia, characterized by painful muscle contractions and balance and stamina problems.

Bloom moved from doodling to painting after he was diagnosed with dystonia. He paints in short spurts because this condition prevents him from working for sustained periods. He works on found or inexpensive objects, including wood and cardboard which he covers with acrylic house paint, cheap watercolors, crayons, markers, pencils, oil pastels or charcoal.

Bloom paints to express his emotions and to achieve a sense of purpose and fulfillment. His work reflects personal experiences, often sprinkled with dark humor. He invents technique to fulfill his need to express himself. Bloom exhibits regularly with Coalition Ingénu of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work will soon be on view at Outsider Folk Art Gallery in Reading, Pennsylvania.

DAVID KIME David Kime began writing poetry when voices commanded him to write a book. Later that year, he had a vision prompting him to build a wearable sculpture which he calls “Deeva Goddess.” He says, “art has given me a reason to live and has been a catharsis for dealing with bipolar disorder.”

Now 40 years old, he produces a literary “zine” called “Transcendent Visions” and a political essay “zine” called “Crazed Nation.” Both give voice to people with mental disabilities.

Kime’s sculptures of wire, yarn, melted crayons and doll heads have been exhibited in previous SURVEY exhibits at The Gallery at HAI. Kime exhibits regularly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

JOE SIMMS Joe Simms has been a popular artist in the three previous HAI Survey shows. He has painted since he was a teenager. He uses any materials that he can find. He has painted on paper bags, wood, old cabinets, doors and windows. His sister says, “It’s gotta come out, one way or another. If you don’t give him supplies, he paints on windows, windshields, anything.”

Joe does not communicate about what he has in mind when he creates an image, but his work has a consistent style reflecting beauty, bright colors and, perhaps above all, a humanistic passion that is both sophisticated and simplistic at once.

Now in his early 60’s, Simms' mother cooked at a truck stop. His father was a farm laborer. Joe left school to find work in grade school. He began painting at age 14, using materials at hand. He still uses whatever materials he has available.

LAURA ANNE WALKER Laura Anne Walker has never studied drawing or painting. Although she drew as a child, she was re-introduced to painting through HAI while attending a mental health program. She began by drawing and painting her beloved cats. Her style evolved to the current complex paintings that incorporates text. Now, she says, “Cats are like jewelry in my paintings.” Working primarily in watercolor, she integrates intensely personal issues and feelings through text. Her style recalls horror vacui, but with a contemporary feel as figures and objects appear and recede. She says, “Making art helps me to solve problems and deal with issues so that they aren’t so overwhelming. Writing helps me get my feelings out immediately. It frees me to expel obsessive and repetitive thoughts.”

Now approaching the age of 50, perhaps she represents a most contemporary Outsider artist, becoming comfortable in her own skin and working out how to live successfully with a major mental illness. She has attended the HAI Studio for many years. Her paintings were recently featured in a solo exhibit at The Gallery at HAI. She recently participated in a panel discussion at North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, NC, on art and disability and is a member of the HAI Board of Directors.

The OUTSIDE IN - 2008 and HAI Outsider Art: SURVEY 2008 exhibitions

will continue thru July 13^th.

Gallery Hours are Friday 3-7, Saturday 1-6, and Sunday 1-4

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OUTSIDE IN - 2007

Outsider Art Show

Curated by James Tyler and Dean Lozow

The paintings and sculpture of twenty five self-taught ‘outsiders’ and American folk artists will be on display at the GAGA Arts Center as a part of this year’s GAGA Arts Festival.

“I’m very excited about this exhibition“, says GAGA’s new Executive Director and co-curator James Tyler. “We have some fantastic artists from up and down the east coast, many of them with national reputations within the ‘outsider’ art world. And with over eight thousand square of beautifully raw gallery space available, we will be able to display a real representative body of work from each of the participating artists. It’s just a natural fit for GAGA. People are going to love this show.”

Artists include: Matt Sesow, Mike Conner, Ted Ludwiczak, Bob Justin, Ross Brodar, Mike Jacobs, Stephen Anderson, Carmen C. Johnson, Carol Gelker, Gabriel Shaffer, Daniel Genova, Alison Silva, Toni Quest, Brendon Burke, Chezaraie Giuliano, John-Paul Quinones, Lacy Duhrssen, and Johns Hopkins. With a special installation by Gerbomatic.

The show is opening in conjunction with the 2007 GAGA Arts Festival, which is held every year at the Garnerville Arts and Industrial Center in Garnerville New York. Many of the artists will be at the festival and available to answer questions. There will also be music, film, open studios, and other exhibitions.

Event Date: Opening in conjunction with the

GAGA Arts Festival - Saturday June 9th and Sunday June 10th, 2007

Hours - 11 AM to 6 PM

End Date: The OUTSIDE IN exhibition will continue thru July 15th.

Gallery Hours are Friday 4-8, Saturday and Sunday 1-5

Call 845-947-7108 for more information.
Rivertown Magazine Article - June 2007