Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet, currently on view at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, focuses on two events seminal to the introduction of art brut to an American audience. The first was a 1951 speech given by the French artist Jean Dubuffet to the Arts Club of Chicago entitled “Anticultural Positions.” Displayed in full at the museum, the[…..]
As we continue our look back over the year, today’s Best of 2014 selection comes from Kara Q. Smith, the managing editor of our partner site Art Practical. Kara writes, “Lia Wilson’s review of Self Taught Genius gives attention to an oft-overlooked, or mis-represented, area of contemporary art (not to mention venue). Lia engages directly with the larger contexts surrounding not only the art, but the exhibition[…..]
Self-Taught Genius seeks to frame the collection of the American Folk Art Museum as an archive of the culture of self-education in the United States. The exhibition’s organizers draw their interpretation of the word “genius” from roots in the Enlightenment and Romanticism, embracing a definition that underscores the potential in all human beings for exceptional creativity, intuition, and insight. The use of the term “self-taught” embeds[…..]
