The 28th Annual New York Edition of the Outsider Air Fair will take place from January 16-19 at the Metropolitan Pavilion. New features this year include a redesigned floor plan and revamped cafe’, various curated projects, special programs, and first-time exhibitors from Japan, India, Portugal, Canada and various U.S. cities. The Fair will include 65 exhibitors, representing 35 cities, from 10 countries, with 10 first-time galleries.
Among the first-timers are ACM Gallery (Tokyo, Japan); Arushi Arts (New Delhi, India); bG Gallery (Santa Monica, Ca); Les Impatients (Montreal, Canada); Koelsch Gallery (Houston, Tx); Kushino Terrace (Hiroshima, Japan); MANICÓMIO (Lisbon, Portugal); Stephen Score (Beacon, Ma) and Howard Greenberg Gallery NYC, who will have a solo booth featuring work by American street photographer Vivian Maier.
A special project wall of 500 “bogus cinderella” postage stamps ~ stamps created for fictional states to declare their existence, but which hold no postage value ~ is curated by Laura Steward (Curator of Public Art at the University of Chicago). The stamps offer a unique glimpse into an alternative United Nations of 25 “bogus” states. They are largely drawn from the former collection of Jim Czyl (1947-2014), who wrote the “Cinderella Scene” column in Linn’s Stamp News from 1982 until his death.
From the Perspective of a Child is an exhibition of artworks from the permanent collection of the Children’s Museum of the Arts (CMA), which houses over 2,000 artworks by child artists from over 50 countries. On view are selected pieces from the Kuniyoshi Collection, a portion of CMA’s permanent collection representing young artists who participated in the Federal Art Project (FAP), part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created in the 1930s.
The artist Isidor lives and works on the street in Paris, where he salvages boards from abandoned furniture found in the neighborhood’s waste bins and procures his other materials from the famed art supply store Sennelier. When asked about the price of his works, the artist always gives the same reply ~ “De vote possible” (Pay what you can). During this year’s Outsider Art Fair, Isidor’s works will be offered for sale in the same manner. It will be the buyer who sets the price. All the profits from New York sales will be paid in full to the artist. This approach is not simply a means of supporting and paying tribute to Isidor, but also a way of returning to the origins of Art Brut.
In addition to the art, Outsider Art Fair will offer OAF Talks, with a program organized and moderated by Bill Arning (curator and contemporary art advisor), Just Don’t Call It Practice!, which deals with the professionalization of art and its ramifications for our culture. It will address the market realities, language, and criticism that can make artists less adventurous, while considering the way that Outsider Artists tend to be less concerned with critics, curators, collectors, and other art-world conventions. Participants include Marilyn Minter (artist), Lonnie Holley (artist), and Laura Hoptman (Executive Director, The Drawing Center). The talk takes place Tuesday, January 14 at 6:30pm at the New Museum.
The Fair is pleased to continue its partnerships with Raw Vision Magazine, the American Folk Art Museum, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Intuit, and beneficiary God’s Love We Deliver.
The Outsider Art Fair will take place at The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, NYC, and run from January 16 – 19th.
Looks exciting!