Celebrating art made by autodidacts situated, by choice or circumstance, on the margins of culture and society.
Martín Ramírez
Posted inArt
Talking About the Challenges and Benefits of Arts Programs for Prisoners
Activists, artists, and community organizers at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles discuss the purposes, challenges, and benefits of arts programs for prisoners.
Posted inNews
LA’s New Contemporary Art Museum Celebrates a Flexible, Collectionless Model
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, located in a converted clothing factory on the edge of the Arts District, officially opens on September 9.
Posted inBooks
Humanizing an “Enigma”: A New Book Illuminates Martín Ramírez’s Life and Art
What is known with certainty about an artist’s life story can undoubtedly shed the light of understanding on his or her achievements and legacy. But what happens when authoritative historical documents, personal letters, photos, diaries and other materials have not been consulted or are scarce or even non-existent?
Posted inArt
At Martín Ramírez Opening, A Defense of Immigrant’s Rights and Outsider Art
Blue chip, outsider artist Martin Ramirez was memorialized this past Thursday evening in Chelsea with the unveiling of a United States postage stamp.
Posted inOpinion
Do We Still Need to Defend Outsider Art?
Apparently we do. From an art critic, of all people.
In last week’s Village Voice, critic Christian Viveros-Faune wrote what would have been a great review of the current Llyn Foulkes retrospective at the New Museum — if he hadn’t started the piece with an inexplicable three-paragraph screed against outsider art.
Posted inOpinion
What Does “Outsider Artist” Even Mean?
A post by my fellow editor Kyle Chayka got me thinking about the “outsider artist” designation and the different ways people define it.