Insider / outsider Art: SeLections from bay area collections
AT THE BEDFORD GALLERY, WALNUT CREEK, September 22 – november 20, 2011
Public Reception: Thursday, September 22 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the gallery
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With performance by Pacific Chamber Jazz
Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Bedford kicks off its 2011-12 season with Insider / Outsider Art, a look at artwork from five prominent Bay Area collections. Inventive and uninhibited, Outsider art has become an umbrella term for genres such as pop culture, street art and ethnographic art; though some argue the term has been misused. Recognizing the debate around this term, the Bedford’s exhibition features a broad range of art and craft in variety of genres from naïve and memory painting to folk art. It also connects audiences with the “unschooled” artist who has abandoned or ignored traditional influences. Insider / Outsider Art presents over 300 artworks in a diverse range of media, and includes work by Howard Finster, Ted Gordon, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Esther Hamerman, Alex Maldonado, Dorothy Binger, Inez Walker, A.G. Rizzoli and Raymond Coins.
“In this exhibition we explore the work of artists who have had no formal training in art, and consider why they have followed their unique path in art-making” says Carrie Lederer, Bedford Gallery Curator of Exhibitions. “Many of the artists have achieved amazing success with their art, and museums and galleries nationally have embraced and supported their work with major exhibitions and catalogues. There are over 120 artists in Insider / Outsider Art and the artworks represent a broad range of styles and techniques from across the globe. My hope is that this exhibition will continue the current dialogue about what it means to be an Outsider artist in the context of the contemporary art-world.”
The Bedford has drawn work from the collections of Bonnie and Sy Grossman of The Ames Gallery, Terri De Salvo, Stephanie & Dennis McCaffrey, Linda and Tom Chauncey and John Turner. The pieces selected for Insider / Outsider Art represent a broad range of styles and techniques from across the globe. Through drawing, painting, sculpture, wood relief, tin cutouts, textile, collage and photography, viewers get a glimpse of these unique collections, some small and highly personal, and others that span over 30 years, cataloguing hundreds of works. For example, selections from John Turner’s large collection include Ted Gordon, a Kentucky-born artist who spent years in New York before moving to San Francisco in 1951. Gordon, who worked as a medical clerk in a VA hospital, is known for his compulsive style and his intricate, intense drawings of the human face.
Bonnie Grossman of The Ames Gallery has been collecting Outsider art for more than 30 years – work from her collection is featured prominently in this show. Her collection includes work by A. G. Rizzoli, a Marin born artist who worked for nearly 40yrs as a technical draughtsman in a San Francisco architecture firm. At night, Rizzoli created elaborate Beaux-Arts influenced drawings, his splendid monumental buildings were often intended as symbolic portraits of his friends and family. His visionary architectural drawings were only discovered after his death.
The stories of artists’ lives are, in many cases, as interesting and intriguing as their work. Audiences will learn about the lives of artists such as Inez Nathaniel Walker, a South Carolina-born farm and factory worker who received little formal education and began drawing while in prison. Walker’s colorful drawings of women with highly stylized hair-dos have intrigued collectors and art enthusiasts for years – many of her drawings are thought to be depictions of women she observed in prison.
The exhibition also features work from Howard Finster, an illustrious self-taught artist and preacher who lived and worked in the rural South. Finster created art out of anything he could find, including plywood, canvas, gourds, bottles and mirrors, and is known for his elaborate, highly detailed paintings that communicate his spiritual messages. The Bedford Gallery expects Insider / Outsider Art to stir some lively conversations – the term “Outsider” art and its definition by some as raw and naïve has been under debate in the art world.
SpEcial Events
Opening Reception for Insider / Outsider Art
Thursday, September 22, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
General admission $5; Free for Friends of the Bedford. Sponsored by the Diablo Regional Arts Association.
Visit www.bedfordgallery.org for further information on related events.
Guided Gallery Tours
School tours are $85 per group. Adult group tours are available by appointment.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Location: Bedford Gallery is located in the Lesher Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, four blocks south of the Walnut Creek BART station.
Telephone: 925/295-1417
Website: www.bedfordgallery.org
Admission: General $5; Youth (17 and under) $3; Children 12 and under, free; First Tuesdays are Free; Free for Friends of the Bedford, members of Diablo Regional Arts Association and ticket holders to events in the Lesher Center for the Arts (LCA) on ticketed date.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, Noon to 5:00 p.m.; and 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. on evenings when there are theater productions in the LCA. The Gallery is closed on Mondays
Bedford Gallery is a program of the City of Walnut Creek, and is supported with generous funding from the Lesher Foundation and the Diablo Regional Arts Association.
