What is Outsider Art?Although the roots of Outsider Art can be traced back thousands of years, it is most useful to look back to its most recent precursor, art brut (Raw Art) to hear the most vital articulations of its true spirit. In his 1947 manifesto, French artist and curator Jean Dubuffet coined the term art brut as follows: "We understand by this term works produced by persons unscathed by artistic culture, where mimicry plays little or no part (contrary to the activities of intellectuals). These artists derive everything...from their own depths, and not from the conventions of classical or fashionable art."

In his 1972 book championing art brut, Roger Cardinal called it Outsider Art: "I believe that a paramount factor in the critical definition of the creative Outsider is that he or she should be possessed of an expressive impulse and should then externalize that impulse in an unmonitored way which defies conventional art-historical contextualization."

Dubuffet and Cardinal were writing primarily about extremely marginalized European artists: psychotics, mediums, and eccentrics. This has caused the common misconception that Outsider Art is essentially pathological, when in fact the central characteristic shared by Outsiders is simply their lack of conditioning by art history or art world trends.

Over the years, the parameters of Outsider Art have expanded dramatically to include art made by a wide variety of art-makers who share this common denominator of raw creativity. Outsiders come from all walks of life, from all cultures, from all age groups.

In recent years, Outsider Artists may have even come to outnumber Insider Artists who have achieved critical validation within the elite art world, and yet who speak with increasingly less clarity and relevance to us about the human experience. Dubuffet's description of officially recognized art has never been more relevant: "everyone immediately sprinkles it with champagne, and lecturers lead it from town to town with a ring through its nose. This is the false Monsieur Art."

ExhibitorsAmerican Primitive Gallery New York, NY The Ames Gallery Berkeley, CA Arte del Pueblo New York, NY Galerie Bonheur St. Louis, MO Galerie Bourbon-Lally Pétionville, Haiti Henry Boxer Gallery Richmond Hill, United Kingdom Chris Byrne Dallas, TX Cavin-Morris Gallery New York, NY J. Compton Gallery Wimberley, TX Creative Growth Art Center Oakland, CA Andrew Edlin Gallery New York, NY Een Nieuwe Wind Goes, The Netherlands Galeria Estação São Paulo, Brazil Fleisher / Ollman Gallery Philadelphia, PA Fountain Gallery New York, NY Garde Rail Gallery Austin, TX Fred Giampietro Gallery New Haven, CT Gilley's Gallery Baton Rouge, LA The Good Luck Gallery Los Angeles, CA C. Grimaldis Gallery Baltimore, MD The Gallery at HAI Long Island City, NY Carl Hammer Gallery Chicago, IL Marion Harris New York, NY Hirschl & Adler Modern New York, NY Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery London, United Kingdom Indigo Arts Gallery Philadelphia, PA Galerie L'Inlassable Paris, France Institute 193 Lexington, KY Kent Fine Art New York, NY Jackie Klempay Gallery New York, NY Gallery Kogure Tokyo, Japan Yukiko Koide Presents Tokyo, Japan Lindsay Gallery Columbus, OH Louis B. James New York, NY Pan American Art Projects Miami, FL The Pardee Collection Iowa City, IA Gallery Hervé Perdriolle Paris, France Polad-Hardouin Gallery Paris, France Pure Vision Arts New York, NY Raw Vision Watford, United Kingdom Ricco / Maresca Gallery New York, NY Rizomi Art Brut Turin, Italy Luise Ross Gallery New York, NY Galerie St. Etienne New York, NY Judy A. Saslow Gallery Chicago, IL Shrine Brooklyn, NY Tanner Hill Gallery Chattanooga, TN Webb Gallery Waxahachie, TX Winter Works on Paper Brooklyn, NY Ernie Wolfe Gallery Los Angeles, CA