Author Archives: kitsmediatech

John Devlin

(1954 — )
John Devlin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He studied architecture at the Nova Scotia Technical College in the 1970s, moving on to Cambridge University, England, to study theology in 1979. He began creating art in 1984 while living at home with his parents. In 1989 he moved into a group home where he lives still.

Collections: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; Centre Pompidou, Paris; abcd/Art Brut Collection Bruno Decharme, Paris; Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne; Treger Saint Silvestre Collection, Portugal; Antoine de Galbert Collection, Paris.

J. P. Danys

(1966 — )
J. P. Danys lives in Ottawa, Ontario, where he repairs bicycles and creates art. A self-taught artist without a resume, little is known about his life. He painted punk rockers and street scenes of city life and made life-size human sculptures that filled his apartment. Unable to adhere to social conventions, Danys found acceptance at La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa.

Ethical issues in Outsider Art

There are important ethical issues in the outsider art world – most importantly, those concerning the artist’s consent for others to access their artwork. Although it is sometimes framed as an ethical issue it is, in fact, a legal issue. I am raising the topic here because I have been asked questions about practices that may infringe on the rights of artists who are vulnerable to exploitation.

Although the definition of an outsider artist varies from country to country, many reference an artist’s compromised mental health as a defining feature. Some communities include art made by artists with developmental disabilities in the category of outsider art. Laws concerning people with such diminished mental capacity varies from country to country, but there are undoubtedly laws to protect vulnerable people. While protection laws often relate to the person’s consent to care and medical treatment, they also apply to the person’s ability to consent to other things, including what happens to art they have created. In short, if an artist is suffering from a mental illness or developmental disability to such a degree that they cannot give informed consent to their artwork being viewed, exhibited, bought, or sold, then a legal guardian must consent on their behalf. (Informed consent means the person is able to understand what they are told and therefore capable of making a reasoned decision for themselves.)

Are all self-taught artists also outsider artists?

I am often contacted by artists who ask if they are an outsider artist because they are self-taught. The short answer is NO. Although outsider artists, particularly in the United States, are sometimes called “self-taught artists,” the international definition of an outsider artist goes far beyond their lack of training. In fact, in Europe, the artist’s deteriorating mental health may be a factor in categorizing their work. An artist’s lack of formal art training is only one characteristic of an outsider artist.

Many artists are self taught. For example, folk artists (like Canada’s Maude Lewis) are self-taught, but they are not outsider artists because they produce illustrative work, typically depicting the external world, like landscapes, animals, or people going about their daily activities. They are sometimes called naïve artists because their work is simple and direct. Like art hobbyists, they are proud to get recognition for their efforts and actively market their collection to the public.

Some mainstream contemporary artists (like Andrew Wyeth and Canadian painter, Matthew Wong) are self-taught. However, they are part of the contemporary art world because they engage in a dialogue with others in that world, like curators, critics, and other artists. They produce work that is recognizable, and recognized, by others within that system and to the public.

In contrast, outsider artists do not seek public recognition for their work. They are prolific creators who work in private. Creating art is a very solitary and personal pursuit for them; they have no interest in engaging in a dialogue about their work with other artists, supporters, collectors, gallerists, or academics. Their work is personal and highly individualistic. I think of it as a dialogue with themselves. Perhaps they are exploring personal issues or illustrating a private story.

The definition of outsider art is fully explored in chapter 3 of my book, Outsider Art of Canada available in bookstores and online.

Kevin House: Exhibition in Vancouver, BC

July 6 to 26, 2024
Outsiders and Others Gallery
716 East Hastings, Vancouver

kevin house

Kevin House is a featured artist in Outsider Art of Canada, by Linda Rainaldi, recently published by 5 Continents Editions, Italy. His upcoming exhibition is a book about a book that never got written, an artist who destroyed all of his paintings, photographs of sculptures of cameras that are not exactly cameras, the last ticket booth, letters to and from a star, conundrumology, and many more creations from the wild imagination of Kevin House.

Kevin’s work has been exhibited at the New York Outsider art fair, the college of Charleston where he was artist in residence, the Grunt gallery video screen and many others. His music has been in the top ten of the year at NPR radio and nominated for a Leo award for the soundtrack to the feature film “ Down River.“

Film about Maude Lewis

MAUDIE is a 2016 biographical film about the life of Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis. The film has been widely acclaimed in Canada and abroad, sparking a renewed interest in Lewis’s art. It has been nominated for several awards in Canada and Ireland.

Scottie Wilson

(1891-1972)
Scottie Wilson is an internationally-known Canadian outsider artist. He was born in London, moved to Glasgow, and left school at age 8 to sell newspapers and patent medicines on the street. He served in WWI. Little is known about Wilson until he turned up in Toronto, Ontario, in the 1930s. He eked out a living by selling odds and ends in a junk shop and began drawing with his special pen.

Scottie’s artwork is featured in many books and journals and held in many international collections, including the Collection de L’Art Brut, Lausanne; Tate Modern, London; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Roland Claude Wilkie

(1939-2017)
Born in Québec City in a family of five siblings, Roland Wilkie survived an abusive childhood; most of his youth was spent in foster care in Montreal. In his late teens, he returned to Québec City to live with his mother and stepfather. Wilkie voluntarily admitted himself for psychiatric treatment in 1995. Although he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, he declined drug treatment.

Serge von Engelhardt

(1913-2007)
The von Engelhardt family was displaced from Estonia after World War II and sought refuge in Germany. Serge von Engelhardt immigrated to Grand Prairie, Alberta, with his family in 1952 and eked out a living as a farmhand. They moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he worked at odd jobs and constructed a ceramics studio in his basement. They moved to BC in 1980, where he opened another studio to sell his ceramic work. While he sold some decorative items, von Engelhardt’s magnificent sculptures were never fully appreciated by the public.

Henriette Valium

1959-2021
Known professionally as Henriette Valium, Patrick Henley was a comic book artist and “painter of unsurpassed strangeness” based in Montreal, Québec. He started drawing as a child and gained recognition in the underground comic scene in Europe and North America at the start of his career in the 1980s. His outrageous and hallucinogenic style kept him from the mainstream comic book industry.

Henley won the Pigskin Peters Award at the 2017 Doug Wright Awards for his graphic novel Palace of Champions (Conundrum, 2016). His art has been published in numerous anthologies as well as his own books: 1000 It’s an Album Valium! (self-published, 1987); Primitive Cretin (self-published, 1994); Elle Est De Retour! (1989); Maladies (1991); The Clinical Visit (1995); La Prison Anale des Freres Rouges (1996); Curées Malades (2000); and Mother’s Heart (2000).

OUTSIDER ART OF CANADA