The Invention of >Outsider Art<: Experiencing Practices of Othering in Contemporary Art Worlds in the UK

by Marion Scherr

Overview

What does it mean to be called an ›Outsider‹? Marion Scherr investigates structural inequalities and the myth of the Other in Western art history, examining the role of ›Outsider Art‹ in contemporary art worlds in the UK. By shifting the focus from art world professionals to those labelled ›Outsider Artists‹, she counteracts one-sided representations of them being otherworldly, raw, and uninfluenced. Instead, the artists are introduced as multi-faceted individuals in constant exchange with their social environment, employing diverse strategies in dealing with their exclusion. The book reframes their voices and artworks as complex, serious and meaningful cultural contributions, and challenges their attested Otherness in favour of a more inclusive, all-encompassing understanding of art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783837662504
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Series:	Image
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.45(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marion Scherr, born in 1988, is an artist, art therapist and cultural anthropologist based in Berlin. She obtained her doctorate from Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg after spending several years working in charities and open ateliers for artists with disabilities and mental illnesses in the UK. Her research focuses on the discursive construction of ab/normality, Othering processes and stigmatisation of artists experiencing marginalisation.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter 1
Contents 5
1. Introduction 7
2. Methodology and Research Design 21
3. Theoretical Contextualisation of 'Outsider Art' in Cultural Anthropology 33
4. Historical Readings and Discursive Genealogies of 'Outsider Art' 49
5. Contemporary Discourses and Media Representations of 'Outsider Art' in the UK 117
6. Introducing the Individual Behind the 'Outsider' 147
7. Conclusion 243
References 267
Media Sample Listed by Source 287
List of Figures 297
Acknowledgments 301