In a piece I am currently writing, La Paperie, I am
documenting the journey I made to find my path as a writer. Along the way, I discovered that there are many
attributes needed to be a writer, and for me, there is something that is very
important: a need to cultivate
curiosity. As the Swiss psychologist and
philosopher Jean Piaget stated, an artist should retain the curiosity of a
child; I agree. An artist/writer should
be curious about the world/other realities, people/places and learn to ‘Deeply
See,’ as the artist, Alex Grey says in his book: The Mission Of Art. And so, this week-end I went to view: Souzou:
Outsider Art From Japan at The Welcome
Collection, Euston Road, London, is which is the ‘free destination for the
incurably curious.’
Outsider Art is a term inspired by French artist Jean
Dubuffet’s theory of ‘art brut,’ meaning ‘raw art’ and coined by the British
academic Roger Cardinal in 1972, as an internationally recognised term. Outsider Art is work made by artists working
outside the academy, artistic practice that is created for the sake of creation
alone and without an audience in mind, by artists perceived to be living on the
margins of mainstream society, often living in specialist care institutions.
The 46 artists in Souzou have been diagnosed with a
variety of mental illnesses and their work follows the philosophy of artist
Kazuo Yagi, that is, it is key to an individual’s identity and self-expression
to be able to produce any art objects/works/texts as they please, with no intervention into the
creative process. The exhibition is
presented in 6 overlapping sections which ‘invite us to explore the processes
of making, meaning and the larger social and cultural context of Outsider Art
in Japan.’ (Shamita Sharmacharja, curator)
My favourites were the sections on Language and
Relationships. The works displayed by
Takanori Herai bypass linguistic conventions to an empowering effect; the
diaries displayed are composed of abstract shapes which record his daily life.
Whilst Toshiko Yamanishi, creates kaleidoscopic love letters to her mother,
using movement and colour in lieu of words .
In the work of Megumi Matsui, the special memories he is unable to
express verbally, such as attending his friend’s wedding, are represented by a
cake sculpture. Takako Shibata and
Sakiko Kono examine the ways that artists depict themselves and their
multifaceted relationships with other people.
For both of these artists scale becomes a measure of the strength of
emotion and love they experience for their subjects; life sized dolls represent
an absent mother and the staff in the residential facility which has been
home. Whereas Takahiro Shimoda’s pyjamas
festooned with his favourite food, fried chicken, (eat your heart out Lady
Gaga) presents a vibrant and entertaining vision of self.
This exhibition is poignant, thought provoking and
‘different’; it gives the viewer an insight into a ‘different’ mind, a ‘different’
culture. Who knows, I may find myself
writing a text which explores what it means to be an Outsider Artist living in
Japan, maybe not, but the exhibition is enriching and made me , the viewer, see
the world differently, another attribute an artist/ writer should aspire to
cultivate too.
