Outsider art" has been attracting increasing attention in recent years.
Although it is common to define "outsider art" as art created by those who have not received specialized art education, let us take a look at the activities and works of "outsider artists" who have the power to transcend such formal distinctions.

What is outsider art?

As mentioned above, art works by people who have not received professional training in art are called "outsider art. The term "Art Burt" (French for "raw art") was originally coined by the 20th century French artist Jean Dubuffet.
Dubuffet gave the term "Art Brut" to the meticulous and enigmatic works created by mentally disabled patients living in mental hospitals. The term is therefore closely related to the category of art for the physically challenged.
Outsider art, which means "art by outsiders" in English, is a relatively newer term than Art Brut, and is sometimes used to refer not only to art by the physically challenged, but also to "art in general that has not been given much attention.

Uniqueness of Japanese Outsider Art

What makes outsider art unique?
Until now, it has been appreciated as a glimpse into the nature of human beings who are able to produce creative work without education, as it is often found in works of art that bear an uncanny resemblance to those of famous artists. In the West, since the time of Dubuffet, the image of "outsider art" as "the art of the mentally ill" has been firmly established.
In contrast, the reception of outsider art in Japan has been somewhat different.
The spread of outsider art in Japan can be traced to such events as the popular popularity of "Kiyoshi Yamashita" as "The Naked General," the "Able Art" movement, the enlightenment of Vincent van Gogh by psychiatrist and writer Ryuzaburo Shikiba, and the evaluation of architecture by a non-specialist named Nyashotei. In Japan, the art of Vincent van Gogh was accepted from its earliest days.
From the beginning of its reception in Japan, the image of the artist as a "character" with a particular way of life, often harsh and wandering, rather than as a work of art, has taken root.
This view is based on the same foundation as the view of art as something that makes the lives of the physically challenged more active from a welfare perspective.
According to Tadashi Hattori, a curator at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art and an expert on outsider art, this particular acceptance in Japan has led to critical discourse as overemphasizing its aspect as part of welfare activities rather than a pure art movement. From now on, the art world and the welfare industry need to further strengthen their cooperation and establish the concept of "outsider art" so that it can be popularized among a wider audience as contemporary art.

Works by Japanese Outsider Artists

Seiya Kishaba" persistently draws dots and letters

Moriya Kishaba has been obsessed with letters since he was a child.
In 2001, his works, which he had secretly accumulated in his room, were shown in an exhibition and immediately attracted attention both in Japan and abroad. In recent years, Kishaba, who continues to work at "Wakatake Art" in Urasoe City, Okinawa Prefecture, has shifted from drawing elements that used to fill the screen with Chinese characters to colorful dots and geometric forms, and has moved toward a more abstract expression.
Although the practice of filling the screen with dots is associated with the world-famous artist Yayoi Kusama, they arrived at similar expressions without referring to each other at all, and differences can be seen in more detailed elements such as the painting materials used and brush pressure. This has the effect of reminding us again of the intrinsic toughness of the human desire to paint and express something.

Chiyuki Sakaue, a blue drawing from the ancient world

Inspired by literature, music, and biology from the East and West, Chiyuki Sakaue is an artist who creates minute drawings, oil paintings, and sculptures reminiscent of primitive organisms and microorganisms from prehistoric times.
He is an artist with a unique appeal, expressing his inner world, which he describes as "having been given birth in the Precambrian Sea about 590 million years ago.
His works are created with watercolor, pencil, ink, crystal and lapis lazuli pigments on paper with blue as the base color, and are layered with diverse images. The exhibition "Parallel Visions: 20th Century Art and Outsider Art" (Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo), which was held in 1993, was the exhibition that most popularized "outsider art" in Japan, and since then his works have been introduced in various fields including contemporary art and Art Brut.

Takashi Masutsugu" continued to paint gentle shapes.

Takashi Shuji, a member of the well-known welfare art facility "Atelier Suzukake" in Hyogo Prefecture, used pastels to paint familiar objects such as flowerpots, hangers, and ornaments with simple forms but powerful brush strokes.
The restrained use of color, the technique of capturing only the silhouettes of objects rather than their volumes and textures, the breath of modification that can be felt in the margins, and the bold shapes that protrude from the canvas all add to the appeal of his work.
He produced more than 500 works during his lifetime, and at the time of his death, a solo exhibition was held at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, making him a highly acclaimed artist.

Takanori Helai" continues to draw diaries in a special script.

Takanori Herai kept drawing geometric patterns on a B5 sheet of photocopy paper that made no sense to other people, and the number of sheets reached about 1,000. The patterns were actually letters, a "diary" in which he wrote the date, day of the week, temperature, and what he did each day. He lived in an institution for the mentally handicapped, and his work was completely overlooked until one day it was discovered by a staff member who took note of the beauty of the patterns and patiently worked with him to decipher them piece by piece. The work is now in the collection of the Museum of Art Brut Collection in Switzerland.

Introduction of facilities where you can see works of outsider art

Borderless Art Museum NO-MA (Shiga Prefecture)

This is the first facility in Japan established for the exhibition of art works by physically challenged people.
Located in Nagahara-cho, Yawata District, which is also known as an important traditional cultural material preservation area in Omi Hachiman City, it is housed in the former Noma Residence built in the early Showa period, which was reconstructed as an alternative space. The art director is Yoshiko Hata, a picture book artist who has devoted herself to establishing a reputation for art brut / outsider art in Japan.
Borderless" reflects the facility's stance of supporting expressive activities that are not limited to art for the physically challenged, but rather cross a wide range of boundaries.

Hours: 11:00 - 17:00
Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday), exhibition change periods, year-end and New Year's holidays
Admission: General: 200 - 300 yen, High school and university students: 150 - 250 yen
Official Website

Herald Bonnie", a group that has been attracting attention, will hold an exhibition!

Herald Bonnie" is an experimental welfare unit whose mission is "Be different, be different. The experimental welfare unit "Herald Bonnie," whose mission is to "Let your color shine," will hold the exhibition "ART IN YOU," featuring 16 artists, at the Earth Garden on the 1st floor of the East Building of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The exhibition will run from May 20 to June 17, 2023.
Hiromi Kurosawa, curator of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, will curate the exhibition.
For more information about the exhibition, click here.



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