American Folk Art, American Outsider Art and American Self-Taught Art


Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Folk Art, American Outsider Art and American Self-Taught Art." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section.

After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.

We recommend that readers search within the TFAO website to find detailed information for any topic. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.

 

Articles and essays from Resource Library in chronological order:

2011-2016

2006-2010

2001-2005

1997-2000

 

Museums focusing on folk art:

American Folk Art Museum

American Visionary Art Museum is a museum dedicated to visionary artists

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University houses a sizable collection of self-taught art

Orange Show Center or Visionary Art

 

From other websites:

Against the Grain: The Works of Minnie Adkins is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2007 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

American Folk Art Museum presents online:

Accessed August, 2015.

The Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught and Outsider Art including book reviews, biographies of artists, and more. Accessed August, 2015.

Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor is a 2018 exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum which says: "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor situates Traylor as the only known artist enslaved at birth to make a significant body of drawn and painted work." Also see press release. Accessed 10/18

Compelled: Folk Art & Vision is a 2014 exhibit at Springfield Museum of Art which says: "Folk Art, Outsider Art and Visionary Art are terms used to describe the work of self-taught artists who are recognized for unique talents refined to a point of mastery. Self-taught artists have not pursued formal artistic training through a university or art school, nor have they worked extensively under an artist from the established art world. While some self-taught artists may deliberately sidestep the world or art academia, most of them lack access to formal art training due to economic, class, racial, health or geographic restrictions." Accessed 3/18

David Lucas is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2013 catalogs. Lucas is a Kentucky painter. Accessed April, 2016.

Detour Art has numerous biographies of outsider artists plus other resources. Accessed August, 2015.

"Don't Fence Me In": The Art of Daniel Watson, an exhibit held January 19 - June 23, 2007 at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Includes exhibit brochure. Accessed February, 2015.

Fever Within: The Art of Ronald Lockett is a 2017 exhibit at the Ackland Art Museum which says: "Birmingham, Lockett (1965-1998) was profoundly influenced by other self-taught African American artists in his closely knit community, including his cousin Thornton Dial (1928-2016), who mentored and encouraged him. Through his art, Lockett explored events in twentieth-century history that he sought to better understand; among them are acts of large-scale violence and terrorism such as the Holocaust, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building. He also grappled with emotionally-charged subjects such as racial and political tumult, including the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the unfulfilled promises of the Civil Rights Movement; environmental degradation; and religious faith." See press release. Read more from High Museum of Art article and Souls Grown Deep Foundation biography. Accessed 2/17

"The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman" is an August 5, 2016 book review in Maine Antique Digest for the book and exhibit Making it Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman held at the New-York Historical Society. The review says: "This exhibition is the first to consider the European roots of American folk art. The accompanying book, Making it Modern, is a catalog of the 200 pieces of folk art on view with seven thought-provoking essays. New-York Historical Society's vice president and museum director Margaret K. Hofer writes about how collecting became the all-consuming passion of the Nadelmans, a dashing couple who traveled in great style here and abroad with their children and nannies and in chauffeur-driven cars to amass a collection spanning six centuries and 13 countries."

Folk Art Society of America website. Accessed August, 2015.

"Great and Mighty Things": Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection, an exhibition from the Philadelphia Museum of Art held March 3, 2013 - June 9, 2013, from Philadelphia Museum of Art. Accessed August, 2015.

History of Tramp Art, by Clifford A. Wallach, from TrampArt.com. Accessed August, 2015.

"The History of Tramp Art" and "The History of Hobo Art" reprinted from the book Hobo and Tramp Art Carving: an authentic American folk tradition, by Adolph Vandertie with Patrick Spielman, from the website of Matt Lippa or Elizabeth Schaaf. Accessed August, 2015.

Horace Pippin: The Way I See It, an exhibit held April 19 - July 19, 2015 at the Brandywine River Museum of Art. Includes video. Accessed February, 2016

Improvisational Eye: Works on Paper by Self-Taught Artists is a 2018 exhibit at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts which says: "Some of the twentieth-century's most innovative artists, those now typically described as self-taught, reveled in the use of unusual and distinctive materials, many of which were not generally associated with the production of art."  Accessed 12/19

Inside the Outside: Five Self-Taught Artists from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation is a 2017 exhibit at the Baker Museum which says: "This exhibition features the work of five visual artists who operate within the genre of "self-taught art," a sweeping term applied to artists who, for various reasons, did not benefit from, nor were influenced by, a formal art education."  Accessed 4/17

Insider/Outsider Art: Selections from Bay Area Collections, an exhibit held September 18 - November 20, 2011 at The Bedford gallery · Lesher Center for the Arts, from Bedford gallery. Texts include press release. Accessed August, 2015.

IntuOutsiderArt is a private collection of outsider art with numerous online artists biographies. Accessed August, 2015.

Ken Grimes: ELUSIVE MESSAGES, an exhibit held January 19 - April 27, 2007 at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Includes exhibit brochure. Accessed February, 2015.

Krause & Spellman: Scenes from a Lost America  is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2011 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

LaVon Williams: Rhythm in Relief is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2009 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

The Legacy of Ferdinand A. Brader, an exhibit held December 4, 2014 - March 15, 2015 at the Canton Museum of Art. CMA says "This original retrospective exhibition showcases more than 40 graphite pencil drawings by Brader (1833-1901), a Swiss immigrant and itinerant folk artist who captured views of daily life on family homesteads and businesses during his travels through Pennsylvania (including Berks, Lancaster and Lebanon counties) and Ohio (including Stark, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Medina, Portage and surrounding counties). ... Brader's monumental drawings (30-by-40 inches and larger) -- using paper and graphite pencil, which were readily available at the time -- are dramatically accurate scenes, and they are mostly portrayed from an elevated perspective." Accessed February, 2016.

Linvel Barker: Works from the Collection of Rita Biesiot exhibit catalog is available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2012 catalogs. The exhibit was held July 19 through Oct. 27, 2012 at Morehead State University's Kentucky Folk Art Center. The Morehead News says: "The exhibition features more than 40 wood carvings by Elliott County folk artist. Barker, like many of his generation, had been a part of the great Appalachian outmigration during the two decades that followed World War II." Accessed April, 2016.

Making It Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman is a 2016 exhibit at the New-York Historical Society which says: "Influenced by the "peasant arts" of his native Poland and other European countries, Nadelman began collecting after immigrating to New York City in 1914. There he met and married the wealthy and cosmopolitan Viola Spiess Flannery (1878-1962) in 1919, with whom he collected American and European folk art with an all-consuming passion." Accessed 2/17

Mark Anthony Mulligan: You Must Withstand the Wind is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2005 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

Native Visions: Art by Folks was a 1990 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art which says: "Works in a number of media, including paintings and sculpture, weather vanes, toys, shop or trade signs, hooked rugs, quilts and furniture provide this special glimpse of our cultural heritage. By carefully looking at such objects, the observer can learn how Americans have spent their lives, both at work and play, throughout our history." Viewers may download the exhibition brochure. Accessed 1/17

Old World, New Country: The Art of Joseph Garlock, an exhibit held October 15, 2004 - January 15, 2005 at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Includes exhibit brochure. Accessed February, 2015.

Orange Show Center or Visionary Art website. Accessed August, 2015.

Outliers and American Vanguard Art is a 2018 exhibit at the National Gallery of Art which says: "Outliers and American Vanguard Art is the first major exhibition to explore those key moments in American art history when avant-garde artists and outsiders intersected, and how their interchanges ushered in new paradigms based on inclusion, integration, and assimilation." See press release including thumbnail images, audio from press event and checklist. Accessed 2/18

A Piece of Yourself: Gift Giving in Self-Taught Art is a 2019 exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum which says: "The exhibition explores American self-taught art and gift-giving practices through works selected from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM). It features more than forty drawings, paintings, quilts, and sculptures made between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries." Accessed 9/19

Purvis Young, Howard Finster, Charley Kinney & Echo McCallister is a 2010 exhibit at the Lehigh University Art Galleries which says: "The term Outsider Art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut. While  Dubuffet's term is quite specific, the English term Outsider Art is often applied more broadly, to include the self-taught, the Naïve, the visionary, the intuitive, the eccentric, the obsessive, the compulsive, as well as categories such as folk art, primitive art, tramp art, and prison art." Accessed 2/19

Ralph Fasanella: Lest We Forget, an exhibit held September 2 - December 1, 2014 at the American Folk Art Museum. Includes a lnk to a page about the Ralph Fasanella Collection and Archive at the American Folk Art Museum. Accessed January, 2014

Ralph Fasanella: Lest We Forget, an exhibit held May 2, 2014 - August 3, 2014 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Includes essays by Leslie Umberger and Ron Carver, illustrated checklist, online video and press coverage. Accessed April, 2015.

Rawvision.com article titled "What is Outsider Art" by Franz Gsellmann. Accessed August, 2015.

Red River: The Narrative Works of Edgar Tolson, Carl McKenzie, Earnest Patton, and Donny Tolso is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2010 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

Robert Morgan: The Age of Discovery is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2011 catalogs. Morgan is a sculptor using found objects. Accessed April, 2016.

The Roots of the Spirit: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas and Kevin Sampson, an exhibit held September 19th - November 26th, 2014 at the Wiegand Gallery at Notre Dame de Namur University. Includes press release and media coverage. Accessed August, 2015.

Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum, mini-website of nationally touring exhibition from the American Folk Art Museum. Includes related essays. Accessed February, 2016.

Shaker Gift Paintings, by Daniel W. Patterson, from Folkstreams. Accessed August, 2015.

A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America is a 2017 exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum which says; "A Shared Legacy showcases the extraordinary imagination and powerful design of American folk artists, some acclaimed and many unknown. Made primarily in New England, the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest, the works in the exhibition illuminate a vast diversity of expression, from paintings, sculpture and furniture to trade signs, samplers and ceramics. Iconic works by Edward Hicks, Ammi Phillips and other well-known artists are featured in the selection of paintings, which includes vivid still lifes, landscapes and portraits. Exuberantly painted furniture and fraktur (decorated manuscripts) from German American communities are an exhibition highlight." Also see images from American Folk Art Museum. Accessed 8/17

A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America is a 2014-15 exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum which says: "A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America offers a stunning presentation of American folk art made primarily in rural areas of New England, the Midwest, and the South between 1800 and 1920. More than sixty works of art, including still-life, landscape, allegorical, and portrait paintings, commercial and highly personal sculpture, and distinctive examples of art from the German-American community exemplify the breadth of American creative expression by individuals who did not always adhere to the academic models that established artistic taste in urban centers of the East Coast." Also see a 1/1/5 New York Times article. Accessed 3/17

Singular Visions: Images of Art Brut from the Anthony J. Petullo Collection, an exhibit held September 16 - December 31, 2005 at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Includes exhibit brochure. Accessed February, 2015.

Slow Time: The Works of Charley, Noah, & Hazel Kinney is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2006 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

Souls Grown Deep Foundation documents, researches, preserves, and exhibits the work of self-taught African American artists of the American South. Accessed August, 2015.

Southern Arizona Folk Arts from University of Arizona (University of Arizona Library). Accessed August, 2015.

St. EOM's Pasaquan: Past, Present, and Future was a 2016 exhibit at the Columbus Museum, which says: "Guest curated by Columbus State University (CSU) faculty and students, this exhibition offers an introduction to Pasaquan in Marion County, Georgia, and the work of Martin, who dubbed himself St. EOM, while also providing an in-depth analysis of the theme "past, present, and future." Also see St. EOM (1908-1986) from New Georgia Encyclopedia and Pasaquan from Kohler Foundation Inc. Accessed 10/16

Stephen Warde Anderson: Attention to Detail is a 2018 exhibit at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art which says: "This exhibition focuses primarily on the naissance of Anderson's career as an artist, during which time his portraits stand out as remarkably meticulous. Anderson's first paintings each took well over a year for him to finish, speaking to his intense attention to detail, as reflected in the show's title."  Also see artist's website.   Accessed 2/18

Steve Bormes: Deep Sea Imaginarium is a 2017 exhibit at the South Dakota Art Museum which says: "Outsider artist Steve Bormes of Sioux Falls creates illuminated sculptures from objects found as close to home as local antique and thrift stores and as far away as Turkey." Also see exhibit brochure  Accessed 1/18

Southern Folk Art from the Permanent Collection, April 28, 2012 - July 22, 2012 from Georgia Museum of Art. Accessed 3/14

Strange Horses is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2010 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann, an exhibit held June 06 - October 11, 2014 at the Missoula Art Museum. Includes video. Accessed March, 2015.

The Unbridled Paintings of Lawrence H. Lebduska  is a 2019 exhibit at the Mennello Museum of American Art which says: "This exhibition presents the rare opportunity to exhibit the notable paintings of Lawrence Lebduska, one of the most popular modern folk art painters of 1930s America. Lebduska?s dreamlands and invented gardens teem extraordinarily with life and optimism in a nostalgic, uncorrupted style that captured the admiration of the American public."   Also see reference by Smithsonian American Art Museum. Accessed 5/19

Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art, an exhibit held January 31-May 4, 2014 at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Includes 29-minute video "Possum Trot - The Work of Calvin Black." Accessed February, 2015.

The Visionary Works of the Reverend Howard Finster, an exhibit held March November 14 - January 10, 2016 at the Foosaner Art Museum. Accessed February, 2016.

2 x 20: Works by Kentucky's Finest Working Folk Artists is an exhibit catalog available for online viewing at the Kentucky Folk Art Center website on the page "Past Exhibition Catalogs" listed under 2012 catalogs. Accessed April, 2016.

We the People: American Folk Portraits is a 2017 exhibit at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum which says: "In this anniversary year, the Folk Art Museum celebrates with a new exhibition featuring a wonderful collection of American folk portraits.... On view will be images of children with their favorite pet or toy, companion portraits of husband and wife, and paintings of individuals. These early American folk portraits are treasured for their historical significance as well as their aesthetic appeal." Also see press release  Accessed 6/17

William L. Hawkins: An Imaginative Geography is a 2018 exhibit at the Figge Art Museum which says: "From his pictures of exotic wild animals to dramatic depictions of the major buildings in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, artist William Hawkins always wanted his pictures to sweep viewers off their feet." Also see information from Smithsonian American Art Museum and bio from Resource Library.  Accessed 10/18

Wonder, Whimsy, Wild: Folk Art in America, an exhibit held November 7, 2015 - February 28, 2016 at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Includes video tour of exhibit by American folk art collector Barbara Gordon. Accessed February, 2016.

 

The Indianapolis Museum of Art produced a video series titled Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, available online through ArtBabble. According to ArtBabble, "Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial highlights the artist's significant contribution to the field of American art and shows how Dial's work speaks to the most pressing issues of our time-including the war in Iraq, 9/11, and social issues like racism and homelessness. The exhibition presents 70 of Dial's large-scale paintings, drawings and found-object sculptures, including 25 works on view for the first time. Spanning twenty years of his work as an artist, it is the most extensive showing of his art ever mounted" Accessed June, 2015.

Kentucky Educational Television offers a series of 1/2 hour videos from Mixed, a weekly arts series starting in 2003. See: Program 723: Husband-and-wife folk artists Ronald and Jessie Cooper from Fleming County, the Leeds Center for the Arts in Winchester, and music by Louisville singer/songwriter Janis Pruitt. Accessed May, 2015.

Included in the Philadelphia Museum of Arts presentation for the exhibition "Great and Mighty Things": Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection, held at the Museum March 3 - June 9, 2013, is an eight minute online gallery tour narrated by Curator Ann Percy and Curatorial Assistant Cara Zimmerman. Descriptions of certain other exhibitions include similar videos. Accessed May, 2015.

PBS previously broadcast Egg: The Arts Show. A segment presents Manhattan's annual Outsider Art Fair features 32 galleries and hundreds of artists from around the world. For the past 8 years, the Puck Building in Manhattan's chic Soho neighborhood has opened its doors to city folk seeking out the most unique and creative works of Outsider Art. [Link found to be expired as of 2015 audit. TFAO is saving the citation for use by researchers.]

The Smithsonian American Art Museum produced a video titled Meet William Christenberry, available online through ArtBabble. According to ArtBabble, "From the American Art Museum at the Smithsonian Institution: Meet artist William Christenberry in his studio as he talks about his childhood inspirations growing up in Alabama. Working with found objects and constructing pieces based on memory, Christenberry describes his unique approach to art making." Accessed June, 2015.

The High Museum of Art produced a video titled FOLK ART (CONVERSATIONS WITH A CURATOR, EPISODE 1, available online through ArtBabble. According to ArtBabble, "Get an inside look at pieces in the High's Folk Art Collection. Personal insights are from Susan Crawley, the High's Curator of Folk Art. To learn more about Folk Art at the High, visit www.High.org/folkart" Also see Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4. Accessed June, 2015.

The WGBH/Boston Forum Network is an audio and video streaming web site dedicated to curating and serving live and on-demand lectures, including a number of videos on Art and Architecture. Partners include a number of museums, colleges, universities and other cultural organizations. See listings of related videos in this catalogue indexed by partner name. High Museum of Art partnered with the WGBH Forum Network for Voice and Vision in Southern Self-Taught Art with discussion by Susan Crawley, curator, High Museum of Art, Carol Crown, assoc professor, art history, U Memphis, Charles Russell, assoc director, Rutgers Institute and Charles Reagan Wilson, director, Center for Southern Culture. (1 hour, 24 minutes) The High Museum's Susan Crawley, associate curator of folk art, moderates a panel discussion inspired by Carol Crown and Charles Russell's recent publication Sacred and Profane: Voice and Vision in Southern Self-Taught Art. Noted scholars discuss self-taught art in a cultural context. [April 12, 2007] Accessed May, 2015.

PBS presents "Audio Tour: Henry Darger - Selected Works." Listeners take an interactive audio tour through several of Henry Darger's works, led by Brooke Davis Anderson, director and curator of the Contemporary Center at the American Folk Art Museum. From PBS. Accessed August, 2015.

 

DVD/VHS videos:

Beautiful Losers (2008), 90 minutes, IMDb says: "This documentary follows the lives and careers of a collective group of Do-it-yourself artists and designers who inadvertently affected the art world." Accessed August, 2015.

Boneshop of the Heart: Folk Offerings from the American South. Explores a rich vein of American individuality through incisive portraits of five contemporary southern folk artists four of whom are African American. Includes interviews with the folk artists Enoch Tanner Wickham, Charlie Lucas, Vollis Simpson, Thornton Dial Sr., Bessie Harvey, Lonnie Bradley Holley. 1990. 53 min. Video/C MM612. Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Collecting America: Folk Art and the Shelburne Museum. A 28 minute exploration of the thousands of American folk objects housed in Vermont's Shelburne museum. Narrated by Ann Sothern and hosted by John Wilmerding, the film plays homage to the craftsmanship of folk art. More than 100,000 art objects are housed in this unique museum dedicated to preserving American folk art history.

Earl Cunningham exhibition at the Orlando Musem of Art is a 26-minute VHS recording of the Earl Cunningham exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art. Features narration by, and recollections of collectors Michael and Marilyn Mannello.

Earl Cunningham: The Dragon of St. George Street from WFME is a 60-minute documentary that tells the story of Earl Cunningham. "Known as a primitive artist, Cunningham was essentially a self-taught memory painter who utilized a unique visionary technique to record his adventures as a wanderer and mariner. The program uses the ocean and nautical symbols and metaphors to characterize the art and the artist

Highwaymen: Florida's Outsider Artists, The is a 58 minute story of a group of young, untrained African-American landscape painters that emerged from the small central Florida town of Fort Pierce in the late 50s and early 60s. Segregation and racist attitudes of the time prevented them from working with traditional art galleries. Instead, they traveled throughout the state selling their paintings out of the trunks of their cars. The Highwaymen had no pretensions about their art. They saw themselves as craftsmen, painting pictures strictly to earn a living. They mainly painted Florida back-country scenes -- coastal savannahs, hardwood hammocks, lonely tannin-stained rivers... expansive skies, capacious clouds, using bold strokes of dramatic colors. Theirs is an inspirational story of ingenuity and entrepreneurship, and ultimately, of perseverance in the face of societal limitations.

Graffiti/Post-Graffiti. Explains the art style that evolved from graffiti spray-painted on subway surfaces to canvas paintings now hung in major art galleries. In this documentary of the early '80's movement, the viewer listens to the movers and shakers of this imaginative trend, and examines the Hip-Hop culture in action, traveling to the South Bronx where most of it started. Interviews: Charlie Ahearn, Patti Astor, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fred Brathwaite (Fab 5 Freddy), "Crash," Stefan Eins, Futura 2000, Keith Haring, Sidney Janis, "Lady Pink," Dolores and Hubert Neumann, Rammellzee and Tony Shafrazi. c1984. 28 min. Video/C 6323

Graffiti Verite: Read the Writing on the Wall. Los Angeles graffiti artists discuss the themes and motivations of their work, and how they evolved from taggers to artists. Several are shown at work on projects, indoors as well as outside. The history and significance of graffiti is addressed, as is its role in the Hip Hop culture. Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. c1995. 45 min. Video/C 4469 Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

GV2: Graffiti Verite 2 A follow-up film to the award winning documentary Graffiti Verite. Includes interviews with more graffiti artists and street scenes with over 400 tags, throw-ups and pieces of "street art" all presented to a backdrop of Hip Hop music. Includes coverage of the winning artwork of the First International Graffiti Art Competition. Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. 1998. 58 min. Video/C 5719 Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

GV3: Graffiti Verite 3 (The Final Episode). The Final Episode is a poetic voyage, a meditation, into the iconography of Graffiti art featuring an eclectic sound track as it's emotional and intellectual core. "GV3 is a compelling sensorial experience; shockingly honest and defiantly politically incorrect." Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. c2000. 54 min. Video/C 7118 Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

GV4: Graffiti Verite 4. Sano, two-time winner of the International Graffiti Art Competition, teaches this underground art form, by showing the concepts, aesthetics, techniques, and style needed to complete a perfect semi "Wild Style" masterpiece and aerosol art on canvas. Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. c2003. 67 min. DVD 2987 Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

GV5: Graffiti Verite 5: The Sacred Elements of Hip-hop Records a historic 4 day Hip-Hop Summer Workshop conducted at Metro High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Captures the excitement of this innovative workshop and what emerges is a portrait of the educational value and liberating therapeutic power contained within the unique elements of the contemporary hip-hop movement. Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. c2003. 42 min. DVD 2988 Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Portrait of George Hardy. In this 30 minute Gabriel Coakley 1995 program we meet George Hardy, an elderly self-taught artist, living on the island of Deer Isle, Maine. Born on Deer Isle in 1917, Hardy has continued to live there ever since. After making a living as a mason, he began his career in folk art at the age of 60. Isolated from art trends, with no formal training and only a seventh-grade education, his work is concrete, raw, and direct. His sculpture is very much a part of his environment. From his roughened hands come the energized versions of wooden porcupines, tigers, red foxes with alligator teeth, blue howling coyotes, seagulls, and song birds. View a clip of the video here.

School's Out: Self-Taught Artists is a 28 minute L&S Video hosted by Anna Deavere Smith, created and produced by Linda Freeman and written and directed by David Irving. .Grandma Moses is played by Priscilla Pointer. Bill Traylor is played by Ossie Davis. William Hawkins is played by Geoffrey Holder. "Self-taught Artists" is a category of painters who never attended art school. These three artists create paintings because they were compelled to do so. In the video, each artist's art and life is explored with the insightful commentary of several guests: Lee Kogan, Director of the Folk Art Institute, Museum of American Folk Art; Roger R. Ricco, of the Ricco/Maresca Gallery; Jane Kallir, Co-Director of Galerie St. Etienne, NY; Bob Greenberg, Collector. Throughout the video, there are discussions meant to help define the term "Self-taught Artist", and the differences between Folk Art and so called "Outsider Art" are explored. Parallels are drawn between the work of these artists and the art movements of their times, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, and the other modern art "schools".     Qualities that each of these artists have conveyed are self-confidence and a basic belief in what they were doing was meaningful. The video offers an inspiring, uplifting, yet "down to earth" account of these three important American Artists. ISBN 1-882660-18-8

To Be Seen: Street Art. Documentary on street art and the cultural and political significance of this form of artistic expression. The subculture of street art is significant because it is an embodiment of subversive content and a form of public expression, a form of media and a means of political and social protest. Integrates interviews with street artists and others, looking at who is making street art and why, and also investigates the public's perception of this work. 2006. 30 min. DVD 5143. Available from the Educational Distribution service of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) which has distributed high quality works by and about Asians and Asian Pacific Americans, since 1986, to educational institutions, libraries, community organizations, government agencies, film and art centers, and television.

Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy Of African-American Craft is a video available through the Sullivan Video Library at The Speed Art Museum which holds a sizable collection of art-related videos available to educators at no charge.

Uncommon Folk is a documentary film which focuses on seven South Carolina folk artists. The film, produced by the state television network, is a joint partnership with South Carolina ETV and South Carolina State Museum. The film premiered at the State Museum on Feb. 26, 2011.

TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format

 

Books:

Arnett, Paul and Arnett, William S. Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf. Tinwood Books, 2000

Arnett, Paul and Arnett, William S. Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 2: African American Vernacular Art. Tinwood Books, 2001

Axelrod, Alan and Harry Oster. The Penguin Dictionary of American Folklore. Penguin Reference, 2000

Bonner, Simon J. American Folk Art: A Guide to Sources. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1984:

Ruth Keene, James O. Keene. American Folk Arts from the Collection of Ruth and James O. Keene Published 1960 by Detroit Institute of Arts. 40 pages.

Livingston , Jane and Beardsley, John. Black Folk Art in America 1930-1980. University Press of Mississippi, 1989

Merger, George H. (editor). Folk Artists Biographical Index. Detroit: Gale, 1987

Percy, Ann and Zimmerman, Cara, "Great and Mighty Things": Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection, Yale University Press, 2013, 288 pages

"Great and Mighty Things": Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection

Rosenak, Chuck and Jan. Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. At Abbeville Press website look in subject categories for "American Art," Go to Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide for view of Table of Contents, Text Excerpt [Introduction].

Rosenak, Chuck and Jan. Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. New York: Abbeville Press, 1990

Sellen, Betty - Carol. Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000.

Richard J. Wattenmaker, Alain G. Joyaux, American Naive Paintings: The Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch Collection : Flint Institute of Arts, December 6, 1981-January 24, 1982 The Institute, 1981 - 95 pages

Wilson, Charles Reagan, and William Ferris (editors). "Arts and Crafts." (by John Michael Vlach). Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989

 

TFAO extends appreciation to Daniel Alpaca Gold for suggesting information for this topic.

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