The contribution of outsider and folk artists to Aotearoa's visual heritage, and their diversity, is being increasingly recognised as exhibitions attract media interest.

New Zealand actor and writer Jo Randerson is raising awareness of an aspect of “outsider art” that has not received much particular attention before—the work of artists who have experienced mental health issues.

Randerson is developing an exhibition of works by artists who have dealt personally with mental illness, to be shown at the NewDowse gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. While Randerson is reluctant to label those with an alternative vision as being “ill”, artists are more likely than non-artists to be diagnosed with psychiatric conditions.

In his book Going Sane (New York, Harper Collins, 2005), psychoanalyst Adam Phillips warns that the language of mental health can carry moral and political overtones. He writes of a spectrum of sanity, ranging from superficial sanity, (“a triumph of conformism over idiosyncrasy”), to deeper and more situation-specific versions.

Randerson observes that “mental health is a continuum we’re all on.”

Artists who have experienced mental health issues are often counted among “outsider artists”, those on the periphery of mainstream art and often without formal training, who develop their own way of seeing. Henry Darger, the north Chicago recluse who produced the epic Realms of the Unreal, is one of the best-known outsider artists.

Some outsider artists, not all, are engaged in “folk art”, meaning that they draw upon crafts and traditions that have been passed through the generations as inspiration for their work.

Outsider Art in New Zealand

There has been a community of supporters for New Zealand outsider art for some time, but indications are that it is growing. Martin Thompson, whose work was included in the “Obsessive Drawing” exhibition in the New York American Folk Art Museum and is acquiring international recognition, has been the subject of television and print media attention. Sue Gardiner, in an award-winning article in Art News New Zealand, describes the careers of Thompson, and other New Zealand artists such as Andrew Blythe, Rolfe Hattaway and Jim Dornan.

In December, 2007, the Outside-In Gallery, an initiative of Arts Access Aotearoa, was opened to make the work of artists from marginalized groups available to government and private sector offices. The artworks will be available as loans with an option to buy.

Special Characteristics of Outsider Art

Adjectives to describe outsider art frequently include “unorthodox”, “vivid” and urgent”. In an article in the Wellingtonian (March 27, 2008), Randerson said she was keen to promote artists who are “a little bit on the edge”, and “unencumbered by the things like artistic context and fashion.”

New Zealand curator Stuart Shepherd uses the term “self-taught and visionary art” to describe work by people with no formal art training, where a visual language has been developed, and “that is the manifestation of a personal logic”. He has identified thirteen categories of such work, ranging from geometry to symbolism and spirituality.

Motivated by a desire to promote the work of outsider artists and remove any stigma against them, galleries such as the Dowse (now the NewDowse) and the Sarjeant Gallery (in Wanganui, New Zealand) have mounted a number of exhibitions over the last several years.

On the face of it, exhibiting in mainstream galleries the work of artists who are defined by their alternative edge seems paradoxical, and something to be sensitively managed. But without such efforts, New Zealanders (and art-lovers internationally) might miss out on an important part of their visual culture.