Outsiders, naive and autodidacts

The Haifa Museum of Art will be opening the first ever Outsider Art exhibition (also known as Art Brut) in Israel in January 2013.
The exhibition will present works of self-taught individuals who worked in the outer circles of the art world and at times in the outskirts of society as well. They began creating art at some stage of their life, usually as an inner compulsion and at some point were discovered by an "insider" - an artist collector, curator or psychologist.
The aim of the show is to point out this fascinating phenomenon of people who didn't recognize themselves as artists, but created art (which) that is both powerful and beautiful.
Outsider Art has been internationally acclaimed as early as 1922 and has been revived in the last years through writings and numerous exhibitions worldwide.
The art world shifted its gaze towards this unique art, which carries an international character, yet possesses a personal imprint and language, which emphasizes the necessity, almost compulsive need, to create.
There is a similarity and common denominator between the works, regardless of the difference between the artists and their biographies. They are all characterized by a colorful, condensed and obsessed manner.

The exhibition will include works by Classical Outsider artists, none of them have ever been shown in Israel - Henry Darger, Martin Ramirez, Adolf Wölfli, Aloïse, Hauser, Carlo Zinnelli, Bill Traylor, Minnie Evans, William Hawkins and Sam Doyle. All of the works are loaned from museums and private collections.

Along with them we are planning to show works by major Israeli Autodidact artists, including Gabriel Cohen, Shalom of Safed (The Watchmaker of Safed), Moshe Elnatan, the Naive Haifa artists, Natan Haber, Shimshon Lamberger, Menachem Messinger and more.

The exhibition at the Haifa Museum of Art will allow the Israeli audience a first time encounter with this wonderful, unique and moving art in a broad format, both international and local.