THIS IS THE PLACE FOR DISCOVERIES AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE MOST INVENTIVE ART FORMS – ALL KINDS OF ART THAT IS FAR-OUT, FANTASTIC, FREE-SPIRITED, FUN, FUNKY, PHENOMENAL AND GOOD FOR THE SOUL. (MAMA CALLED IT SUI GENERIS)
SUBSCRIBE, BABY. RIGHT NOW!

RUN, DON'T WALK, TOWARD THE POSSIBILITY OF A WORLD IN WHICH AN EPIDEMIC OF LOVE, PEACE, AND UNDERSTANDING HAS BROKEN OUT AND IS INFECTING EVERYONE WITH IRRESISTIBLE VITALITY. AS THE ARTIST YOKO ONO ADVISES, “THINK PEACE. ACT PEACE. SPREAD PEACE. IMAGINE PEACE.” WE CAN GO FOR THAT.

IN THIS ISSUE, DON'T MISS THESE FEATURES
Editor’s Letter
What the heck is brutjournal?
by Edward M. Gómez
Jamaica
A teller of fantastic tales about his wildly imagined background — prize-winning boxing matches, long rides with John Wayne and Hollywood cowboys — the artist Ras Dizzy (circa 1932-2008) was one of the most important of the Jamaican Intuitives. An exclusive look at the artist’s works in a unique private collection.
Connecticut, USA
The artist Rob Ober, an American diplomat’s son, grew up in many different parts of the world. His paintings reflect his direct, authentic approach to his subject matter and his art-making: it feels impulsive and, as the artist says, unfiltered by any ideology.
Dallas, Texas, USA
The self-taught artist Valton Tyler (1944-2017) created remarkable, hard-to-classify oil paintings, drawings, and etchings. Was his art techno-baroque or some kind of surrealism on steroids? Watch the film Valton Tyler: Flesh is Fiction (2017), made by Edward M. Gómez and Chris Shields. Available here, free of charge, in its entirety, along with an introductory article.
A BIG, BOLD NEW BOOK: FRANÇOIS JAUVION’S TRIBUTE TO ART BRUT AND OUTSIDER ART MASTERS
In 2020, the French artist François Jauvion’s large-format book L’imagier singulier was published. It featured his own illustrations and texts by various specialists about the lives and accomplishments of numerous art brut and outsider artists. Now, a second volume of Jauvion’s big opus is here. See our overview of L’imagier singulier, Tome 2. Free access.
Read More
MAGALI HERRERA: SOUL COSMOS, FROM A TRANCE
The Uruguayan Magali Herrera (1914-1992) started making art around 1952. By the early 1960s, she was painting regularly, often in a trance. In Paris in the late 1960s, she discovered art brut and began corresponding with the French modern artist Jean Dubuffet. Now, an exhibition of Herrera’s abstract drawings is on view at the Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland. Coming soon.
ROB OBER: NO IDEOLOGY, PLEASE. THIS ART IS REAL.
“I am suspicious of art informed or directed by ideas or any ideology,” the American artist Rob Ober says. Keeping it real, authentic, shot through with a real pulse, and wildly colorful, Ober’s work feels irresistibly spontaneous and fresh. See. React. Paint. Here, the artist, who grew up all over the place, shares some thoughts about his art. Note to self: We’re in love with those gators.
Read More
JAMAICAN INTUITIVES: IT’S RAS DIZZY’S WORLD
Ras Dizzy (circa 1932-2008) was one of the most important of the Jamaican Intuitives, a group of self-taught artists whose works began to earn recognition in Jamaica in the late 1970s and notably contributed to shaping a sense of the postcolonial, independent island country’s national cultural identity. A selection of Dizzy’s works from a unique private collection.
Read More
THE ROMANCE OF RUBBISH: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE CREATOR GATARO
The artist known as “Gataro” works as a janitor in a shopping center in Hiroshima, Japan. Working on assorted scraps of paper, he makes vivid drawings of dust balls, brooms, and his surroundings using only found materials. Nobumasa Kushino, a leading promoter of Japanese art brut, introduces Gataro’s work. Coming soon.