brutjournal – outsider art • art brut • the unclassifiable • the avant-avant-garde

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!

IN MANY PARTS OF THE PLANET, THIS SUMMER HAS BEEN A RECORD-BREAKING HIGH-TEMPERATURE SEASON. DID SOMEONE SAY IT’S HOT, HOT, HOT? EVEN AS WE STRIP DOWN TO OUR PANTIES TO STAY COOL AND GET OUR WORK DONE, OUR CREATIVE ENERGY KEEPS HEATING UP. IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE: ENCOUNTERS WITH NUMEROUS ARTISTS AND THINKERS WHOSE COLLECTIVE MOJO IS ON FIRE — AND IRRESISTIBLY INSPIRING.

IN THIS ISSUE, DON'T MISS THESE FEATURES

Editor’s Letter

What the heck is brutjournal?
by Edward M. Gómez

To Governors Island, during the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Romanian-born artist Ella Veres brought wit and a sense of urgency to her “Earth Burial” performance-art event. Save the planet, okay?!

We catch up with the artist Stuart Shepherd, who recently found himself catching up with his muses following an overseas trip that resulted in bountiful work sessions in a temporary studio.

Photomachinées, a first-ever exhibition of vernacular photography at the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, showcases many decades of picture-making by anonymous shutterbugs and manipulators of photo images.

DARKNESS INTO LIGHT: THE ART OF MICHEL NEDJAR

An emblematic creator of art brut, the French artist Michel Nedjar makes mixed-media dolls, paintings, and drawings whose spirit emerges from the depths of the psyche. An exhibition at the Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland focuses on his long career. See our chat with curator Aniz Zanzi. This is a free-access article.

FOR THE LOVE OF CARDBOARD: JOE CARCARY CUTS IT UP AND THEN CLEVERLY REIMAGINES AND REBUILDS

Our London-based artist-correspondent, Cathy Ward, checks in with the artist Joe Carcary, whose studio is also located in the British capital, and who has been using corrugated cardboard in inventive, sculptural ways, both exploiting and revealing its character and seemingly limitless expressive potential.

BILL ADAMS’ “INSURRECTIONS”: THIS TIME, THE REVOLUTION WILL BE PAINTED

A current of anxiety and disquiet pulses through the work of the American artist Bill Adams, who makes paintings, drawings, and porcelain objects. His messages are wrapped up in satire, whimsy, and upturned symbolism, but his concern about the events and spirit of our time is urgent — and heartfelt.

BIG MESSAGE IN A THOUSAND BOTTLES: THE EARTH IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE PLANET!

The New York-based, Romanian-born artist, writer, and performer Ella Veres has just presented her cheecky-serious “Earth Burial” performance-art event over the Labor Day weekend on a grassy stretch of Governors Island in New York Harbor. Long live Mother Earth!

IN NORTHERN ENGLAND, THE ART OF SALLY TAYLOR: CARDBOARD, MEET PAINT, EMOTION, AND MEMORY

In a summertime, multi-artist exhibition at The Blacksmith’s Shop Gallery in a small town near York, in northern England, the British artist Sally Taylor’s mixed-media, abstract works made with repurposed cardboard stood out with their bold colors and strong sense of design and composition. Report by Cathy Ward.

NEW ZEALAND’S STUART SHEPHERD: GETTING AWAY FOR A PURPOSE, TO REIGNITE A CREATIVE SPARK

The artist Stuart Shepherd, a New Zealander who lives in a coastal town south of Auckland, is a former art teacher and an avid researcher-collector in his country’s outsider art field. Recently, an extended stay in faraway Iowa, in the U.S.A., jump-started his creative mojo. Shepherd returned home with a batch of new paintings and ceramics — and a deep appreciation for the value of a good getaway.