outsider art • art brut • the unclassifiable • the avant-avant-garde
• April 17, 2025 •
WELCOME TO brutjournal!
SO EXACTLY WHAT ARE WE UP TO HERE?
WELL WE’RE INTERESTED IN FORMS OF ART AND CULTURAL EXPRESSION THAT BREAK THE MOLD; THAT ARE FRESH, DIFFERENT, EXPERIMENTAL, DARING, AND DEFY FAMILIAR LABELS; AND THAT, FOR ALL THEIR INNOVATION OR FAR-OUT FORM, UNABASHEDLY CELEBRATE AND REAFFIRM THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
SOUND GOOD?
KIND OF RED
IN-BETWEEN COLORS IN BIG RED’S SHADOW
They’re murky and hard to pin down. They display hints or strains of red but they lack the full-blooded punch and gravitas of that giant among colors. Instead, they whisper or hang around with a certain sense of languor and world weariness, dreaming of the day when they’ll be able to get their red on.
Color chart issued by Sherwin Williams showing its range of not-quite-full-red interior-paint colors. Screen shot from the Materials-World websiteSteven Hirsch, “Red-headed woman on her way to criminal court,” 2022, color photograph; courtesy of the artist Detail of an unidentified painting; photo by Edward M. GómezUntitled, undated photograph of unidentified plants by Cathy Ward; courtesy of the artistThe main color of the sky in this photograph by David Ensminger hovers somewhere between orange and red; photo courtesy of the artist
