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)
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AS SPRING UNFOLDS, THE START OF SUMMER APPROACHES, AND THE WORLD KEEPS FALLING APART AT AN ALARMING PACE, WE CONTINUE HOLDING ONTO THE NOTION — AND THE HOPE — THAT THOSE WHO CELEBRATE VIOLENCE AND STRIVE TO TEAR DOWN ALL THAT IS PRODUCTIVE AND JUST WILL WAKE UP, CHANGE THEIR TUNE, AND START CONTRIBUTING IN POSITIVE WAYS TO THE WELL-BEING OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. MAKE ART, NOT WAR. YEAH!

IN THIS ISSUE, DON'T MISS THESE FEATURES
Editor’s Letter
What the heck is brutjournal?
by Edward M. Gómez
New York
A look at the poet Kenneth Goldsmith’s collection of anonymously made, handwritten ads, religious-themed proclamations, and oddball declarations, all torn down off walls and lampposts around the city. Street poetry!
France
A look at the Paris-based, French artist François Jauvoin’s new, large-format book, the second volume of his grand tribute to art brut and outsider artists.
Northeastern Switzerland
Hans Krüsi (1920-1995) was a poor flower-seller on a chic shopping street in Zürich when he was discovered selling his small, clever drawings along with floral bouquets in the early 1980s and, in turn, recognized as a highly original art brut creator. A big exhibition of his work, at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau, celebrates his inventive spirit.
ARTIST CATHY WARD: IN LONDON, THE PSYCHIC, SOULFUL MESSAGES OF “THE ORACLES”
Like many art-makers, what with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic period and other concerns, the London-based artist Cathy Ward, who works in various media and genres, has wrestled with numerous, big challenges. Recently, as if purging the negative energy surrounding her, Ward sat down in a corner of her home to create a series of bold, mystical paintings. “They allowed me to reset myself,” she says. See a portfolio of these powerful new pictures.
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PHOTOGRAPHER JOEL SIMPSON: CAPTURING NATURE’S BIZARRE CREATIVE SPIRIT — AND POWER
The photographer Joel Simpson travels widely in search of unusual natural rock formations and strange textures in the surface of the earth. Here, a selection of new photos from Simpson’s latest expeditions to the Southwest of the U.S.A. illustrates a theoretical approach he has developed to appreciating such striking images. As he notes, it leads viewers “from traditional landscape through abstraction, figuration, and finally to fiction."
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OFF THE WALL: NEW YORK CITY STREET POETS AND VISIONARIES, THE GOLDSMITH COLLECTION
In the 1980s, Kenneth Goldsmith, a poet and university professor, began tearing off anonymously made, handwritten ads, religious-themed proclamations, and oddball declarations that he found posted on walls and lampposts on the streets of New York City. A bemusing selection of such bizarre “poetry” was recently shown at Andrew Edlin Gallery.
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GENEVA: EMMANUEL HERZ’S JELLYFISH INVASION
At the café/restaurant Remor in Geneva, Switzerland, we stumbled upon a stunning display of Emmanuel Herz’s festive “Fascinantes Méduses” (“Fascinating Jellyfish”), a group of sculptures and paintings that had taken over the old joint’s ceiling lamps and walls. We were smitten — and maybe also bitten.
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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. 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.
JOHN KASCHT’S CARICATURES: KEENLY OBSERVED, RICH BLENDS OF MIMICRY AND EXAGGERATION
John Kascht creates distinctive caricature portraits of modern and contemporary performers and cultural figures. An exhibition in Pennsylvania is showcasing his work and offering two copies of his new book (co-authored with Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson). Free-access article
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