FEBRUARY 2022 – brutjournal

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 A NEW SERIES OF INTERVIEWS AND ESSAYS, "THE LANGUAGE OF ABSTRACTION," EDWARD M. GÓMEZ SPEAKS WITH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND OTHER ARTISTS ABOUT THE ENDURING APPEAL, EXPRESSIVE POWER, AND RADICAL NATURE OF ABSTRACT ART. FIRST UP: JOHN CRAWFORD, WHO WORKS BIG, BIG, BIG WITH IRON AND STEEL. SEE THE BIG PAGE.

IN THIS ISSUE, DON'T MISS THESE FEATURES

Editor’s letter

What the heck is brutjournal?
by Edward M. Gómez

Italy

Rarely seen portraits of women by Pietro Ghizzardi put the focus on his notion of beauty
Davide Macchiarini reports from Milan

France

Interview: The Argentine-born artist Julia Sisi on color and inspiration from the stars

In the great outdoors

Finding modern-art forms and compositions in the winter landscape
Photo essay by Bill Westmoreland

2022 OUTSIDER ART FAIR N.Y.: EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW

The 2022 Outsider Art Fair will take place in New York from March 3 to March 6. This month, in the lead-up to the big event, brutjournal editor in chief, Edward M. Gómez, offers an exclusive preview of its themes and discoveries. Free access to this article.

FINDING FLORINE STETTHEIMER: THE NEW BIO-BOOK

Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) came from New York’s wealthy high society but she became an early-modern, progressive female artist. In a new biography, Barbara Bloemink paints a vivid portrait of her creative life. Sarah Fensom, brutjournal's U.S.A. West Coast bureau chief, reports.

IN LONDON, A GLITTERING HOMAGE TO LEIGH BOWERY

The exhibition Leigh Bowery: Tell Them I’ve Gone to Papua New Guinea pays homage to an influential performance artist and figure in the U.K. art, fashion, and music scenes who died in 1994. A report, with exclusive photos, by our London-based artist-correspondent, Cathy Ward. Free access to this article.

ARTIST KEN HAVIS (1939-1993): ALWAYS CREATE

The Texas-born artist Kenneth (“Ken”) Havis (1939-1993) regarded found objects, which became the raw material of his odd assemblages, as imbued with some kind of ineffable power. It flowed from his own creations, too. An appreciation by the dealer-collector Julie Webb.

TODAY'S ART DISCOVERY: THAT HOUSE IS NOW FOR SALE

As Cathy Ward reported in a feature article in brutjournal’s December 2021 issue, in the far north of England, the artist-designer Tod Hanson has been transforming the interiors of Waxwing, his Georgian-era home, into dazzling, painted spaces. Now we learn that the unusual house is for sale. Asking price: 400,000 British pounds. There are still several rooms to go. Will the magical transformation continue? Photo by Cathy Ward. See our earlier article here. Listing agent's description of the property here.

AT OAF NEW YORK, A PSYCHEDELIC BLOW-OUT

Turn on, tune in — and by all means do drop in to the exhibition Field Trip: Psychedelic Solution, 1986-1995, curated by the artist Fred Tomaselli, which will go on view at the 2022 Outsider Art Fair on March 3. Here’s a preview of some of the show’s mind-blowing art from the not-too-distant past.

CERAMICIST STEFAN HOLZMÜLLER'S WORK, RESCUED

Stefan Holzmüller died in 2010, leaving a large oeuvre that had been long under-appreciated. The collector Gregor Stehle discovered a large quantity of his ceramics, rescued them from a forbidding fate, and led a team in producing a big book about a visionary who worked in an often-overlooked medium.

VIEW THE FILM: “VALTON TYLER: FLESH IS FICTION”

The self-taught artist Valton Tyler (1944-2017) lived and worked in Dallas, Texas, and its environs. He created remarkable works — oil paintings, ink drawings on paper, complex etchings — that remain hard to classify according to existing style or genre labels. In 2017, Edward M. Gómez (brutjournal’s founder) and cinematographer Chris Shields made the first-ever film about Tyler’s life and art, which the artist saw before he died. This 42-minute-long film will reside permanently here, on the magazine’s website. It may be viewed in its entirety, free of charge. Watch it and get to know the bright, bizarre world of a techno-baroque visionary. Free access to this article and the film.