Raw Vision Events

BRITAIN: NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE AT TATE

February 1-May 5
Tate Liverpool presents the first comprehensive English exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle, with an examination of the many and varied developments in her work.

Her early assemblages and paintings developed to reveal disturbing and violent imagery until she became more concerned with ideas of religion in the form of altars and an exploration of femininity and motherhood, as seen in her bride sculptures of the 60s and later vibrant and generously-proportioned Nanas.

Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4BB, UK.
t: 0151 702 7400.
www.tate.org.uk

FRANCE: BRITISH OUTSIDER ART AT HALLE SAINT PIERRE

March 24-August 14
For the first time ever, a major exhibition will be solely devoted to British Outsider Art. It will take place at Halle Saint Pierre in Paris, with historical works from both the Bethlem and Art Extraordinary Collections, as well as showing classics such as Andrew Kennedy, Scottie Wilson and Madge Gill.

2 rue Ronsard, 75018 Paris, France.
t: +33 (0)1 42 58 72 89.
www.hallesaintpierre.org

INDIA: JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AT ROCK GARDEN FESTIVAL

Organised by the Nek Chand Foundation under the direction of US Trustee Anton Rajer, and supported by the Chandigarh Tourist Department, November 8th and 9th 2007 saw the second international Folk Art conference at Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh. Over 40 foreign delegates from Europe, USA and Australia joined Indian folk art experts to present papers ranging from the folk art of Punjabi village life to the Paradise Garden of Howard Finster. Those taking part included Susan Mitchell Crawley, John Maizels, Minhazz Majumdar, Ann Oppenhimer, Anton Rajer and Colin Rhodes.

The Jubilee events continued on Saturday November 10th with a triumphal march through the city of Chandigarh. Led by marching bands and visiting delegates riding a herd of camels, sculptures by Nek Chand were paraded through the streets. Evening events at the Rock Garden attracted hundreds of people who witnessed Nek Chand and others receiving awards and honours, with the Rock Garden dramatically illuminated by thousands of coloured lights.

The Nek Chand Foundation continues to organise trips to Chandigarh and to send groups of volunteers to work at the Rock Garden. It is expected that a Chandigarh branch of the Foundation will shortly be formed and that the Rock Garden Festival will now become an annual event. Those interested in taking part in a future visit or participating in the volunteer programme are asked to contact the Nek Chand Foundation.
www.nekchand.com
info@nekchand.com

USA: SENSATION AT DISCOVERY OF 140 DRAWINGS BY MARTIN RAMIREZ

Excerpt from report by Edward Gomez:

In California, a hitherto unknown cache of 140 works by the Mexican-born outsider have been found.

The news that broke late last October shook the international Outsider Art world-its market and the scholarly side that supports it-to its foundations.

From Auburn, a city in northern California, former public-school teacher Peggy Dunievitz made it known that 140 pencil-on-paper and mixed-media drawings that were assumed to have been made by Martin Ramirez, which had been stashed away in her garage for many years, had been authenticated as the genuine works of the legendary, Mexican-born Outsider artist, and that she had decided to bring them to market. Ramirez (1895-1963) immigrated to the United States in 1925 and spent the last half of his life in psychiatric hospitals in California, during which time he created the exquisitely drawn, dramatically composed images for which he has become known as one of the most inventive art-makers ever in the Outsider field.

Dunievitz's late father-in-law, Dr. Max Dunievitz, had served as the director of DeWitt State Hospital, the psychiatric-care facility in Auburn where Ramirez had resided for many years and where he died. During the last three years before the artist's death, Dr. Dunievitz routinely provided him with art supplies, and Ramirez gave the hospital director dozens of his distinctive drawings in return.

USA: INTUIT ANNUAL ART FAIR

Until April 12
Least Wanted: A Century of American Mug Shots allows a fascinating glimpse at criminal documentary 'portraits' from the 1870s to the 1960s from the collection of Mark Michaelson.

April 25-28
The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art annual fair takes place at the Merchandise Mart, with galleries from all over the world specialising in self-taught, Outsider, folk and visionary art.

Until June 28
The Henry Darger Room Collection exhibits items from Darger's apartment in Chicago, including news cuttings, books and furnishings, with workshops, talk and tour of the collection.

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive & Outsider Art, 756 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622.
t: 312 243 9088.
www.art.org

USA: MANY FAITHS IN BLOCKBUSTER AVAM SHOW

Until August 31
The beauty to be found in the faiths of others is the subject of All Faiths Beautiful: over 500 works in a wide-ranging exploration of personal, private and secret beliefs from a variety of traditions and individual convictions. Curated by Rebecca Hoffberger, the exhibition includes shrines, illustrations and individual environments.

American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD 21230.
t: 410 244 1900.
www.avam.org

FOR MORE RAW NEWS AND REVIEWS, SEE RAW VISION #62