React to Art

But it wasn’t the yellow truck I’d told you to look for. At my daughter’s suggestion, I entered a different piece.

Jo’l Moore
BAL President

It’s interesting; this piece was not, in my opinion the best entry. I think it was won because it made folks smile. It was a goat with his head sticking out of an old pickup, reaching down to eat flowers.

Anyone who’s raised goats will know that they will climb over, upon and into anything. I think I won because my painting touched people in a personal and humorous way. That’s the same reason people love or hate different pieces of art; they have a personal reaction to the work based on their experiences.

During the first two weekends of November, Studio 508 will be putting on an art show called “RAW,” which will consist of Outsider Art and Brut Art. I will be there a lot of the time, and I would love to know your reactions to this display. It may be very interesting.

Outsider Art, also called naïve art, is art by individuals who are self-taught and have little or no contact with the mainstream art world. It’s been described as the art of those who don’t have “the right to be artists” as they have received no formal training, yet show talent and artistic insights.

Rather than depicting the world around them, outsider artists tend to render worlds of their own. Grandma Moses is one of the most famous examples of this genre. She began painting at the age of 78 and is often cited as an example of an individual who successfully began a career in the arts at an advanced age.

Art Brut, a French term translated as “raw art,” was invented by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art which is made outside the academic tradition of fine art.

Dubuffet saw fine art as dominated by academic training, which he referred to as cultural art. For Dubuffet, Brut Art was the raw expression of a vision or emotion, untrammeled by convention. Art Brut is visual creation at its purest; a spontaneous psychic flow from brain to canvas.

While Outsider Art shows a concentrated effort on the part of the artist to create a picture that is life like and makes sense, Art Brut could care less. Color is used for its effect rather than its cohesion and shapes are conceptual rather than concrete.

There also tends to be a lot of shock factor in raw art. It’s a far more primal approach to art than Outsider Art.

This show is open to all artists. The deadline for entry is Oct. 26 and information may be obtained from the Belen Art League Gallery, 509 Becker Ave., or by calling 861-0217.

Oct. 26 is also Belen MainStreet Partnership’s Scarecrow Festival. I’ve challenged Valencia County News-Bulletin editor, Clara Garcia and Belen Mayor Jerah Cordova to see who can build the best scarecrow. You, the people, will be picking the winner.

Lots of fun activities are planned for this event. Bring the kids and join the fun. Act and react, all part and parcel of living.