Maine Antique Digest May 2015

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28-C Maine Antique Digest, May 2015
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In order to get first dibs on what dealers were
offering, insiders knew to buy exclusive
early access tickets to the Outsider Art Fair.
Lined up along the stairwell at Center 548 and
spilling out onto West 22nd Street, those in the
know anxiously waited for the clock to strike 3
p.m., when they could rush up the steps and start
looking and buying.
Within minutes, red sale dots appeared in the
booths of the Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Cav-
in-Morris Gallery, Andrew Edlin Gallery, and
Ricco/Maresca Gallery. The three floors of the
far west Chelsea space were filled with exhib-
itors from 27 cities hailing
from eight countries.
“This is the best-look-
ing Outsider Art Fair that
I remember seeing in the
twenty-three years we’ve
been doing the show,” declared Frank Maresca
of Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York City.
“We did the best at this show as our best show
ever,” he added. Sales included works by “the
old guard” of Outsider artists, including Martin
Ramirez, Bill Traylor, Joseph Yoakum, Adolf
Wolfli, and Henry Darger, as well as newer art-
ists Marcos Bontempo and Hiroyuki Doi.
“This past year has been filled with many sig-
nificant events in the world of self-taught art,
highlighted by the recent announcement that the
Metropolitan Museum of Art will add 57 works
from Atlanta’s Souls Grown Deep Foundation
to their permanent collection with an exhibition
planned for 2016,” wrote Andrew Edlin of Wide
Open Arts, the fair’s producer.
Furthermore, the American Folk Art Museum
in New York City, the leading sponsor of the
fair, has an exhibition, When the Curtain Never
Comes Down, until July 5. Valerie Rousseau,
AFAM’s 20th-century and contemporary art
curator, is in charge of the exhibition.
The fair, which ran January 29 to February 1,
paid homage to all things Outsider—a nook sell-
ing numerous books on the topic; an exhibition,
If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day, with
works from five featured artists; and a booth
dedicated to the genre’s quintessential publica-
tion, Raw Vision.
Historically the terms “Outsider,” “self-
taught,” and “Art Brut” have lumped artists in a
group that some in the field consider irrelevant.
Art is art, regardless of an artist’s diagnosis or
lack of art degree, critics say.
Booths were busy, and lots of art was sold.
Fleisher/Ollman, a Philadelphia gallery, sold a
Felipe B. Archuleta black bear it had once sold
in 1982. The bear had remained in the same col-
lection since then, said John Ollman, who was
happy to get it back. It didn’t stay in the booth
for long, however. American folk art collector
Jerry Lauren’s dealer, Sy Rappaport, was there
when the doors opened and stood guard over the
bear until Lauren was finished working for the
day. Together, they got on their hands and knees
to inspect the bear, and soon thereafter a deal
was made.
Fleisher/Ollman also sold 18 of the 21 Julian
Martin pastels it displayed. “We rep him in the
U.S.,” explained Ollman. Martin is autistic and
a self-taught artist who works with Arts Project
Australia in Melbourne, a studio and gallery that
nurtures and promotes artists with intellectual
disabilities. Other sales included eight works
by James Castle, two by the Philadelphia Wire-
man, two William Edmond-
son limestone sculptures,
and a Bill Traylor drawing
of a brown and black horse.
Dealers seem to like this
show. Carl Hammer, a Chi-
cago dealer who was in New York for both the
Metro Curates and Outsider shows, said, “It’s
rare I walk out of this show unhappy. It’s a tried
and true event.”
Marion Harris of New York City,
who also did the back-to-back shows,
said, “It went well for most of us, I
think. We sold across the board,”
adding that she sold tin masks by
Jerry Coker to a rustic-style restau-
rant in New Orleans.
For Chattanooga, Tennessee, dealer
Angela Usrey of Tanner/Hill Gallery,
the show was “really great, fantastic.”
She chose to feature works by T.A.
Hay (1892-1988), a Kentucky
farmer who fought in World
War I, whose art combined
his interest in woodworking
and his training in front-line
map sketching, including
finger-painting with mud.
“I’m very happy,” said
bead artist Nancy Joseph-
son, whose works were
displayed at Chicago dealer
Judy A. Saslow’s booth.
She is currently work-
ing on a 9' high beaded
torso, which sits on a
large birdcage on top
of a tree teeming with
birds, she explained. It
will be featured in an exhibi-
tion at the American Visionary
Art Museum in Baltimore in
October.
Wide Open Arts will hold its
third edition of OAF Paris Octo-
ber 22-25. Further information
New York City
The 2015 Outsider Art Fair
by Julie Schlenger Adell
Booths were busy,
and lots of art
was sold.
Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, displayed the Clarence Stringfield
carving of a cigar-store Indian (below left), 1960, 50" high, and asked $25,000
for it. The bear by Felipe B. Archuleta, 1982, 24" x 50" x 11", house paint on
cottonwood, was priced at $22,000. It was bought by collector Jerry Lauren.
Healing Arts Initiative (HAI) moved a few years ago to Long
Island City, Queens, from SoHo. Seen here is a watercolor
by Lady Shalimar Montague (1905-1996), who claimed to
have been born at the Paris Opera House. Her work is auto-
biographical in that she depicts herself in theatrical roles in
the circus, ballet, and opera. Lady Shalimar, as she preferred
to be called, was agoraphobic. Valentine’s Day at the Manor,
1990, was $2100.
A large Elijah Pierce carving of a tiger from 1979 was available from Lind-
say Gallery. The Columbus, Ohio, dealer asked $9500 for the double-sided
tiger. Two smaller Pierce carvings (not shown) sold, an alligator from 1979
and a goat from 1974, priced at $950 and $1850, respectively.
The Super
Red Hot World
Peppers, 2014,
graphite,
crayon, ink,
and marker
on paper,
by Gregory
Blackstock was
$6400 from
Garde Rail
Gallery, Aus-
tin, Texas.
This set of six
gourds, 1982, was
painted with shoe
polish by Kentucky
artist T.A. Hay.
Tanner-Hill Gal-
lery, Chattanooga,
Tennessee, devoted
its entire booth to
the artist, who died
30 years ago. The
gourds were tagged
$4200 and sold, as
did other drawings
by the artist.