Merriam-Webster defines an “outsider” as someone who does not belong to a particular group, but a more fitting definition might be someone who is not expected to win. Over the weekend, hundreds of artists manifested their genre-bending originality, pushing back against the constraints of traditional art spaces, at this year’s Outsider Art Fair. The event once again brought together an avalanche of artists winning the hearts, minds, and attention of viewers, in ways the art world could have never anticipated.
Founded more than two decades ago, the Outsider Art Fair has executed full collaborative fairs since 2013, but its mission has remained the same: to provide a platform for self-taught artists and create a central forum for the global conversation about work produced outside formal artistic training. Just as the halls of the fair displayed a wide range of artistic styles, the true diversity was found in the artists themselves, and the cultural frameworks woven into their work.