2009 Outsider Art Fair

(Above) This “Caballero” by Martin Ramirez sold for a price tag in the range of $250,000.
(Above) A fabulous work by Ramirez, a train heading into a tunnel.
(Above) Martin Ramirez, another exceptional train and tunnel drawing.
(Above) Nice to see this great piece by Edgar Tolson at Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago.
(Above) A rare monumental “Angel” by Raymond Coins, at American Primitive Gallery, NYC. This was an incredible piece, priced at $8,000.

I report without hesitation that the new venue for the 17th Annual Outsider Fair was a huge step forward for Sanford Smith. The booths were spacious, professional looking and well lit, and it just seemed that the work looked better over all. I do not think I spoke to a single person who missed the Puck Building venue—except for the Soho environs, which is just so much more fun than the current location at 5th Ave. and 34th (across the street from the Empire State Building). The one thing that was the same as past years were the grumpy security people and ticket-takers...

The star artist of the fair was, to my thinking, Martin Ramirez, whose newly discovered cache of work was also on display at The American Folk Art Museum. Additionally, there was an extraordinary amount of work for sale by Bill Traylor. Why? One dealer agreed that in our poor economy, past owners of the works are now looking to sell and are consigning them to various dealers.

Art dealers seemed to be quite happy with the event—and while there is never a report overall sales, it did appear that the market for this work is doing OK. Certainly, there are buys to be had because of the economy. In a nutshell, the great art continues to hold their prices or see increases. I saw lots of people—big crowds. One dealer told me that it took two days to break even—and she was counting on the final day (Sunday) to show a profit.

Outsider Art Fair: Jan. 9-11

(Above) Two works by Dan Miller (b. 1961)
(Above) Two works by Donald Mitchell (b. 1961)

(Above) Two works by Dwight Mackintosh (1906-1999)

THIS WEEK and next, I will be showcasing a number of galleries that will be represented at the Sanford L. Smith’s 17th Annual Outsider Art Fair, being held at it’s new location this year at 7 West 34th Street (at 5th Avenue).

CREATIVE GROWTH Art Center
355 24th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510.836.2340

Creative Growth is a 35-year old, non-profit organization that nurtures artists with disabilities, ensuring that each artist receives professional grade art materials, exceptional instruction and premium exhibition and promotion opportunities.

About the artists:

Dan Miller's artwork uses letters and words repeatedly overdrawn, often creating ink layered masses, hovering on the page and built up to the point of obliteration or destruction of the ground. Each work contains the artist's obsession with objects like light bulbs, electrical sockets, food and the names of cities and people. Recently his work was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and is in their permanent collection.

Donald Mitchell’s early work consisted primarily of obsessively cross-hatched fields of lines that covered the page and hid any trace of an underlying image. Several years ago, Donald started to reveal the faces and forms that he had buried on the page. Mitchell’s prolific work is now filled with tightly composed, graphically sophisticated page of crowded figures. His work is in major international collections.

Dwight Mackintosh began making artwork late in life and after spending 55 years in institutions. His work is characterized by repetitive flowing text and “x-ray” views of loosely drawn, tightly composed male figures. His work also includes trains, buses, angels and idiosyncratic documentation illustrating “before and after” views of tonsillectomy surgery. His work is in major international collections, including ABCD in Paris.