Outsider Art? Folk Art? Maine Art? Living Maine Artists?

People like to categorize things, don't they? I picked up the magazine Maine HOME Design because it was "The Art Issue." As an artist, I do try to poke my head out of my studio every once in a while and see what's going on around me. It was interesting to read the people that had been designated as Maine Artists....which begs the question "What is a Maine Artist?"

Is a Maine artist someone who is an artist who lives in Maine? Is a Maine artist someone who paints pictures of Maine? Is a Maine artist someone who lives in Maine and paints oils on linen but sells in New York galleries? Is a Maine artist someone who sells their art? Is a Maine artist someone who paints buoys and sells them at roadside stands?

I'm not really picking on Maine HOME Design. It's a beautiful magazine. I love the design sense in it, and I actually LOVE that they have an Art Issue. I guess it the idea that art needs to be categorized. But it stands to reason that a Maine Home Design magazine will show artists that are somehow connected to Maine.

The whole categorization of art is very interesting - Outsider Art, Art Brut, Folk Art all seem to have a sense of being outside of the loop of art galleries. I don't sell my art through an art gallery. Does this mean I'm an Outsider Artist?

3 comments:

Sandy Mastroni said...

Oh you are SO right ! I picked my label out of a hat ! I've been called everything from outsider to folk artist to 'you stink '
It's just our style ! It's our heart on the canvas .

DollZandThingZ said...

I love that magazine, but I can see where that article is provocative. I am not a Maine artist, though I visited Maine for 20 years and met many artists. They were mostly summer people who painted Maine and lived elsewhere. Something to ponder!

Denise Aumick said...

I left a comment on this the other day but I see it's not posted! No doubt the comment creator made a boo-boo when posting. Be that as it may...I love the painting (your abstracts have such energy) and have to say 'Just keep making art' no matter where it's made, sold, sent or labeled.


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden