Vestiges & Verse Notes From The Newfangled Epic American Folk Art Museum

Another top notch show from this marvelous place which features art by a group of 21 self taught artists. Some I was familiar with like Henry Darger, Adolf Wolf & James Edward Deeds Jr., but most were new and exciting discoveries for me. I swim in this art, and I urge you to jump in the water with me and explore these complex beautiful works. Some of the artists I loved were Josep Baque's intricate beautifully drawn and colored sheets of animals and other strange beasts including some odd humans, that reminded me of the cartoons of Basil Wolverton or display sheets of a deranged tattooist or Aloise Corbaz's huge and tremendous theatrical scroll that is spread out in one of the galleries,or Jerry Gretzinger amazing map of a made up world that is made up of thousands of panels that could cover a basketball court. Some of the work is angry and downright mad which is to be expected since so many of these and other self taught artists spend their lives in hospitals including institutions for the "mad" and prisons. Another thread running through the show are the notebooks and journals that many of the artists kept, obsessive and unending and usually unreadable journey's into their minds and creative processes that are also heightened visual treats. The space is tight but it's nicely installed which is always the case with this museum. It's also free which is also nice. The show will be up until May 27th so there is plenty of time to see it.