Self-Taught Art: Expanding the World Parameters

When Jean Dubuffet first put together his theories on and collection of what he termed "Art Brut" there was very little work known from the Western Hemisphere and non-European countries.  He had no idea of the explosion of work that would surface right up to the present day all around the world.  This work, still coming form artists with no contact with the art mainstream has created vast and wonderful new potentialities for collectors, researchers and curators today.  This talk will focus on self-taught artists whose vital work is only now being recognized and appreciated by the art world.  It is a challenge to the gatekeepers of so-called "outsider" and Art Brut to update and open the field.