Interact Center for the Visual and Performing ArtsBased in Saint Paul, Minesota, the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts have been championing the work of artists with disabilities for over two decades.
Visit Interact's website to learn more (interactcenter.org). Explore their online store to purchase works by their incredible artists, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with their work. Obituary: Bill ArnettBill Arnett (1939 – 2020) was a towering figure in the world of self-taught art, especially that made by African Americans in the South. Always a collector, Bill had originally acquired art from Asia and then sub-Saharan Africa, gifting almost all of his Asian collection to the High Museum in Atalanta. In the mid-1980s he set off on a mission to find great African American art, believing that the work he saw in the groundbreaking exhibition, Black Folk Art in America must be just the tip of the iceberg. Bill Arnett with his collection, 1991; photo: Brad Wrisley Because Bill was interested in people as much as art, he formed strong relationships with many of the artists he collected, often settling into longstanding family friendships. This was especially the case with Joe Minter, Ronald Lockett, Lonnie Holley and Thornton Dial, as well as some of the amazing quilt makers of Gees Bend, Alabama. I met Bill late in his odyssey, but have had the honour to witness him interacting with the Dial family on a visit their home and the ironwork business run these days by one of his sons, Richard. The mutual affection and respect was palpable, and I was humbled to notice that Bill always referred to Thornton as "Mr Dial" – always. Around the kitchen table they shared experiences and stories in common that could only be a result of years of mutual adventure, mishap and occasional triumph. Bill with Thornton Dial, 2012; photo: Colin Rhodes In some ways, Bill’s apotheosis – and that of the art and artists he so admired – began with the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, when he organised "Souls Grown Deep". This exhibition of more than 450 works was a game-changer in the field of self-taught African American art, and the accompanying book (which Arnett had to self-publish) quickly became a classic resource. In 2010, Bill established the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, “dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting the contributions of African American artists from the South.” Crucially, this includes facilitating acquisitions from the collection by art museums. I was touched a few years ago when Bill suddenly asked me if I’d like to be Director of the Foundation, but unfortunately I was unable to relocate to the States at that time. Souls Grown Deep Volumes 1 and 2, by Paul and Bill Arnett Bill’s enthusiasms and generosity knew no bounds and he was quick to trust. Unfortunately, this meant that he often felt that his trust had been broken. And while he was the best friend a person could wish for, he couldn’t stop himself verbalising his thoughts to those he felt had slighted him. He could be his own worst enemy at times, and, with a twinkle in his eye and wry smile, sometimes said as much. But he worked tirelessly for the artists and the art he loved, always believing that their work belonged in the best museums in the world. He told me once that he spent the whole of his inheritance from his parents in getting the big Gees Bend quilts book published, simply because he felt that people needed to know about that work. "A Visit to the Bill Arnett Collection", by James Kalm It is a huge part of Bill’s legacy that this art is now not only being shown in, but is also part of the collections of, museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the High Museum, Atlanta. “These are not isolates,” he once said to me, “These artists are not removed from culture. They are part of their own culture. This is a field that has been going on for 300 years.” Bill Arnett is an important part of that story. He will be sadly missed. Text by Colin Rhodes, writer for Raw Vision Outside In Virtual Gallery: Friendship & CommunityOutside In is launching a Virtual Gallery this August with an exhibition on the theme of "Friendship & Community", curated by Sotheby’s Head of Modern & Post-War British Art and Outside In trustee, Frances Christie. Frances comments:
Outside In is a catalyst for change. Founded in 2006, it is now an established national charity that aims to provide a platform for artists who face significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability or social circumstances. Like many arts organisations, the award-winning arts charity has been adapting its planned public events during lockdown into new digital versions, which also has the advantage of providing more accessible exhibition for those that cannot attend exhibitions and events physically. People waving from the top of the Spinnaker Tower, Grant Comben. Paint on paper, 60 x 40 cm (24 x 16 in), courtesy of: Outside In The online exhibition includes works by Outside In artists Alice Hayes, Katya Solyanko, Veronica Watson, Louis Morel, Ivan Liotchev, Ivan Grieve, Reece Loughran, Denise Adams, Chaz Waldren, Grant Comben, Rowan Standing, Gareth Bunting, Tanya Raabe-Webber and The Laird of West Walworth. Platform, Ivan Grieve. Oil on canvas, 50 x 45 cm (20 x 18 in), courtesy of: Outside In The exhibition will be available to view online from 12 August with an online private view event to take place on Thursday 20, August, 6–7 pm on Zoom, where guests can hear from Frances about her selection and interact with her as well as the featured artist. Click here book a place at the Zoom Private View event. Monochromatic Minds talk: Gwyneth RowlandsThe Jennifer Lauren Gallery, Manchester, UK, interviewed several exhibition artists and researchers throughout July, including Dr. David O'Flynn and Rose Ruane about the late Gwyneth Rowlands. "Monochromatic Minds | Pre-Recorded Talk about Gwyneth Rowlands", Jennifer Laruen Gallery Gwyneth Rowlands' painted flints make up part of the Adamson Collection and six are on permanent display at the Wellcome Collection, London. Hear more about her life, her time at Netherne Hospital and an upcoming article in the August edition of Raw Vision magazine about her. Much of what we currently know about artist Gwyneth Rowlands comes from her manuscript Fox-hunting, which she refers to as “a commentary on my life and work”. It exists as collage, with postcards, reproductions of paintings, and family photographs pasted amongst poems which she copied out longhand. All Gwyneth Rowlands, n.d. India ink, watercolour and varnish on flint. Left: Woman and Girl (Woman with Child on reverse), 14 x 11.4 cm (5.5 x 4.5 in); Centre: Woman’s Head, 22.9 x 12.7 cm (9 x 5 in); Right: Woman with Child (Woman and Girl on reverse), 14 x 11.4 cm, (5.5 x 4.5 in) She was admitted to Netherne psychiatric hospital in Surrey in 1962, but – other than a few pictures – her manuscript records nothing of her artistic production during her 20-year stay there. It is known, however, that Rowlands developed her painting skills while hospitalised. David and Rose talk about her life and work in detail. David O'Flynn Chair of the Adamson Collection Trust and a Consultant Psychiatrist. David is also a Trustee of the Bethlem Gallery. Rose Ruane is an author and artist, currently doing a PhD on the Adamson Collection, through which she started researching Rowlands. Buy Raw Vision Magazine issue #106 now! The much delayed next issue of Raw Vision is being printed now and will be on its way to subscribers around the world next week. You can pre-order here: rawvision.com/shop/raw-vision-106. Raw Vision #106 features: Gwyneth Rowlands, Joe Coleman, Patrick Hackleman, Jean-Marc Renault, Nellie Mae Rowe, Monique Mercerat, Albert and La Fabuloserie. |