August 29 2020     #179

Intuit Visionary Ball 2020

This year's Intuit Visionary Ball will be held online; you can get your ticket to access the live video stream on Thursday, October 1, here. Tickets range in prices; it is free to view the video stream (while still registering to gain access), but there are also several paid options with lots of perks. 

"2020 has been a year of transformation for Intuit. The urgency of our mission—to celebrate the power of outsider art—has heightened. Intuit reaffirmed our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We pivoted from creating intimate, on-site experiences to opening our virtual doors to the country and world with new, online programs. Now, for the first time, Intuit will host a virtual Visionary Ball gala!"

Lonnie Holley, this year's recipient of the Visionary Award. Courtesy: Intuit

"We will honor Lonnie Holley as the second artist to receive Intuit’s Visionary Award, given to those doing outstanding work in the field of outsider art (Mr. Imagination was the first artist recipient in 2009). We will reflect on the exhibitions, programs and events that championed outsider art and the voices of these artists, as well."

Left: From the Root to the Root, Lonnie Holley (2019). Copper wire, 38.1 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm (15 × 9 × 9 in.) Right: Mask of Them, Lonnie Holley (2003). Sandstone, 27.9 × 17.8 × 10.2 cm (11 × 7 × 4 in.)

There will also be a silent auction and a raffle, including a very special item! View the auction items here. Learn more about the co-chairs of the ball, along with this year's Visionary Awardee, Lonnie Holley.

Co-chairs Stacy Wells (left) & Michelle Woods (right). Courtesy: Intuit

Ortuzar Projects exhibition: William Scott

From August 20 through to September 26 he fantastical Utopian visions of California-based self-taught artist William Scott will be exhibited in their first New York show in over a decade by Ortuzar Projects.

"This exhibition—the artist’s first solo presentation in New York since his 2009 show at White Columns—features recent drawing, painting, sculpture, and an original video work. A self-taught artist from the Bay Area, Scott creates work that imagines alternative realities grounded in a deep belief in the potential for positive human transformation."

Installation view of “William Scott: It’s A Beautiful Day Outside.” Courtesy of Ortuzar Projects

"Already an acute draftsman and careful observer of the urban environment by the 1970s, Scott’s earliest body of mature work includes intricate perspectives of the dense color, shape, and forms of his native city, a gridded peninsula of modern skyscrapers buffeted by the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay."

Untitled, William Scott (2019). Courtesy of the artist and Ortuzar Projects.

"The 'Wholesome Encounters' paintings of groovy space shuttles—glowing in silver, lime, and chartreuse—[are] peopled by fresh-faced yet perpetually time-traveling passengers and crew, from Curtis Johnson to Diana Ross."

Untitled, William Scott (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Ortuzar Projects.

"If space is the place, how we get there also matters. Scott’s intergalactic flights, chartered by the 'Skyline Friendly Organization,' bring specifically diverse, dead, and living figures together into a shared time-perspective—one possible future—that reveals the exceptionality of such multicultural and intergenerational assemblies today.

Untitled, William Scott (2015). Courtesy of the artist and Ortuzar Projects.

Find out more from Ortuzar Project's website.  See some of William Scott's work featured previously in the Outsider Art Fair.

Art in Quarantine: Americo Estevez Roman, a.k.a. Saxoman

For the past few years, Bolivian artist Americo Estevez Roman (known as "Saxoman") has had a band with his two sons, called Saxoman y los Casanovas, playing music and making videos with  a distinctly outsider energy. A few months ago, Saxoman started uploading drawings to his Facebook account to sell them to survive due to economic pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

"SAXOMAN DIBUJANDO CON DIEZ DEDOS!!! (Tiempo Real)" by Saxoman Oficial

How did you get started making music?

"Currently I'm counting 30 years of an artistic career. I started playing drums. After some years my sons wanted to join me to make the group Saxoman y los Casanovas. My son David is on keyboards and my son Gabriel is on drums. We have lot of songs; our first worldwide hit was "Bolivia te espera Papa Francisco" and my recent song "Coronavirus" went viral worldwide."

La Independencia, Americo Estevez Roman ("Saxoman"), 2020. Blue pens on paper, 21 x 33 cm (8 x 13 in.)

How did you get started drawing / making art?

"I had never either drawn or painted before but because of economic needs I started drawing, to maintain my family. I drew a small drawing with pen called "La invasión al mundo" which was really polemic and auctioned for 50 dollars. The winner was a recognized filmmaker and producer, Daniel Pabón. That's how my drawing career started."

IndieMan, Americo Estevez Roman ("Saxoman"), 2020. Charcoal pencil on paper, 21 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in.)

What is the inspiration behind your music and your art, and what do you hope people feel when listening to / looking at your art?

"Everything comes into my mind like waves from the universe. I get inspired by life itself and experiences, stumbles and emotions that happen to me everyday. I want people  to feel the same as I do because each composition and drawing I make I do it with all my heart; everything comes from the universe and my imagination. I want people to feel excitement, happiness, sadness and hope."

El Juicio Final, Americo Estevez Roman ("Saxoman"), 2020. Charcoal pencil on paper, 21 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in.)

How has the coronavirus affected your life, your music and art?

"When the coronavirus song was released it was a worldwide hit but the pandemic situation really affected us economically a lot because we live day by day, but everything has a bright side: I found out I have a drawing talent, I realized I can use both hands to draw  and lately I am drawing with 10 fingers at the same time, and I started painting with oils: a very difficult but exciting experience."

"CORONAVIRUS - SAXOMAN Y LOS CASANOVAS" by Saxoman Oficial

To see more of Saxoman's creations, subscribe to his YouTube channel, Saxoman Oficial, and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

Raw Vision #106 available now

Raw Vision #106 features: Gwyneth Rowlands, Joe Coleman, Patrick Hackleman, Jean-Marc Renault, Nellie Mae Rowe, Monique Mercerat, Albert and La Fabuloserie. 

For orders of 10+ issues please email info@rawvision.com for a reduced postage cost.