ART IN AMERICA: Fountain Gallery at 2013 Outsider Art Fair

Outsider Art Fair

January 31, 2013 @ Center 548

photography by paul laster Elizabeth Fiore and Jason Bowman

With a new owner and fresh venue, the 21st edition of the Outsider Art Fair opened to enthusiastic fans flocking to see the work of outsider, self-taught, and visionary artists. Acquired last summer by Wide Open Arts, a company started by Chelsea art dealer Andrew Edlin, the revitalized fair offered a better selection of galleries with bigger booths and wider aisles in the former Dia Art Foundation building. "When Andrew stepped up to purchase the show we knew that the quality would improve," said exhibitor Carl Hammer. "We visited the building during NADA and saw that the venue would be a spectacular choice for us."

Contemporary art dealers with a limited number of self-taught artists–including Vito Schnabel, Gary Snyder, and Kinz + Tillou–participated for the first-time with one-person shows, while returning non-profit organizations that assist people with psychiatric and developmental disabilities, such as Fountain Gallery and the Creative Growth Art Center, shuffled their displays with standout living artists. —Paul Laster