the Australian Collection of Outsider Art
Anthony Mannix, untitled, 38cm x 49cm: ink and texta on paper. Photo: Denis Gallagher
Phillip Hammial on the Australian Collection of Outsider Art
I first became aware of Outsider Art/Art Brut in the early 60s when, a young poet & artist, I was reading the work of the surrealists – their poetry and Breton’s Manifestos. When Max Ernst moved from Germany to Paris he took with him a copy of Hans Prinzhorn’s Artistry of the Mentally Ill (published in 1922), a book to which the surrealists took like fish to water, to the point where they were doing exercises in “simulated madness.”
However, it wasn’t until 1981 that I had an opportunity to see any Art Brut “in the flesh.” Hitchhiking around Europe in the summer of ‘81, I was able to visit the Prinzhorn Collection at the Heidelberg Psychiatric Clinic, the Wolfli Archives at the Kunstmuseum in Bern and Ferdinand Cheval’s Palais Ideal in Hauterives, France. It was a wonderful experience. I’ve been completely hooked on Outsider Art ever since.
Returning to Australia in 1984, I called an old friend, Betty Kelly (now deceased) who at that time, having worked in several galleries in Sydney, had a vast knowledge of the Sydney art scene. She referred me to Terrence Relph & Rosemarie Jeffers, two artists who ran the Outsider Gallery at Studio 79 on Beattie St. in Balmain from 1979-1983. Terence & Rosemarie generously introduced me to Anthony Mannix, Gunther Deix and Elizabeth Parkinson.
In 1986 Anthony & I founded The Australian Collection of Outsider Art, our purpose to find, preserve, exhibit & document Australian Outsider Art.* To date we have curated or helped to organize 28 exhibitions (in Australia, Germany, France, Belgium & the U.S.).
*John Blades became a member in 1992. Melissa Lee and Ambrose Reisch were members for about two years.
-Philip Hammial
THE AUSTRALIAN COLLECTION OF OUTSIDER ART
Currently the collection has approximately 200 peices.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
David Brown
Teddy Burgess
Angus Douglas
Stavroula Feleggakis
Andrew Gwozdiz
Anthony Hopkins
Caroline Lagaida
Javier Lara-Gomez
Nicholas Martin
Damian Michaels
Travis Mitchell
David Morgan
Margaret Patterson
Robert Pollard
John Pye
Andrew Rizgalla
Jim Smith
Claire St. Claire
Felix Tuszynski
EXHIBITIONS
1986: Art Space, Surry Hills NSW, "Inside Out" (5 artists)
1987: Kelly St. Kolektiv, Ultimo NSW, "The Autistic Theatre" (23 Artists)
1987: Breakout, Sydney NSW, "Anti-bodies, Extrapersons, Outsiders & Assoc." (3 Artists)
1988: Street Level Gallery, Penrith NSW, "Outsider Art" (11 Artists)
1989: Iwalewa-Haus, Bayreuth, Germany, "Outsider Art in Australia" (4 Artists)
1990: Cannibal Pierce Galerie, St. Denis, France (6 Artists)
1990: Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA (4 Artists)
1990: Orange Regional Gallery, NSW, "15 Australian Outsider Artists" (9 Artists)
1991: Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW, "Seven Outsider Australian Artists" (9 Artists)
1991: Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW, "Outsider Art" (9 Artists)
1991: Julie Green Gallery, Surry Hills, NSW, "Outsider Art" (8 Artists)
1991: Site de la Creation Franche, Begles, France, "Gardens of Memory" (4 Artists)
1992: Cyberspace, Sydney, “Outsider Art (6 Artists)
1992: James Harvey Gallery, Balmain NSW, "A Cerebral Odessey" (13 Artists)
1992: Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, NSW “Wild” (9 Artists)
1993: EMR, Sydney,“Outsider Art” (10 Artist)
1993: Wollongong City Gallery, NSW, "Refusing Any Annexation" (14 Artists)
1994: Art en Marge, Brussels (2 Artists)
1994: Cavin Morris Inc., New York City (2 Artists)
1995: Bondi Pavilion, Bondi, "Images/Reflections” (7 Artists)
1995: James Harvey Gallery, Balmain, “Devouring Definitions” (5 Artists)
1995: The Roger Smith Gallery, N.Y., U.S.A., “In so many words” (1 Artist)
2004: James Harvey Gallery, Clovelly, ”The Australian Collection of Outsider Art” (18 Artists)
2005-06: Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, “Australian Outsiders” (23 Artists)
2006: Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea, “Australian Outsider Art” (22 Artists)
2006-07: Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, “Australian Outsiders” (23 Artists)
2006: Art d’Ailleurs d’Aujourd’hui, Paris, “5 Artistes Australiens’’ (5 Artists)
2010: Callan Park Gallery, Rozelle, ‘‘Thirteen Australian Outsider Artists’’ (13 Artists)
PUBLICATIONS & VIDEOS
Books & magazine articles:
Erotomania, Anthony Mannix, Island Press, 1984, Sydney
Art & Text, “Outsider Art in Australia,” No.27, Dec/Feb 1988, Sydney
Outsider Art in Australia, edited by Ulli Beier, Rudi Krausman & Philip Hammial, Aspect No.35, 1989, Sydney
Scarp, “Outsider Art,” 1992, Wollongong
Artlink, “The Australian Collection of Outsider Art,” Vol.12, 1992-93, Adelaide
Raw Vision, “Three Australian Outsiders,” No.8, 1993, UK
Raw Vision, “Javier Lara-Gomez,” No.35, 2001, UK
Australian Outsiders, (catalogue) Orange Regional Gallery, 2005
Australian Outsiders, (catalogue) Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, 2006
Australian Outsiders, (catalogue) Halle St. Pierre, 2006, Paris
Southery, Vol 64, No 1, 2004, “Outsiders”, Brooks & Hammial
Videos on TV:
ABC Window, 1992
At the Wollongong City Gallery, SBS 6:30 News, 1993
Down to the Line, Robert Herbert, SBS Carpet Burns, 1993
SBS “Imagine,” 1995
Radio:
Radio National, 11/03/06, All in the Mind (with Anthony Mannix & Colin Rhodes)
Others:
Anthony Mannix The Beast of the Unconscious and Other Well-known Entities, (catalogue) Penrith Regional Gallery, 2009
Elsewhere: The International Journal of Self-taught & Outsider Art, Issue 1, 2013, Sydney College of the Arts
John Blades (1959–2011)
In 1992 John Blades became the third member of The Australian Collection of Outsider Art. A champion of Outsider Art since the seventies, he helped organize several of the 28 exhibitions that the Collection curated in Australia, Europe and the U.S. from 1986 to the present. His willpower was formidable and his enthusiasm contagious. Confined to an electric wheelchair for the last years of his life, John always managed to get to our exhibitions and to Colin Rhodes’ exhibitions at the Sydney College of the Arts. Arriving in a special-needs taxi with one of his driver friends, he could maneuver his wheelchair into even the most cramped gallery space. Paralyzed from the neck down, he would use his chin to back and fill and then spend at least thirty minutes looking carefully at each and every work. He was always excited when a new Raw Vision arrived by post. With the magazine placed on the wheelchair table he would use the long stainless steel rubber-tipped finger strapped to his forehead to turn the pages. He read every word, even the ads. John wore several hats. As a radio programmer and broadcaster he hosted Hot Dog You Bet and later Background Noise on 2MBS-FM, late night programs devoted to avant-garde music. On Background Noise he broadcast two landmark programs on Outsider Art: ‘Outsider Art in Australia’ in 2000 and ‘All in the Mind” with Anthony Mannix and Colin Rhodes in 2006 and plugged all of our exhibitions. Struggling with multiple sclerosis for 29 years, he was diagnosed with cancer in early November, 2011 and died peacefully in hospital on November 25, a few days short of his 52nd birthday. Of course John had his dark hours, but in the 24 years I knew him I never heard him complain about his condition. He was always bright, optimistic, passionate about life and art. He was the most courageous man I’ve had the privilege to know.
-Philip Hammial
ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT OF THE RESPECTIVE ARTISTS.
Enquiries for use should be made to the Apothecary Archive: theapothecaryarchive@gmail.com