Art Brut

"Art, in our society, has been so perverted that not only has bad art come to be considered good, but even the very perception of what art really is has been lost. In order to be able to speak about the art of our society, it is, therefore, first of all necessary to distinguish art from counterfeit art." 

-Leo Tolstoy What is Art?

The other night I went to an art opening in Chelsea. Like most art openings, there was wine, there was cheese, there there were some good pieces, there were some mediocre ones, but above all there was order.  Maybe it was the wrong space for it, but though some of the works were very good, they did not strike me with that visceral element that twists your stomach, wrenches your heart, and fills you til you're brimming with emotion while at the same time wringing every feeling out of you.

My mind wandered, as it so often does, to brain injuries.   I first heard of brain injury art, also known as Outsider Art, or Art Brut, in A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas' memoir about life after her husband suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.  When Thomas visited the Northeast Center for Special Care the first time she discovered a whole new facet of the art world; art therapy.  The center's hallways, decked with painting after painting, looked more like a gallery than a hospital.  

Thomas' chapter Outsider Art sparked my curiosity, and I began to research Art Therapy and this movement.  Apparently not only does Art Therapy help improve fine motor skills, social interaction, communication, memory, self-esteem, along with a vast array of other benefits, but it is also a highly regarded form of art.  Apparently, Art Brut, raw art, was first named by artist Jean Dubuffet.  Who praised it as being "the real thing, art unpolluted by societies expectations or a culture's constrictions."  (Three Dog Life p 143)

http://brain-injury-art.northeastcenter.com/

To me, Outsider Art seems more honest, and isn't honesty what art aspires to?  I unfortunately never had the opportunity to use Art Therapy in my recovery, but I wish that I had.  The artistic world is one place where disinhibition and heightened emotions could definitely work to the artist's advantage.  I would love to go to an Outsider Art exhibition...