July 2007
Outsiders pack a punch at La Petite Mort Gallery
Aliens, Punks, Dreams & the Trouble with People
Group show July 6 – August 1 / 2007
Vernissage Friday July 6 2007, 7 – 10pm / Tunes by Christopher Jabbour
Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1 FM
The term “Outsider Art” has been kicked around, shifted, made into movies and possibly become meaningless since it was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as a kind of English equivalent to the French term, Art Brut. Generally thought of as art operating outside of the artistic fashion of the day, it has variously been interpreted to include (or exclude): art made by children, art made by the insane, art by untrained artists or by artists who don’t live in major cities, art by alien abductees, art by the incarcerated, etc.
The art selected for this particular show at La Petite Mort, however, has been chosen for only one reason: its ability to move people by presenting something that has meaning, in a way they might not have seen before. In this show are aliens, punks, fruit trees, airplanes, rollerskates, ice cream and some very good advice for living.
Rigu Elena lives in Ploisti, Romania, though she grew up in the small town of Poenii Vechi. She has raised seven children, several of whom are artists. She is now 83 years old and started making art only seven years ago. According to her grandson, artist Theo Pelmus, she has more pieces of art in her house than any other kind of object. Her paintings and drawings vary greatly in style and in materials. There are paintings on boxes, cupboard doors, styrofoam; subjects range from flowers to winged monsters.
JP Danys lives in Ottawa, where he repairs bicycles, paints and sculpts. The world of JP’s paintings is urban, fantastic and cautionary. Street scenes are populated with punks, aliens, angels and political figures. Skies are filled with fire and ash, airplanes and flying saucers. Often reclusive, JP hopes to enlighten people with his artwork, and hopefully rid himself of his great shyness.
Finally, the show features work from the street poet that sometimes signs his work “Crazy Dave”. Dave is a well-known figure in the Byward market, where he displays and sells his marker-on-cardboard poems to passers-by. Since August 2006, Dave has produced a startling amount of work that he calls “A Panner’s Perspective”. His work is funny, sobering and original. Like the other art in this show, it packs a punch.
Curated by Missy Marston-Shmelzer & Guy Berube
Featured video, My Grandmother, by Theo Pelmus
Guy Berube, director
La Petite Mort Gallery