Folk Art in 500 Words from Wentworth Tradd
Let’s leave aside the part about what is ART and get down to the nitty gritty: What is FOLK ART?
Folk Art, sometimes called Outsider Art,
usually means art made by someone not trained as an artist. Because the
art world is full of nuances and distinctions (and also fakes and
impostors) we may have to stick with that. OK, maybe we need to
agree that art is anything made by a person and called art by that
person or someone else. This lets in a lot of junk, but nobody
said we were going to be able to tell you the difference between Good
and Bad art. Broadly stated, Art is whatever someone calls art, unless
you disagree, in which case it is Not Art.
Uh-oh, let’s get back to Folk Art fast
Folk art trditionally uses materials not specifically designed for
artistic purposes, such as plywood, house paint, tools, sticks, rocks,
and other found materials. One pleasing definition is the rendering of sophisticated themes or subjects in an unsophisticated way.
Others would suggest that certain subjects are classic folk art- crows
being a good example. The Outsider end of Folk Art also includes
Visionary Artists, who are sometimes called Crazy People,
though not by me. Religious themes, especially the struggle between
Good and Evil and Divine Intervention are frequent themes of Folk
Art, though, come to think of it, they are fairly popular among the
Great Masters, too.
Most people have an idealized notion of the Folk Artist, as a kind of Noble Savage, or Holy Fool who
makes art purely for its own sake, and some of the best folk art
does come from people who seem to fit these categories. However,
by the time a person has sold more than about three pictures or works
of art, he or she has usually decided that making money is at least
one reason to keep on doing it. And then there is the attention.
Surprisingly, though, the ambitions of many folk artists, commercial or
otherwise, are usually excusably modest.
“Self taught” is a term sometimes used to describe folk artists, but it
fails because nearly every artist has ultimately been his or her
own teacher. And many an outsider or folk artist has
begun with some basic instruction before venturing into other
territory. Another thing that happens is the artist who may be
relatively sophisticated in certain aspects of life (cell phones and
computers, for example) but may not have any knowledge of
artistic technique beyond what he or she has figured out alone.
Can you be a folk artist and get eMails? Is a satellite dish OK
if you only use it to watch wrestling?
Do you see where this leads? This line of discussion has
gotten on the wrong track because it tries to focus on the Folk Artist
rather than on the Folk Art. This leads to a definition that includes
ALL ART MADE BY PEOPLE WHO AREN’T AS SMART OR URBANE AS I AM. And
that’s a pretty condescending way to treat something as noble as art,
or the people who try to make it.
Let us return, then, to the idea of Folk Art as being made without the
contaminating influence of Academic Art. Since much of the
current thinking in Art Education seems to be that actual literal
representation is Not Good, then, maybe Folk Art includes the
literal. And there is very little abstract folk art being
sold these days, though, presumably every time a person goes from I
could do That to See What I did, even if the result is abstract,
it is technically folk art, too.
Had enough confusion? Let’s recap and wrap, then:
Little or no Formal Training
Little or no influence of Academic Art
Non-Traditional materials
Typical subjects
Holy Fools and Noble Savages
Ideas better developed than techniques
I hope you have found this guide to be useful, if not exactly
definitive. Perhaps you will have to apply the test usually associated
with a different topic: “I know it when I see it”. I hope you will
check out my other guides, too.
Take Care,
WT