Outsider Art Fair 2023
March 2nd, 2023 – March 5th, 2023
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W 18th St.
New York, NY 10011
Outsider Art Fair, the only fair dedicated to self-taught art, art brut, and outsider art, returns to New York City for its 31st edition taking place March 2nd–5th at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. The event features 64 exhibitors from 28 cities in 8 countries, with 12 first-time exhibitors. The collection will be open for viewing from 11am to 8pm on Friday, March 3rd and Saturday, March 4th, and will run from 11am to 6pm on Sunday, March 5th.
For this year’s OAF Curated Space, the fair has joined forces with Grammy Award-winning music producer and supervisor, Randall Poster, who has co-founded The Birdsong Project, a collaboration with some of the world’s most respected musicians, artists, poets, and actors, to support The National Audubon Society. Poster and fair owner Andrew Edlin, who have been friends since childhood, will co-curate an exhibition, We Are Birds, featuring dozens of works inspired by birdlife made by self-taught and contemporary artists, including Greg Burak, Minnie Evans, and Tony Fitzpatrick.
Additionally, there will be a solo exhibit of paintings by Paul Laffoley, a visionary artist and architect who creates psychedelic, geometric works. The exhibit, The Life and Death of Elvis Presley: A Suite, includes a series of eight paintings, completed in 1995, that reveal the artist’s vision of the singer’s distinct phases of life.
Other fair highlights this year include Donald Ellis’ presentation of an early group of graphite and colored pencil drawings by Inuit artist Parr (1893-1969), celebrated today for his unadulterated depictions of the hunt, animals and the human figure. First time exhibitor Feheley Fine Arts, from Toronto, will also feature works by Inuit artists.
“I’m excited to build upon the creative momentum generated by the fair and keep challenging the boundaries of the field, which OAF has become celebrated for,” said Sofía Lanusse, the newly appointed fair director.
Additionally, SHRINE (New York) will showcase the work of Mary T. Smith (1904-1995) and David Butler (1898-1997), two exemplary figures in the Southern tradition of “yard shows,” where Black artists decorated their properties to convey messages that could not be openly voiced. Finally, first-time exhibitor Valley House (Dallas, TX) will present a mini-retrospective of Texas self-taught artist Valton Tyler (1944-2017).
OAF Talks will feature two panel discussions, one on Minnie Evans moderated by MoMA curator Esther Adler, the other on Paul Laffoley organized by Douglas Walla, CEO of Marlborough Gallery, New York, and editor of The Essential Paul Laffoley: Works by the Boston Visionary Cell.
Since 1993, the Outsider Art Fair has championed self-taught artists, creating long-standing relationships with dealers like Aarne Anton/Nexus Singularity and Marion Harris that have been with OAF since its inception. The fair also has a longstanding history of working with the world’s top ateliers or “workshops” that serve artists with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities, including ArTech Collective, LAND Gallery, and Pure Vision Arts here in New York.
OAF has played a vital role in nurturing a passionate collecting community and broader recognition for outsider art in the contemporary art arena. The 2023 Outside Art Fair will serve as a continuation of this mission while offering a contemporary introduction of notable artists and exhibitioners.
