Perspectives on Outsider Art | Arts and Culture | WHYY

James Castle grew up deaf in rural Idaho, with little or no contact with art or the art world. He made 20,000 pieces of art over the course of his life. The 300-piece James Castle retrospective on view now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the largest exhibits in a general art museum devoted to an individual Self-Taught or Outsider Artist.

WHYY's Alex Schmidt explores the debate over the place of so-called Outsider Art in the larger art world. Her feature on WHYY can be found at whyy.org/artsandculture. This audio slide show includes the perspectives of museum patrons who were experiencing Castle's work.

Photos and editing by Masashi Hanada

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• James Castle
• Alex Schmidt
• WHYY
• Masashi Hanada
• Outside Art
• Self Taught Artists

[EdgeworthJohnstone]

brilliant work. Thanks for uploading it.

[LeonKennedyArt]

Thank you

[nataliachills]

@agru I completely agree...that would bring the significance of this exhibit full circle...and yes, the museum is STILL an ivory tower...

[agru]

What would make this better would be access for deaf people (captioning or an ASL interpreter in a corner PIP), so they can appreciate the achievement of an artist from their culture.