Normally, when we think of “Outsider art” we conjure images of paintings and drawings like those in the Prinzhorn collection exhibited at the Hammer Museum a couple of years ago — artifacts made with the blunt tools and readily available media that don’t interrupt the normal routines of a psychiatric hospital. And this is still what you’re likely to encounter at showcases like January’s Sanford Smith Outsider Art Fair in New York. Conceptually and critically, however, the category has expanded almost to the point of becoming meaningless, with artists promoting themselves as “Outsiders” merely on the basis of their inability to get anyone on the “inside”... More >>>