Wiggle ◝( ･'ω'･ )◟ Wiggle: Artist Lecture: Shifting the Mainstream Narrative in American Art

Artists can still make influence even though they are self-taught rather than a professional. The lecture was given by Leslie Umberger, the curator of folk and self-taught art Smithsonian American Art Museum. She introduced the five American outsider artists, Sabato Rodia, David Butler, Emery Blagdon, and James Hampton, and Lonnie Holley who had made contribution to the field of art and reinvented the American culture.

Umberger began with the Italian American artist Sabato Rodia and his great achievement Watt Towers. Watt Towers regenerated the principle of architecture design. The tower had been constructed for approximately 30 years. Building materials included concrete and objects Rodia randomly found. The structure of the tower is strongly supported by its surface even though the center of the tower is completely hollow. The next one was David Butler, an African American artist. Butler's work involved 3D sculptures building by cut, shaped metal plates and paintings. Suffering from anxiety and insecurity, Butler placed hundreds of sculptures as spiritual protections in his yard. His work expressed the meaning of spirit and religion from the African American aspect.

Emery Bladgdon and James Hampton were introduced together due to their similarity in environmental installations that consisted with discrete pieces by using tin foil and found objects. Bladgdon's works were often built with electrical substances such as wire and battery. He created the piece Healing Machine and believed it could help to heal people. Healing Machine provided us a fresh, artistic way to view modern technology. James Hampton's sculpture pieces were found after he died. Similar to the Healing Machine, the Throne expressed Hampton's personal belief, but in the Christian aspects. For the African American artist Lonnie Holley, the last outsider artist in this lecture, connection is the core of his works. Holley recognizes art as a tool to evaluate identity to the reality and its challenges. He focuses on the beauty of things that people often mislabel or misunderstand.

Self-taught artists alter the idea of who and how an artist should be. Personally, I think what makes outsider artists unique is that they can often think outside the box and create artwork with various materials that we normally do not expect. Although the five artists were not art-educated, their works are still appreciable and have fully expressed the beauty of American art.