Please join us for the opening of our newest exhibit featuring a selection of artwork by Leonard Rosenfeld and Konstantin Bokov--two esteemed New York artists, who have gained acclaim both locally and abroad.  Through their talent, humour and unique world-views, the artists capture the nuances of New York City life as well as pose questions about contemporary realities.  Rosenfeld's 1957 Brooklyn Railroad Tracks drawings are amongst the highlights of the show, alongside Bokov's exquisite oil paintings and recycled pieces.

From 6-9 pm on Thursday July 30th, 2009, we invite you to have the first viewing of the exceptional art comprising the show, as well as to meet the artists, network with fellow artists and art enthusiasts, and enjoy a glass of wine and light nibbles!  The show will run through August 28th, 2009.

JOHN CARNRIGHT: J.M. Carnright’s "PrimitiveFuturisms" concept originated in the mid 1970s in artworks created during this early period in his career.  Stimulated mainly by the artist's pilgrimmage to Eastern and Western Europe, Carnright developed this concept much more thoroughly following 1987 and with the coverage of his artwork by Kunst und Kirche Magazine. Carinright's journey, inspired by European Art Critics/Art Historians and highly published authors (including Dr. Gunter Rombold and Dr. Friedhelm Mennekes), led Carnright to periods of earnest thought, reflection and discovery. This all occurred during his travels when writing, sleeping and dreaming near and within the primal.

ALLEN STAMPER: Allen Stamper was born on Oahu in 1947 and has spent most of his life between Hawaii, New York and Nova Scotia. The son of artist Willson Stamper and celebrated children's book illustrator and writer Martha Alexander Stamper was immersed in the arts early on. Formally, he studied drawing with Joe Fehrer in 1964 at the Honolulu Academy of Art followed by a brief apprenticeship with sculptor Eddie Schillacci in New York in 1965, Stamper's primary focus being sculpture until 1978. In 2001 he studied Renaissance painting technique with Snowden Hodges which prompted his shift to oil painting.

In the June 2007 issue of Out of Art; the Magazine for Current Outsider Art, Sanford Smith, the organizer of the renowned Outsider Art Fair in New York City, stated in an interview that he was positive ‘the Fair would remain in the Big Apple'. And he was right; the Fair will remain there but it will also expand in 2008, when under his patronage, the first European Outsider Art Fair, intended to complement the Fair in the United States, will be held in Vienna.

Now that the organization is up and running and the Fair has a rough outline, I can take this opportunity to sketch a short introduction of the hows and whys surrounding the event. One thing is certain: everyone with a passion for Outsider Art can now focus not only on New York but also on Europe. And expectations are immense. After all, is this not the continent on which this exceptional art form was born?

The Buzz in New York and Vienna

For 15 years, the Outsider Art Fair in New York has attracted increasing numbers of devotees, connoisseurs and collectors of ‘art with frayed edges'. Long before the Fair actually opens, the city is buzzing with enthusiasm. On both sides of the Atlantic, email correspondence increases, hotel reservations and appointments are made to meet in the Big Apple. The Fair is seen globally both as an historic overview of Outsider Art and as a display of its current state of affairs.