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.

For the many European visitors, there is always a great deal of new art to discover, even if they sometimes have the feeling that a lot of good Outsider Art they are familiar with on their own continent would deserve to be on show here. Although the input from other countries is increasing, it is, of course, and will remain, an American Fair.

Art in Europe

Europe has a justifiably good name when it comes to art fairs. Enthusiasts of classical and modern art make sure not to miss The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in the Netherlands. Fans of art in the sphere around Outsider Art may have to do some searching at times, but there is always work to be seen by the likes of Dubuffet, the Expressionists, or the artists of the Cobra group, and people can indulge in the many beautiful stands featuring ethnographics - a cognate visual language that remains an inspiration.

This becomes more difficult with the presentation of current art at such events as the ever fabulous Art Basel in Switzerland, the exciting Venice Biennale and the Documenta in Kassel. Sure, art is also presented at these fairs that recalls the unique characteristics of Outsider Art, though often by happenstance. Insiders will always recognize something in the originality and immediate methods of the Outsiders in the work of young, mainstream artists, but pure Outsider Art is lacking at these events.

Therefore, Europe still has the space to accommodate real Outsider Art. And such a space is on its way in the shape of the European Outsider Art Fair (EOAF). In 2008, the buzz will shift to Vienna, where the organizers are hoping to lure Americans into crossing the Atlantic to behold with their own eyes what is being produced in this part of the world.