Brent Pope opens his new outsider art exhibition in Cork
RUGBY pundit Brent Pope was prepared to be criticised by the art world for his public foray into the visual arts with his recent RTÉ television documentary on outsider art.
The programme documented his journey in putting together Ireland’s first exhibition of outsider art by Irish artists. Having been a huge success in Dublin, with up to 400 people a day dropping into the Copper House Gallery to view ‘Beyond: Irish Outsider Art’, the exhibition is now coming to Cork. It features the work of 18 artists, including five local artists.
Outsider art, also called ‘naive art’, ‘raw art’, ‘brute art’ or Pope’s favourite description, ‘art uncooked by culture’ is created outside of the mainstream, sometimes made by people on the margins of society such as those with mental health issues or disabilities. The artists are self taught and they often use their talent to deal with difficult personal situations.
Pope, to his surprise, says he has received nothing but praise and goodwill towards the exhibition.
“It was a revelation for me. I expected people on social media to ask ‘What does Brent Pope know about art?’ But I said from the start that I’m not an art expert. I don’t profess to have studied art at university. I just have followed this type of art for 15 years, all over the world. I have a large collection and I have a right to say that I know what outsider art is.”
Pope’s psychotherapist brother introduced him to outsider art in their native New Zealand. “My brother was working with some young street artists and brought me to a little gallery in Wellington called Roar. I guess I more or less fell in love with the artists. I saw people from different parts of society doing art for the love of it. They were people with mental health problems, people living on the streets, people with Down syndrome or autism. I was fascinated by the fact that they were using art to put themselves in a better place. I thought that was very powerful.”
Outsider art appeals to Pope because of its simplicity. “It’s not art therapy but it is therapeutic. Outsider art is a growing genre in the US and it has become quite collectible in New York, Chicago, Paris and London where there are galleries dedicated to it.”
Many of the pieces exhibited at the Copper House Gallery have sold and the artists will be showing different exhibits in Cork. “I’ve stepped back from that because that isn’t what the documentary was about. But I’m not standing in the way of the artists selling work. What I’m doing is showcasing the work and how the artists have overcome adversity by doing art. The fact that they’re selling the work is great.”
Street artist Banksy’s former agent, Steve Lazarides, came to Dublin to see the exhibition and purchased five pieces.
FROM THE HEART
My outsider art expo is moving to Cork City Hall from this wed untill the 4 th please pay a visit it's amazing. @OutArtIrl
— Brent Pope (@RealBrentPope) November 15, 2015
For Pope, outsider art is no different than the work of the legends of art such as Picasso who would have been outside of the art world. “Guys like him and Jackson Pollock have pushed the boundaries of art in some regard. They’re not mainstream. They’re not taught what colour palettes to use. They just paint from the heart.”
Pope ran an outsider art gallery in Dublin on a charitable basis for a couple of years, having been given a gallery space by a developer. But other things in his life took over. However, he worked on the documentary for three years, calling for submissions. Hundreds of art works made their way to him.
“A lot of the art that was sent to me had been stored under beds and stored in garages and hadn’t been shown to anyone. That’s because quite often, outsider artists are doing it for themselves and not for commercial gain. It’s not about selling work; it’s about getting up in the morning and saying: ‘I need to do this and I want to do this.’ That’s what I’m trying to showcase.”
EMOTIONAL EVENT
Exhibiting the work has been an emotional roller coaster for the artists and their families. “The artists were in tears, as were their families, when we hung the work on opening night. It was a wonderful feeling for the artists to have their work shown. They can now be proud of their art rather than hiding it away. It expresses how they felt at a particular time, whether that was sad or lonely.”
Pope says outsider art resonates with him. “I’ve suffered from crippling anxiety and panic for most of my life so I know where the artists are coming from. When I see the art, I get emotional, whether that’s feeling sorry for the artists or feeling happy for them because they’ve turned things around.”
Forty-one-year-old Ailbhe Barrett, from Shanakiel in Cork, is a member of Cúig (Creativity Unlimited an Integrated Group) who is employed as an artist-in-residence at Mayfield Arts Centre. She will be showing her work at the Cork City exhibition.
Barrett works from photographs and her own sketches of sculptures at the Crawford Gallery as inspiration for her art. She also paints still lifes and does life drawing. She has visited the Louvre in Paris and her colourful and imaginative interpretation of the Mona Lisa is on the front cover of the catalogue for the exhibition.
“The painting [of the Mona Lisa] is small. When I came back from Paris, I did a big painting of her and I made one of the eyes crooked,” says Barrett. “My painting, ‘Violin Player’, will be at the exhibition. I got the idea from a book of angels.”
Get ready Cork! Hanging the final pieces for the exhibition, open to the public from Wednesday 9am to 5pm pic.twitter.com/4tvRHEbhaG
— Outsider Art Ireland (@OutArtIrl) November 16, 2015
Barrett describes art as like opening a book. “It’s like life and I love it. And it helps me a lot, ” she says, adding that her favourite artist is Leonardo Da Vinci.
Barrett sold five of her paintings at the Dublin exhibition. Her work has been exhibited in the Southbank Centre in London, Gallerie Outsider Art in Amsterdam and the Crawford in Cork.
“My ambition is to have my own gallery. I’d recommend art to anyone. Anyone can do it. If you make a mistake, so what?”
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