Are 'Outsider Artists' Free from Reflecting Culture?

Most artists who are in anyway connected with art education either in traditional or contemporary contexts will find it hard to remain free from reflecting the culture in which they exist. Trained artists tend to either follow the stylistic norm of the art trend, or react against it. The point is that artists are engaging with the ethos of their time, whether in a positive or negative manner, this results in some form of reflecting the culture it engages with. Are artists who may be classified as ‘outsider’ or ‘naïve’ artists, free from the idea of conversing with their culture in the art they create? Does their ignorance place them in a category unaffected by their social setting?

Martin Thomson is a Wellington based artist, he is self taught and hasn’t received any art training. Thomson is considered an ‘Outsider Artist’, and some don’t even give him the credit of being an artist. His art appears to some as being devoid of intention and to others a field where they can readily read their own meaning into it. This idea falls nicely into the post modern concept of what is important, the idea the artist is attempting to communicate or what the viewer wishes to read into the work.

                                                            Martin Thompson Untitled

Ballpoint pen on paper 

Thomson’s art is a methodical colouring in exercise; seemingly he simply fills in a grid with coloured pens, creating a geometric pattern as he works. The question is does his art really reflect this contemporary culture? His artistic intention does not appear to show any desire to reflect aspects of the culture in which he lives, his work is a simple method of organizing colour on a grid. Comments about his work relating to culture is made by people attempting to read something into his artwork, that may not be present. This proves societies desire when understanding artworks, to project their own ideas onto a work. Does subjective interpretation however justify an artwork reflecting society. Thomson’s own statement about his artwork is simply that he thinks it would make good wallpaper.