Outsider Art Sourcebook

If you’re like me and are fascinated and intrigued by the weird, expressive and at times elusive worlds of outsider and folk art, then reading this sourcebook will be like receiving the keys to the secret kingdom. Published by Raw Vision—the U.K.-based international journal of outsider art—this update of the magazine’s seminal 2002 guide is packed with concise information and overloaded with strange and wonderful pictures of outsider art and artists. The bulk of the book features an alphabetically arranged mini encyclopedia of more than 100 notable outsider artists. After that, the color-coded sections offer a thorough directory of where to find outsider art around the world—“visionary environments,” “galleries and art fairs,” “museums and collections,” “organizations,” “publications” and “Web sites.” If you’re not that excited about outsider art, the book is still a great source for those who might be simply searching for a unique adventure. If, say, you were planning a road trip, any one of the visionary environments—such as Leonard Knight’s “Salvation Mountain” in the desert town of Niland, Calif., or Dr. Evermor’s “Forevertron” in Lodi, Wisc. (designed to “travel in space”)—would provide the kind of far-out arts diversion that would soundly trump any run-of-the-mill roadside attraction.