In late 2018, I decided to fund two trips to the USA in 2019 in order to keep up to date with what's happening in the in the broader international art world.

My interests span several areas in the arts including contemporary art, self-taught art, craft and contemporary jewellery. New York has so much to offer for each of these passions, and it was time for me to tap in to the international art scene and learn as much as possible.

In January 2019, I visited NYC and stayed in Chelsea for a week. The main purpose of the first trip was to spend time at the New York Outsider Art Fair held at The Metropolitan Pavillion, 125 W. 18th Street New York (17-20 January).

‘Outsider Art’ is a term coined in 1972 by art historian Roger Cardinal to categorise artists who have not been conditioned by art history and trends in art. Over the last two decades, Outsider Art built an international reputation thanks to niche art dealers and curators as well as the professionalisation of supported studios like Arts Project Australia.

In 2019, the Outsider Art Fair was the biggest it's ever been and three artists from Arts Project Australia were represented at the fair by commercial galleries from NYC and Philadelphia. Julian Martin was represented by Fleisher/Ollman Gallery from Philadelphia and Alan Constable and Samraing Chea was represented by DUTTON Gallery in New York.

It's really exciting when Arts Project Australia partners with galleries who have the local, national and International networks that stem from the cities where they're based. In Australia, Darren Knight Gallery in Sydney has been a long-time supporter of Arts Project Australia and of our artists.

Here are some highlights:

IMAGE CREDITS

1/ Doors to the Outside Art Fair (OAF) at The Metropolitan Pavillion

2/ OAF public and VIPs

3/ OAF public and VIPs

4/ John Ollman and Alex Baker in front of a collation of Julian Martin artworks at OAF

5/ Joe Coleman, 'Circus' (detail), 2011, acrylic on panel @andrewedlingallery

6/ Howard Finster (detail) @carlhammergallery

7/ Howard Finster (detail) @carlhammergallery

8/ Henry Darger (detail) @carlhammergallery

9/ Donald Mitchell 'Untitled', 2018, ink on paper @creativegrowth

#contemporaryartjewellery #artsprojectaustralia #contemporaryjewellery #craft #travel