[From catalogue]

 

FROM MYSTICISM TO THE SYNCRETISM OF REALITY

Approach to Abstraction in Outsider Art by Dutch and Cuban artists

 

Abstraction, as a form of artistic representation, exists in a continuum in art, in every element or stroke that the artist uses as a creative tool to transform reality. The simplification of the characteristics (shape, color, texture) of objects and the creation of forms that have no connection to external reality are as valid as the replacing of representation by the process of making itself: when a figure is masked by irregular fragments of shape or strokes of color, or when these forms are produced by the unconscious automaton gesture of the author. It is precisely through the singular and individual production that many outsider artists achieve abstract results in their works, challenging the traditional criteria about the representational character of Art Brut and Outsider Art, linked to the personal experience of each author. Experimenting with the material also leads to unexpected results that cause the loss of representational attributes.

 

Although the outsider artist's intention may allude to real characters, objects, landscapes, or architectural elements, his creative process, the available materials, and the elements of a subjectivity plagued by extreme mental processes, highly individual idiosyncrasies, and extravagant fantasy worlds undermine these real elements by blurring their details. Each element of form and motif becomes a code and symbol of a personal language.  The work is then charged with a mystical content that even the artist is often unable to explain. In other cases, the outsider artist uses only syncretic graphic elements as an alternative to the obsessive desire to represent not only elements of the real life that surrounds him, but also sensations that he is otherwise unable to communicate.

 

The current exhibition at Riera Studio: "From Mysticism to the Syncretism of Reality", allows us to observe the different approaches to abstraction in the work of nine outsider artists who come from very different geographical and socio-cultural contexts.

 

This exhibition is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Riera Studio and Galerie Atelier Herenplaats (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cuba. It is also part of the official program of activities of the Month of Europe in Cuba 2024.

 

Derbis Campos, curator and co-director of RIERA STUDIO | Art Brut Project Cuba