b-b-bonus this week in outsider art // november twenty-second

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✌️ every wednesday morning, this bonus newsletter with bonus outsider art content, including show listings, personal collection highlights, and news of the week, will be sent to paid subscribers. The weekly ‘This Week in Outsider Art’ newsletter that goes out every Sunday morning continues to and will always be free of charge — enjoy ✌️

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FIND OF THE WEEK

"Real popular culture is folk art..." -- Noam Chomsky

I’m doing some writing for DailyArt Magazine with all my free time, and I’m really excited that the first piece I’m doing is on Ukrainian folk artist Polina Raiko. I’d seen her work before, painting the inside of her house and creating one of the coolest art environments around, but I didn’t know much about her. I’ve begun a little research learning about how tragedy struck this 70-year-old, and she spent every last dollar she had buying paints and brushes and turning her home into a stunning folk art cultural heritage site. This piece above is on one of the central walls in her home that features her and her sisters. Unfortunately, some of the work in her home has reportedly been lost to deliberate flooding caused by the Russians amid their invasion of Ukraine. Much more to come in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow, born 1981) Fall, from "The Four Seasons", 2006, printed 2020 via Des Moines Art Center

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, I wanted to share work by one of my favorite artists, Wendy Red Star. This is one of four pieces at the Des Moines Art Center, where artist Wendy Red Star, like many Native American artists before her, tries to break down cultural expectations. I thoroughly enjoy her humor and playfulness in these photos while “challenging the ways in which society refuses to see indigenous people as contemporary figures.” So often, our ideas and perceptions of Native peoples are that of what we’ve seen on TV or in books as kids, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Artists like Wendy Red Star and Fritz Scholder, who shine a light on the false history and nature of these artists, should be celebrated each and every day, not just in the month of November.

November is Native American Heritage Month. This is a time to recognize the history, culture, and contributions of Indigenous people.

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B-B-BONUS

This Week in Outsider Art

In the United States, it is Thanksgiving week. A time to eat, drink, watch football, and sit in the same room with your family but not say a whole lot. Hopefully, in the few days you’ll spend with your family, you’ll say at least one thing you’re thankful for and avoid too much political conversation.

Holidays like these make me think of Grandma Moses. For any major American holiday, you sure can count on Grandma Moses to have a piece of art that can help you celebrate the date. For Thanksgiving, there are at least nine of them! Nine! As you will see below. I reckon for someone who didn’t start painting until she was 78 and lived to be one hundred.

Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate.