In rural Appalachia, where tradition reigns supreme, an emerging art and music scene has dared to challenge the outside notions of the region. Steeped in history, awash in natural beauty and with a culture rarely visible outside of the hills, this oft-forgotten region of America is carving out its place among the most culturally relevant to the 21st century. Among those seeking to change perspectives and bring new eyes to the rolling hills is Cory Graham. With no formal training, and only a passion to break down walls surrounding his community, Graham seeks to share views and moments not typically associated with rural America. Deeply political, often angry, and with a focus on progress at all costs, Cory Graham’s work shouts with the voices of forgotten Americans who demand to be heard.
In rural Appalachia, where tradition reigns supreme, an emerging art and music scene has dared to challenge the outside notions of the region. Steeped in history, awash in natural beauty and with a culture rarely visible outside of the hills, this oft-forgotten region of America is carving out its place among the most culturally relevant to the 21st century. Among those seeking to change perspectives and bring new eyes to the rolling hills is Cory Graham. With no formal training, and only a passion to break down walls surrounding his community, Graham seeks to share views and moments not typically associated with rural America. Deeply political, often angry, and with a focus on progress at all costs, Cory Graham’s work shouts with the voices of forgotten Americans who demand to be heard.
Silence Oil on Canvas 18 X 24 Rapture Photography 11 X 14 Collapse Mixed Media 24 X 36 Chechnya Digital 18 X 24
issue zeroFRONT COVER Fernando Carpaneda – Freeport, NY Outsider Art Magazine Issue ZeroBACK COVER Joyce Thornburg – Asheville, NC Outsider Art Magazine Issue Zero
I grew up in an Art home with a Photographer Father, an Elementary School Art Teacher Mother, and Artistic Sister and Brother. Art was always a huge part of my life so going to the Art school where my parents met was probably meant to be. I studied Illustration at Philadelphia College of Art (when it was called that) and then got side tracked in Advertising when I graduated.
I grew up in an Art home with a Photographer Father, an Elementary School Art Teacher Mother, and Artistic Sister and Brother. Art was always a huge part of my life so going to the Art school where my parents met was probably meant to be. I studied Illustration at Philadelphia College of Art (when it was called that) and then got side tracked in Advertising when I graduated.
While I was in college and a few years after I exhibited my Soft-Sculpture in Galleries in Phila, New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore. Was published in the books “Outstanding American Illustrators” and “3-Dimensional Illustration” and magazines “Print Magazine” and “Baltimore Magazine”.
A weird sequence of events landed me in Tattooing for the past 16 years, with my own Tattoo Shop/Art Playground for last 7 of them.
I love Tattooing but the Sculptor in me couldn’t be denied and I started sculpting again with skulls – I love taking skulls and assembling them with manmade objects that are old and discarded, but still beautiful in their own way. It’s like putting together a puzzle of shapes and textures – and giving new life to the dead and discarded.
I’ve been told what to do with my talents most of my life, and it has definitely influenced my art – this is my own personal artistic voice – my sanity – my passion.
Still Born (Collaboration w/ Mari Bennett – the Mummy Baby) Mixed Media 24″x32″x12″
i was born to be a painter therefore i am one. when i paint i feel invincible. i feel life flowing through me. i feel a like a fraud and i love myself. i feel horrible, great and delusional all at the same time. its wonderful.
with all that in mind i work as a programmer during the day. oh life, you cruel, blind son of a bitch.
i dream of the day when i will be able to wake up and go my own, separate way.
but then i wake up, look through the window to the other windows in front of me, listen to the birds chirping, eat my buckwheats and go on with my life.
i was born to be a painter therefore i am one. when i paint i feel invincible. i feel life flowing through me. i feel a like a fraud and i love myself. i feel horrible, great and delusional all at the same time. its wonderful.
with all that in mind i work as a programmer during the day. oh life, you cruel, blind son of a bitch.
i dream of the day when i will be able to wake up and go my own, separate way.
but then i wake up, look through the window to the other windows in front of me, listen to the birds chirping, eat my buckwheats and go on with my life. kicking every trashcan that i can and drawing on every surface that i’m able to find. feeling happy just by thinking about all these things, about the future and stuff, going by the places where people study art. this is my home now. i know i’m not one of them, but
“I’ll sleep by your door, lay my life on the line
You probably don’t know but I’m gonna make you mine”
to quote Bob Dylan.
in conclusion. i know what i am. and now, i guess, you do too. you can see me walking down the street, wearing the same damn thing every day. white shirts. blue jeans. talking about art and bob dylan with some randos and fellow programmers who’ll listen. you can imagine me laying in my bed at night anxious about my future, feeling as if everyone hates me just because i still haven’t found my place under the sun, quoting Allen Ginsberg under my nose and eating buckwheats. buckwheats. always buckwheats.
i hope thats enough. i hope i can consider you my friend now.
Socialist Street oil on canvas 70cmx80cm
Desolation Row oil on canvas 80cmx70cm
Some lady left without her bagel. Do you want it? oil on canvas 70cmx80cm
Outsider Art Magazine is pleased to announce our selections for issue zero. Thank you to everyone who submitted their artwork for issue zero.
Outsider Art Magazine is pleased to announce our selections for issue zero. Thank you to everyone who submitted their artwork for issue zero.
Our cover Artists will be revealed when the issue is released.
In no particular order here is our 20 selected Artists.
Deveron Richard – San Pedro, CA
Jo Moore – Bournemouth, UK
Baek Lee – Idyllwild, CA
Marija Orlovic – Wiesbaden, Germany
Robin Savage – Providence, RI
Jeff Klena – Elyria, OH
Mista Fig – Tau, UK
Marilyn Richeda – South Salem, NY
Fernando Carpaneda – Freeport, NY
Mary Webster – Peterborough, UK
Joyce Thornbug – Ashville, NC
Matt Rosenbaum – Brooklyn, NY
Sabine Blodorn – Broadbeach, Australia
Sally Mandl – Grenville-sur-la-rouge, Canada
Bird Trash – Houston, TX
William Tyler – Toronto, Canada
Brian Hoffman – Newton, MA
Hui-ju Chen – Shantou, China
Robert Gorchov – Philadelphia, PA
I am a 49 year old womam from London, I have taught myself. I paint what I want how I want. Art therapy for my muddled mind and then I cook tea for the kids and walk the dog and think about stuff.
I am a 49 year old womam from London, I have taught myself. I paint what I want how I want. Art therapy for my muddled mind and then I cook tea for the kids and walk the dog and think about stuff.
Deveron Richard is an LA-based artist, primarily self taught and highly skilled in watercolor and pastel. Deveron has been creating work at the ECF Art Centers, a progressive art studio in Los Angeles, for over thirty-three years. His subject matter ranges from fantasy and sci-fi to landscapes and portraits, and always with a distinct attention to the smallest detail and brush stroke. Deveron creates otherworldly characters of hypersexualized animals that live in a color spectra or a battling space universe. With each piece along with a title Deveron includes a narrative, giving the viewer just a glimpse into the microcosms he creates. “I am an art student, always learning something new and practicing my technique. I get my ideas from my imagination. I ask God for a vision, for inspiration. I do my inspiration and I keep at it.” says Deveron about his art practice.
Deveron Richard is an LA-based artist, primarily self taught and highly skilled in watercolor and pastel. Deveron has been creating work at the ECF Art Centers, a progressive art studio in Los Angeles, for over thirty-three years. His subject matter ranges from fantasy and sci-fi to landscapes and portraits, and always with a distinct attention to the smallest detail and brush stroke. Deveron creates otherworldly characters of hypersexualized animals that live in a color spectra or a battling space universe. With each piece along with a title Deveron includes a narrative, giving the viewer just a glimpse into the microcosms he creates. “I am an art student, always learning something new and practicing my technique. I get my ideas from my imagination. I ask God for a vision, for inspiration. I do my inspiration and I keep at it.” says Deveron about his art practice.
It’s Raining Milk watercolor on paper 28.75in X 20.875in
Bird of Ice watercolor on paper 17in X 22.5in
The Polar Bears in Aurora watercolor on paper 22in X 16.25in
Spectra Knights : Battle for Birdraprime watercolor on paper 19in X 25.5in
When I was born in Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia was a satellite state of the USSR. Communist control often made daily life a challenge and constrained the art world. It discouraged new ideas and pushed artists towards traditional expression. However, I was fortunate enough as a young girl to have a schoolteacher who recognized my talent and encouraged me to express myself in line, form and color.
In order to support myself during young adulthood, I enrolled in the Light Industry Technical College and obtained a degree in textile manufacturing. I used the skills I acquired at the college to open fashion boutique. My ability to use color and form in design made the shop successful. Yet the boutique was not enough to quell my intense desire to paint. I yearned to experience artistic freedom, which America seemed to offer. In 1999, I came to the United States and was tremendously inspired by possibilities for art in this country. I rediscovered my love of fine art.
I found myself surrounded by a free artistic environment, new material, rich literature, incredible libraries, and museums. Using these new resources, I explored new techniques, often times teaching myself. Studying the likes of Jackson Pollock, Amedeo Modigliani, and Willem de Kooning, along with other masters, I began working with acrylics and oils. I honed my techniques and developed an individualistic, contemporary style. My work is now possessed by a spirit of freedom, which lives in a wonderful world of lines, forms, colors and symbolism textured by oils and other mixed media. Each piece of art is an honest and pure expression of various periods of my life; my paintings capture emotions from my heart and soul. Finally, they depict my experience of life, growing up in an repressive society and ending up in America; at times intense and dramatic, my style has also become feminine and uplifting.
Although I continue to develop as an artist, I have settled into my style and found an engaging audience on the East Coast. I have exhibited my works in locations around the tri-state area, including in Philadelphia and New York City. I am constantly searching for new opportunities for collaboration and engaging with new audiences and perspectives. I look forward to working with you.
When I was born in Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia was a satellite state of the USSR. Communist control often made daily life a challenge and constrained the art world. It discouraged new ideas and pushed artists towards traditional expression. However, I was fortunate enough as a young girl to have a schoolteacher who recognized my talent and encouraged me to express myself in line, form and color.
In order to support myself during young adulthood, I enrolled in the Light Industry Technical College and obtained a degree in textile manufacturing. I used the skills I acquired at the college to open fashion boutique. My ability to use color and form in design made the shop successful. Yet the boutique was not enough to quell my intense desire to paint. I yearned to experience artistic freedom, which America seemed to offer. In 1999, I came to the United States and was tremendously inspired by possibilities for art in this country. I rediscovered my love of fine art.
I found myself surrounded by a free artistic environment, new material, rich literature, incredible libraries, and museums. Using these new resources, I explored new techniques, often times teaching myself. Studying the likes of Jackson Pollock, Amedeo Modigliani, and Willem de Kooning, along with other masters, I began working with acrylics and oils. I honed my techniques and developed an individualistic, contemporary style. My work is now possessed by a spirit of freedom, which lives in a wonderful world of lines, forms, colors and symbolism textured by oils and other mixed media. Each piece of art is an honest and pure expression of various periods of my life; my paintings capture emotions from my heart and soul. Finally, they depict my experience of life, growing up in an repressive society and ending up in America; at times intense and dramatic, my style has also become feminine and uplifting.
Although I continue to develop as an artist, I have settled into my style and found an engaging audience on the East Coast. I have exhibited my works in locations around the tri-state area, including in Philadelphia and New York City. I am constantly searching for new opportunities for collaboration and engaging with new audiences and perspectives. I look forward to working with you.
I briefly attended the Cleveland Institute of Art (1992-1993) but found hanging out at the Euclid Tavern and the Cleveland Museum of Art much more educational.
Music And Art have been a constant force in moving my life forward. Although the past is a constant reminder of promises forgotten. I now make good on the little lies that get me through the night. The reinventing of the dream-self on every new morning. The doorway between the conscious self and the subconscious ideal has been left open. What remains of the journey lies in paint. My Style is subjective to the viewers preconceptions. I am a figure artist. The rest is up for interpretation.
The artistic influences on my paintings are quite varied. I am most influenced by the Symbolist. Which turned into the modern Illustration movement. Everyone from Klimt to Schiele from Bacon and Auerbach to Frazetta and Giger. All my idols are dead. It is my time to start a new generation of dreamers.
All my work is for sale. I am sick of being a slave to my alarm clock
I briefly attended the Cleveland Institute of Art (1992-1993) but found hanging out at the Euclid Tavern and the Cleveland Museum of Art much more educational.
Music And Art have been a constant force in moving my life forward. Although the past is a constant reminder of promises forgotten. I now make good on the little lies that get me through the night. The reinventing of the dream-self on every new morning. The doorway between the conscious self and the subconscious ideal has been left open. What remains of the journey lies in paint. My Style is subjective to the viewers preconceptions. I am a figure artist. The rest is up for interpretation.
The artistic influences on my paintings are quite varied. I am most influenced by the Symbolist. Which turned into the modern Illustration movement. Everyone from Klimt to Schiele from Bacon and Auerbach to Frazetta and Giger. All my idols are dead. It is my time to start a new generation of dreamers.
All my work is for sale. I am sick of being a slave to my alarm clock
Touching the Darkness in Death Latex on Wood 23×36
Outsider Art Magazine 