Celestial epics

Catalog for the exhibition ÉPOPÉES CÉLESTES – Art brut dans la collection Decharme Extract from the catalog introduction:
“Notes pour une histoire de l’art brut en Italie”, by Gustavo Giacosa “Despite the presence of many creators of Italian origin in prestigious international collections of art brut, art history in Italy has until now neglected the existence of this field and its representatives. For those excluded from the mainstream, including their artistic approaches in a non-stigmatizing collective narrative is a matter of urgency. In fact, it would be more appropriate to speak of art brut – art that is deterritorialized and without borders – in Italy, rather than Italian art brut.
If the history of Italian art has been marked by its artists of genius, it’s hardly surprising that the quasi-religious devotion to the beauty of their works has prevented us from turning our gaze towards art from the margins, radically foreign to these aesthetic canons.” Texts by : Gustavo Giacosa, Barbara Safarova