October 9, 2017 |
Outsider Art, the work of those with no formal exposure to the art world, has become a fascination for designer Christopher Kane in recent seasons. Whether informing a new collection, a show set or decorating his store, “there’s a spontaneity to Outsider Art,” Kane explained in a recent interview with Frieze Magazine. “That feeling of a skill or expression that just seems to come from nowhere. For me it’s raw emotion – a lot of the stuff I like has this primal look to it, like Aboriginal rock painting.” It’s the same raw emotion that, following the loss of his mother and long-term mentor Louise Wilson, has fuelled a number of his collections, but perhaps most memorably, his evocative SS16 show, titled ‘Crash and Repair’. With its haphazard, seemingly chaotic stitching, acid colour palette and kitsch plastic pouches, Kane paid homage to those who had inspired him, not only in terms of the collection but in encouraging his capacity to see art as a therapeutic means of recovery.
How could we resist the opportunity, therefore, to see the work of Ionel Talpazan, an outsider artist from Romania and the inspiration behind Kane’s AW17 collection, whose work was shown at his Mount St store last week in a celebration of this year’s Frieze fair? Unsurprisingly (for those who can recall the collection), there were flying saucers a-plenty, both hung from walls on canvas and frozen, mid-beam, in a number of sculptures that sat on shelves, interspersed with highlights from the collection. After claiming to have seen a UFO in the Romanian countryside at the age of eight, Talpazan became transfixed with the idea of alternate life forms, and the celestial blue light he experienced became the main focus of works he sold on the streets of Manhattan, until he was discovered in late 1980’s. The works themselves, many of which are heavily annotated in scrawling Romanian handwriting, represent a profound memory that has never left Talpazan and carry that raw energy so deeply admired by Kane. See the works for yourself in store until the 25th October.
Ionel Talpazan’s work is on display at Christopher Kane’s store, 6 Mount St W1K, until the 25th October
