ARTISTS
Outlandish
John Hansard Gallery is proud to present Outlandish, an exhibition which reveals hidden histories and untold tales. Pioneering artist Aaron Williamson brings together a wealth of previously unseen archival material which tells a truly remarkable story.
In 2022, Aaron Williamson received a bequest of a unique archive from Dean Dwayne Joiner III, an American art historian and collector. Joiner had chosen Williamson as the recipient of this bequest primarily due to Williamson鈥檚 longstanding commitment to disability art activism. This extraordinary archive contains and documents the work of The Outlandish Collective, a group who made work together between 1976-1982 from their base in the New Forest, Hampshire. The Outlandish Collective was a group of like-minded disabled artists (primarily with learning difference) who rejected formalised terms for disability and instead favoured the more confrontational term 鈥榗rips鈥�. By using this term, (a shortening of cripple), they deliberately reappropriated what had until then been considered a highly derogatory term.
Although formally untrained, The Outlandish Collective attracted the attention of prominent art world figures of the time. Through their encounters with these influential figures, the Collective were introduced to key art movements, such as Land Art and Performance Art, as well as to the work of many other leading artists of the 60s and 70s. This inspired and informed their practice as a collective. In 1976 they produced The Outlandish Manifesto and went on to produce numerous artworks, earthworks and performances. This exhibition aims to bring together various elements from the archive and display them in their entirety for the first time. Included, are original photographs, sketches, drawings, and ephemera.
The revelatory nature of The Outlandish Collective鈥檚 archive has also inspired a revisiting of some of Aaron Williamson鈥檚 own practice. For many years, Williamson has been a significant voice within contemporary performative art practice. Documentation of some of his key projects are shown in adjacent gallery spaces. His work is informed by his experience of becoming deaf and by a politicised, yet humorous sensibility towards disability.
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John Hansard Gallery is proud to present Outlandish, an exhibition which reveals hidden histories and untold tales. Pioneering artist Aaron Williamson brings together a wealth of previously unseen archival material which tells a truly remarkable story.
In 2022, Aaron Williamson received a bequest of a unique archive from Dean Dwayne Joiner III, an American art historian and collector. Joiner had chosen Williamson as the recipient of this bequest primarily due to Williamson鈥檚 longstanding commitment to disability art activism. This extraordinary archive contains and documents the work of The Outlandish Collective, a group who made work together between 1976-1982 from their base in the New Forest, Hampshire. The Outlandish Collective was a group of like-minded disabled artists (primarily with learning difference) who rejected formalised terms for disability and instead favoured the more confrontational term 鈥榗rips鈥�. By using this term, (a shortening of cripple), they deliberately reappropriated what had until then been considered a highly derogatory term.
Although formally untrained, The Outlandish Collective attracted the attention of prominent art world figures of the time. Through their encounters with these influential figures, the Collective were introduced to key art movements, such as Land Art and Performance Art, as well as to the work of many other leading artists of the 60s and 70s. This inspired and informed their practice as a collective. In 1976 they produced The Outlandish Manifesto and went on to produce numerous artworks, earthworks and performances. This exhibition aims to bring together various elements from the archive and display them in their entirety for the first time. Included, are original photographs, sketches, drawings, and ephemera.
The revelatory nature of The Outlandish Collective鈥檚 archive has also inspired a revisiting of some of Aaron Williamson鈥檚 own practice. For many years, Williamson has been a significant voice within contemporary performative art practice. Documentation of some of his key projects are shown in adjacent gallery spaces. His work is informed by his experience of becoming deaf and by a politicised, yet humorous sensibility towards disability.
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