The non-doctrinaire, open-ended aesthetic of the early Modernist period also appeals to Bedford: artists such as Picasso and Gauguin, who embraced influences from nonwestern tribal cultures, or Van Gogh, who followed his own (deeply) inner course. In a similar vein, Bedford admires what he terms the “outsider ethos” of self-taught environment-builders who freely turn their inner passions into a public spectacle. Vanadu Gardens is not an imitation of an “outsider” environment, however: it is an authentic and resplendent result of the artist allowing his own passions to spread out all over!
Art environments are typically made by by artists working outside the mainstream of contemporary art. Exposed to the weather and free for public viewing, the environments have little or no connection to the monetized art-object-based realm of galleries and museums. Often the ‘artists’ don’t think of themselves as, or like to be called ‘artists’, their […]
Art environments are typically made by by artists working outside the mainstream of contemporary art. Exposed to the weather and free for public viewing, the environments have little or no connection to the monetized art-object-based realm of galleries and museums. Often the ‘artists’ don’t think of themselves as, or like to be called ‘artists’, their […]
Art vehicles can be essentially a detachable extension of an art environment (Leonard Knight, Clarke Bedford, Jeff Elersic), an expression of personal biography (Billy Tripp, Melanie Harris), a cohesively themed idea (Harrod Blank), or a decorative extravaganza (Greg Phelps, Guy DeShazo).
Buildings such as theaters, banks, fire stations, and storefronts repurposed to churches and mosques. Synagogues converted into Christian churches.