The "Radical Craft" touring exhibition of extraordinary making continues to tour the UK

The exhibition, which is co-curated by Laura Hamilton, will showcase artworks by historically renowned artists associated with Outsider Art and contemporary artists some of whom are self-taught and all of whom see themselves as facing barriers to the art world for reasons including health, disability, social circumstance or isolation.

Over half the artists in the exhibition are associated with specialist centres, groups and studios who play a vital role in nurturing and supporting their creative development.

The two participating Japanese artists are Atsushi Yoshimoto and Shinichi Sawada.

Themes in the exhibition include radical missions in which artists have a passion for a particular subject or technique; intuitive responses to textiles employed as a non-verbal means of engaging with the outside world; autobiographical responses to the natural or urban environment; and folkloric or surreal perceptions of the world. Each of the artists’ individual backgrounds and paths of creative development occupy a different world to our more typical perception of the artist or craftsman. Most have never received any formal art training, although their practices may have been nurtured and encouraged in specialist centres or studios. Their work or creative impulses have been developed with independence, perceptual senses and an obvious lack of inhibition which is rarely aimed at a particular audience or marketplace. The artworks convey personal visions of the world, reveal inventive use of materials and vary in scale. From miniature sculptures carved into toothpicks and lead pencil tips, to vehicles made from recycled scrap, and from life size woven birch bark figures to a bridal headdress made from wrapped and embellished fabric.

Radical Craft at Pallant House Gallery, website Radical Craft press release, PDF About the Artists, PDF Craftspace, website Outside In, website

#radicalcrafttour