Out of My Head: The Imaginary Creatures of Josep Baqué, by Brian Chidester and Josep Baqué, Fantagraphics Books, 538 pages, color illustrations, 2023. ISBN 978-1683966814. Hardcover, $49.99. If you grew up watching Japanese superhero shows like Ultraman or the Power Rangers, you might have been amazed at the far-fetched creatures they invented week after week for the heroes to fight. Many of these monsters made Godzilla look unimaginative. How could they not eventually run out of ideas? Josep Baqué, a Barcelona policeman, left 1,500 drawings of equally fantastical creatures, each one more bizarre than the last. His reasons for creating this menagerie remain
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Book Review: Symbolization and the correctness of life, by Heinrich Herrmann Mebes – The Complete Works
Symbolization and the correctness of life, by Heinrich Herrmann Mebes – The Complete Works, by Thomas Röske, The Prinzhorn Collection/Wunderhorn, 548 pages, many illustrations, 2023. ISBN 978-3884236802. Hardcover, 70 Euros When German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn published his pioneering study Artistry of the Mentally Ill in 1922, he gave reduced attention to two artists, thinking that each deserved an individual publication. Those projects never materialized, but Prinzhorn’s namesake collection in Heidelberg published an Else Blankenhorn book in 2022 and now has come out with a hefty volume collecting the work of Heinrich Mebes. Mebes, by profession a watchmaker, was married, had
Continue readingNew Crop of DIY Carvings at Promontory Point
Here is the new crop of artwork from the June 2026 carving workshop at Promontory Point, sponsored by the Promontory Point Conservancy. Every year since 2022 artists Roman Villareal and Joel Cardenas have helped the regular folks who just show up add their own carvings to the thousands that line Chicago’s Lake Michigan shoreline. Without intending to, they all become co-creators of the collective work of art that stretches along that shore for 22 miles. And this June group added 40 new carvings to the 120 made at previous workshops. You can read more about the Chicago lakefront rock carvings
Continue readingOutsider Art Fair 2026
Some highlights from the 2026 edition of New York’s Outsider Art Fair. Pardon the not-so-great photography, please.
Continue readingVollis Simpson Whirligig Garden
After Vollis Simpson died in 2013, his massive back-country whirligig garden in Lucama, North Carolina, was relocated to the center of nearby Wilson. Simpson ran a machine shop, did heavy equipment repair and was involved in moving houses. In retirement, he started tinkering with odd parts he had lying around. And he started making whirligigs. Big ones. His original whirligig park was the world’s most spectacular concentration of these wind machines. They still impress in their Wilson location, perhaps even more at night. Check out these videos. Scroll down for two photo galleries. Here are still photos of the whirligigs in
Continue readingQ.J. Stephenson’s Earth Museum/Occoneechee Trapper’s Lodge
Q.J. Stephenson’s Earth Museum/Occoneechee Trapper’s Lodge in Garysburg, North Carolina, was on my list of places to visit for years. Finally made it early one morning in September 2025. It’s a sweet little spot whose story you can read at Spaces Archives.
Continue readingUnsealed: The Art of the Bottle Cap Book
(This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.) $35.00 Dive into the eccentric world of 20th century bottle-cap sculpture. Description Discarded caps from beer and soda containers inspired a quintessentially 20th century folk craft as creative individuals strung millions of them into baskets, figures, buildings, animals, chains, furniture and other shapes. This book features more than 200 examples of this mostly unintentional but artistically impactful sculpture. Additional information Weight 13.5 oz Dimensions 8.5 x 11 Publisher interestingideas.com (May 30 2025) Pages 95 Illustrations 228 ISBN-13 979-8218711412
Continue readingThe La Rabida South Gallery
Several of the Chicago lakefront’s most magnificent rock carvings reside on the stones south of La Rabida Hospital near 65th Street and the lake. For the last several years many of these carvings were inaccessible or invisible under the water. But with the lake’s level having fallen in the last few years they are now mostly visible (as of spring 2025). These 200 or so carvings, I believe, are the last large group that remained to be documented as part of my Lakefront Anonymous project. Here are highlights from this group. There are many more carvings around La Rabida hospital.
Continue readingRIP Jeff Elersic, artist
I never met Jeff Elersic, who died Dec. 14, 2024, at 70 years old, but I did manage to photograph his house/tirade in Geneva, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland. In common with a number of other art environments (W.C. Rice’s, Royal Robertson’s and Jesse Howard’s among others), Elersic’s expressed an uncomfortable degree of rage. To say his language was not measured is an understatement. But it was artfully written and arranged, and he was an excellent colorist. Have a look. Images are from 2016. You can view a short obituary here and read more about him at Spaces Archives.
Continue readingReview: Outsider Art
Outsider Art, Updated and Revised Edition, Colin Rhodes, Thames & Hudson, 288 pages, 200 illustrations, 2023. ISBN: 978-0-500-20486-3. Paperback $24.95 Colin Rhodes has written an accomplished survey of outsider art, its history, its current state and its future. His deep understanding of the field makes this book an authoritative and important document. About that title: He is not defensive about the term “outsider art,” arguing that its well-established use makes it still a useful label. It’s also the name not only of Roger Cardinal’s seminal 1972 volume, but also of Rhodes’ own 2000 book (Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives) of which this
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