Outsider Art: Contesting Boundaries in Contemporary Culture

Today, the arts are characterised by an unprecedented openness to new possibilities, a shifting of established genres, a melding of unlikely forms, and far greater inclusiveness. How then, without an art world establishment with authority over artistic outcomes, do we determine what constitutes art, and make substantive judgements about different artistic works? Outsider Art explores the historical roots of this post-modern condition and analyses the processes of attaining artistic recognition. Leading sociologists, art historians, policy-makers, and artists themselves examine cases from the performing and the visual arts, each contributes exemplifying aspects, stages and strategies of artistic transformation.