REVIEW: Souzou Exhibition at the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust's FREE spring exhibition is the UK's largest collection of Japanese Outsider Art - art created by residents and attendees of various social welfare institutions across Japan. Named Souzou, there is no direct translation into English, though it has dual meaning in Japanese. Written one way it means creation, another way it means imagination - the birthing of ideas and the process through which those ideas become a reality.
The most inspiring thing about this exhibition is that all of the featured artists are self-taught, receiving little to no art tuition. The purpose of their creations is not to please an audience or fulfil a brief. It's therapeutic, intuitive, human in its imperfections and a means of expression and meditation. It reminds us that art is for everyone and the process of making and creating can be an art in itself. It sounds dramatic, but absolutely every single piece was brilliant and fascinating to view, I cannot stress that enough - expect to see lots of minute detail, infinite patterns and textures and mind boggling feats of unbridled creativity.
I'm off to fill my blank sketchbook with ideas!
Links
Souzou exhibition at the Wellcome Trust, now until Sunday 30th June 2013