It's been called art brut, or raw art — but through history some artists have defied classification. Working outside the mainstream art world we find wildly creative people rewriting history, preaching a message, or trying to silence their demons.
Sit today, my dear child: whosoever's hungry, may bark: the warhose flies in the wind: the pointer with the trowel: is truly my worst foe.
The man who rewrote his life
1864-1930
Anti-gravity fuel and the adventures of the Sonora Aero Club
1830-1923
A pacifist paints lions and leopards
1780-1849
Non-competitive art for the literati, gay and polyglot
1871-1944
Painting dreams with a child's brush
1844-1910
The world isn't ready
1862-1944
Religion in technicolor
1920-2013
Jamaica's long night
1891-1947
Who was Joshua Johnson?
1763-1824
Cocoons, totems and twins
1943-2005
An orphan talks to angels
1882-1961
Will paint for food
1862-1918
In death, celebrate life
1947-
They're marionettes. That's what they are
1879-1948
