An updated and substantially revised edition of this comprehensive introduction to outsider art, distinguished by its wider international scope and inclusion of global developments since 2000. Outsider Art is the work produced outside the mainstream of modern art by self-taught, untrained visionaries, spiritualists, recluses, folk artists, psychiatric patients, prisoners and others beyond the imposed margins of society and the art market. Coined by Roger Cardinal in 1972, the term in English derived from Jean Dubuffet's 'Art Brut' - literally 'raw art', 'uncooked' by culture, unaffected by fashion, unmoved by artistic standards. In this comprehensive and indispensable guide, Colin Rhodes surveys the history and reception of Outsider Art - first championed by Dubuffet and the Surrealists, now appreciated by a wider public - while providing fresh insights into the achievements of both major figures and newly discovered artists as well as the emergence of specialized studios, as the relationship between outsider art and the contemporary mainstream art world has developed and become more intertwined. From spirit-guided Madge Gill to schizophrenic Adolf Wolfli, Rosemarie Koczy's expressions of trauma to Nek Chand's outdoor creations, these individuals passionately and obsessively pursue the pictorial expression of their vision. Now illustrated in full colour, with the exception of some archival photographs, this new edition has been substantially revised with a greater focus on global Outsider art as well as including more recent talents to the field.

A catalogue of the first, major exhibition of Ballen s work in France and an exploration of Ballen s positioning within modern and contemporary art.

The World According to Roger Ballen, co-authored with Colin Rhodes, looks at Ballen s career in the wider cultural context beyond photography, including his connections with and collections of Art Brut. It features photographs selected from across Ballen s career, along with installations created exclusively for the exhibition at Halle Saint Pierre and photographs of objects and works from Ballen s own collection of Art Brut.

Organized thematically, with texts by Colin Rhodes and an introduction and interview with Ballen by Martine Lusardy (the Director of the Halle Saint Pierre), The World According to Roger Ballen is both a catalogue of the first, major exhibition of Ballen s work in France and an exploration of Ballen s positioning within and connections to the wider context of modern and contemporary art.

A fascination with the "primitive" lies at the heart of some of the most influential developments in Western art produced between 1890 and 1950 - a time that witnessed both the "heroic" period of modern art and the apogee and decline of the West's colonial power. Many groups have a times been labeled as primitive, including the so-called tribal peoples from Africa, Oceania and North America, but also prehistoric cultures, European peasants, the insane and children. Through the lens of their own society, many modern artists looked both to the art and to the world-view of the primitive as a means of challenging established beliefs, but the primitive to which they turned was as varied as the movements in modern art of which they were a part. Colin Rhodes breaks new ground, drawing on a wide and diverse range of material, from high art to popular entertainment, from Darwin to Freud; the critical overview he presents supersedes all previous studies on the subject.