About the Exhibition
Castles are Elsewhere is an exhibition that commemorates the life of Roger Cardinal (1940-2019), whose fascination with the extraordinary led him on a wondrous odyssey upon which he encountered creativity in the most unexpected places. Roger is probably best known for his seminal book titled Outsider Art, published in 1972 - the first of its kind in the UK which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. It was followed a few years later in 1979, with the ground-breaking Outsiders exhibition at The Hayward Gallery.
Through the treasures in his private art collection, his books, his letters with people within the field like Jean Dubuffet, and a selection of his fascinating diaries that he wrote daily, this exhibition will give an insight into Roger's life, and we hope a fitting memoriam to a man who encouraged us all to look at art and life differently, to see that 'castles are elsewhere'.
The exhibition includes works by Michel Nedjar, Madge Gill, Euguene Von Bruenchenhein, Janko Domsic, Valerie Potter and Ted Gordon. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication where luminaires of the Outsider Art world have been invited to contribute with their recollections of Roger, along with an interview, texts and photos.
“Who are the Outsiders? They possess no qualifications as artists. They seem to work on their own, for themselves, for the fun of it. They know nothing of the trends and snobberies of the cultural centre. All prefer the rule of the imagination to the strictures of officialdom. Instinctive and independent, the appear to tackle the business of making art as if it had never existed before they came along. What they make has a primal freshness: it is the product of an authentic impulse to create and is free of conscious artifice.” – Roger Cardinal, 1979
Publication
120 page A5 book created to celebrate the life of Roger Cardinal and to coincide with an exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate titled ‘Castles are Elsewhere.’ The book features:
Roger’s biography
Agnès Cardinal writing on Roger
Old interview between Laurent Danchin and Roger
Photographs from the 1979 ‘Outsiders’ exhibition at the Hayward Gallery
Pages from Roger’s diaries
Remembrances of Roger from those in the art world
Artworks from Rogers Collection
Published by Jennifer Lauren Gallery and Vivienne Roberts, 2022
Limited edition of 300
ISBN: 978-1-3999-3329-2
£10 plus postage and packaging
All packages will be sent via Royal Mail (1st Class in the UK and international standard for overseas)
The shipping amount changes when you enter the country, and not before.
ORDERS LIMITED TO ONE PER CUSTOMER, THANK YOU.
Events
LAUNCH – Wednesday 23 November, 5:30-7:30pm
Join Jennifer Gilbert and Vivienne Roberts, alongside Roger’s wife Agnès, for a small launch event in the Foyle Rooms at Turner Contemporary, where there will be drinks and a chat to look through some of Roger’s archive letters, as well as artworks in his collection, and his infamous diairies. The new book to coincide with the exhibition and to celebrate his life, will be available for sale too.WORKSHOP - Saturday 26 November, 12:30-4:30pm
Join artist Terence Wilde as he leads a FREE drop-in session using the work of Ted Gordon as inspiration. Ted's art often features the face, made up of many shapes and lines in different thicknesses of pen. This echoes much of Terence's work, where mark making is a central part of how his works are layered. Attendees will be encouraged to use a mirror, or take a selfie to use as inspiration, to draw their face in the style of Ted Gordon, as well as using marks to cover the rest of the paper around the face. All drawings will be put up in the space as inspiration throughout the day.