About the Exhibition
Jennifer Lauren Gallery made their debut at the Outsider Art Fair in New York in January 2018. The Gallery brought along five artists’ works including the Japanese artists Shinichi Sawada, Masao Obata, Makoto Takezawa and Shinya Fujii, as well as UK artist Chris Neate.
Below is a brief introduction to each artist but more detail can be found on their artist page, linked through their name.
Born in 1982, Shinichi Sawada started attending Shiga Prefecture (a local social welfare facility for persons with intellectual disabilities) three or four times a week from around the year 2000. At this time, he began creating his ceramic art works at a kiln-equipped pottery workshop in the local mountains. He has created around fifteen different motifs that change slightly each time he makes them.
Masao Obata (1943-2010) only started drawing in his residential care facility (Hyogo Prefecture) in Japan after the age of sixty. His strong urge to create led him to source pieces of large cardboard to draw on from the kitchens in his facility, as the paper was too small. Obata often drew in red as for him this was the colour of happiness.
Born in 1969, Shinya Fujii became interested in art whilst a high school student following reading a magazine article, after which he won a prize for his entry into a comic book design competition. Fujii returned to drawing in 2007 when his father died and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Makoto Takezawa (1970 - 2010) lived in Hokkaido, Japan in a facility for those with intellectual disabilities from 1988. With only a mild intellectual disability he managed to graduate from Junior High School, and it was here, through his art education classes, that he learnt about woodcut techniques.
Chris Neate (b.1954) has been developing his style of drawing since his late teens. During the 1970s he attended Art College in Leeds but never completed a foundation course nor did he feel he was given any formal training. During his time working as a hospital social worker with older people Neate sporadically drew, and this need to draw has intensified over the years. Neate practices automatic drawing and turns the piece as he draws.