Vehicles show at the Collection de l’Art Brut

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Johann Hauser (1926-1996): no title, from between 1958 and 1978, wax crayons on paper Hauser never learned to read or write, inventing his own graphic system taking inspiration from newspaper cuttings of film stars, vehicles and war machines. swissinfo.ch

Auguste Forestier (1887-1958): no title, from between 1935 and 1949, wood and other materials Forestier was interned in a psychiatric hospital after derailing a train. He set up his own workshop in a corridor, where he carved objects from scavenged materials. swissinfo.ch

Willem Van Genk (1927-2005): Tube Station, 1970, collage and painting on wood Van Genk was a misfit who had travelled extensively before ending up in a workshop for the mentally challenged. He began to produce complex cut-outs and collages. swissinfo.ch

Josef Bachler (1914-1979): Auto 1, 1972, graphite and coloured pencils on paper Bachler was sent to Dachau concentration camp in 1938 but survived. His drawings date from his later internment for alcoholism. A doctor said his minute attention to detail was a way of steadying his violent outbursts. swissinfo.ch

Hidenori Motooka (1978-): Trains 3, 1995, graphite and coloured pencils on paper Motooka developed a fascination for trains very early on. His ambition to draw them all together in the same picture obliges him to draw them smaller and smaller each time. swissinfo.ch

Francis Mayor (1904-1995): In memory of 'Major Davel', from around 1990, painting and collage on paper Born to a single mother who tried to rid herself of him, Mayor lived his adult life at sea and then working on Lake Geneva. Later in life the main themes of his collages were the sea, boats and religion. swissinfo.ch

Guillaume Pujolle (1893-1951): Untitled, work made of wood and salvaged materials, between 1949 and 1950 Pujolle was committed to a psychiatric hospital at the age of 33, where seven years later he began to paint with gouache and medicinal ingredients like iodine. He created astonishing sculptures from discarded material and chinks of wood. swissinfo.ch

Curzio Di Giovanni (1957-): Unnaa Posc Rossa Scurra Rossa Rossa Svossvagherrrrrrrrrrrrr, 2002, graphite and coloured pencils on paper Di Giovanni was admitted to a hospital near Pavia in 1979, but only began working on his vast body of distorted graphic pieces in 2001. swissinfo.ch

George Widener (1962-): Weekend Cruiser, 2005, ink on paper Widener suffers from a specific form of autism characterised by an extremely large intellectual capacity and a gift for mental arithmetic. swissinfo.ch

Erich Zablatnik (1942-1995): no title, 1989, felt-tip pens, coloured pencils and varnish on cardboard Zablatnik began to produce his paintings of utopian, futuristic dreams after being taken in by a Caritas hostel following the accidental death of his wife and son and his attempt to end his own life. swissinfo.ch

Fausto Badari (1962-): no title, 2011, wax crayons on paper Badari has been interned off and on all his life. He began to draw vehicles in 2010 and has never drawn anything else ever since. swissinfo.ch

Franz Kernbeis (1935-): no title, 1990, coloured pencils on paper Kernbeis started to draw at the age of 44 while being interned in the artistic wing of a psychiatric hospital. It has since helped improve his condition of mutism and immobilism. swissinfo.ch

David Braillon (1970-): TGV track South-East, 2000, ballpoint pens and coloured pencils on paper Braillon grew up in a railway family. Unable himself to secure a railway job, he exercises his fascination with trains by drawing them feverishly in the manner of a catalogue. swissinfo.ch

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The Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, the first museum dedicated to outsider art, has launched a biennale on reoccurring themes in the obsessions of reclusive artists. It starts the cycle with 200 objects from its own collection of 63,000 pieces.

“Museums and galleries dedicated to art brut are springing up all over,” said director Sarah Lombardi at the opening. “It is our duty to remain an international reference point by reaffirming the identity of the museum and showcasing the works of our carefully mounted and large collection.”

Founded in 1976 by Jean Dubuffet, who coined the term and started the collection with the donation of 5,000 objects, the renowned Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne confronts a growing appetite of the market for the creative output of individuals who never meant to become part of the art world.

It refers to these individuals not as artists, but as authors, in order to better understand their accidental recognition and keep true to Dubuffet’s original intent.

The show presents a delightful variety of paintings, drawings, contraptions and sculptures relating to anything that allows locomotion by air, water or land. Coming from individuals who were trapped in their inner minds and rarely moved themselves, the theme is pertinent, powerful and playful. It also allows for a very attractive display.

(Text: Michèle Laird, swissinfo.ch)