For those talented naïfs known as “outsider artists,” New York was a warm and wonderful place this past weekend. The Outsider Art Fair drew 8,200 gallerati to the Puck Building, all happy to pay $10 at the door for a crack at the raw, unschooled beauty that lay within. “An outsider is somehow outside the mainstream in general,” said Stephen Romano, a director at the Ricco/Maresca Gallery, “and the best of this work reflects this isolation.” Nevertheless, the business being conducted looked an awful lot like “insider” art-world dealings. Prices were steep (“Sixty thousand dollars for this shit!” complained a bald German in a black turtleneck), and everywhere people were trying to figure out just how far “out” was in. “There are all sorts of distinctions that we as dealers make,” said Romano, “in terms of determining whether something’s authentically outside.” Either way, being inside the fair seemed a good deal cozier than being out on the street doing it the hard way. “Yeah, I’ve heard about ‘outside art’” said Larry Meyser, a pudgy 37-year-old from Queens selling his watercolors for $10 to $40 a few blocks away. As snowflakes began to fall, he was asked whether he considers himself an outsider artist. He shrugged. “This is art, and this is outside, so, uh, there you go.”

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• Archive: “Gotham: Life in the New City”
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