Formulaic narrative in outsider art: the containment of Martín Ramírez and the classification of Thornton Dial

Abstract

Outsider artist discovery narratives are formulaic constructions. Each recounts the life of a socially marginalized artmaker, from youthful trials and tribulations to encounters with educated discoverers and art market successes. Using art historical and sociological methods to map and examine outsider artist discovery narratives, this thesis isolates the five recurring narrative motifs of disadvantage, artmaking catalyst, discovery, promotion, and art market success, and their resulting tale type. I show that discovery narratives establish a systematic means for classification within the outsider art world, and that market-labeled “outsider” artists who do not possess this standard tale operate between outsider and insider art markets. The role of narrative is specifically considered through two very different artist discovery stories: that of quintessential outsider Martín Ramírez, a member of the outsider art canon, and that of Thornton Dial, a contemporary artmaker market-labeled as an outsider artist. Using Ramírez and Dial as examples, this thesis provides an objective and methodical approach to outsider artist categorization.