Matthew Higgs interviewed by Andrew Hunt

Abstract

This interview considers Matthew Higgs’s role in programming work by self-taught artists and those with developmental disabilities within the context of White Columns, a non-profit artist-run space located in Chelsea, New York City. The conversation describes the active support of work before any critical or institutional consensus emerges around it and explores how painting by self-taught artists and those with developmental disabilities can provide a productive counterpoint to self-reflexive work or art more critical of the narrative of painting as a medium. The term ‘outsider’ is also scrutinized as a useful generalization for painting that operates outside of conventional forms of education and existing foundational narratives in culture. Also discussed is the impact of exemplary historical curators and dealers in the United States and Germany who serve to act as model ‘maverick iconoclasts’.