Outsider art becoming insider: The example of Henry Darger

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2297053_ (Table of Contents)

This thesis focuses on the outsider art also known as mad art. The question of how a mad becomes an artist by the art world is examined through the example of Henry Darger, one of the most famous outsider artists. Different biographies of Darger show us the process of construction of outsider artist image. The main aim of this thesis is to question the dynamics of the art world and to discuss how it creates its own limits while creating a new identity. It is discussed how the mad, the subject of psychiatry, is reconstructed in the art world and how this construction affects the art world. In this process, biography is treated as a commodity and considered as the most important element in the establishment of the outsider art.