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"Gran calavera eléctrica" by José Guadalupe Posada, Mexico, 1900-1913

Island of Salvation Botanica, Piety Street, Bywater neighborhood, New Orleans

Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic. ^[1]

As a phenomenon that can chronicle a move towards civilization yet rapidly diminish with modernity, industrialization, or outside influence, the nature of folk art is specific to its particular culture. The varied geographical and temporal prevalence and diversity of folk art make it difficult to describe as a whole, though some patterns have been demonstrated.

[edit] Antique folk art

Logo of the Folk Art Museum Lok Virsa in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Antique the folk art is distinguished from traditional art in that while it is collected today based mostly on its artistic merit; it was never intended as a category to be art for art’s sake. Examples include: weathervanes, old store signs and carved figures, itinerant portraits, carousel horses, fire buckets, painted game boards, cast iron doorstops and many other similar lines of highly collectible "whimsical" antiques.

[edit] Characteristics

Characteristically folk art is not influenced by movements in academic or fine art circles, and, in many cases, folk art excludes works executed by professional artists and sold as "high art" or "fine art" to the society's art patrons.^[1] On the other hand, many 18th and 19th century American folk art painters made their living by their work, including itinerant portrait painters, some of whom produced large bodies of work.^[2]

Other terms that overlap with folk art are naïve art, Pop art, outsider art, traditional art, tribal art, "self-taught" art and even "working class" art. As one might expect, all these terms have different connotations; but they are all at times used interchangeably with the term folk art, for which a satisfactory definition has proven hard to come by.

Folk art expresses cultural identity by conveying shared community values and aesthetics. It encompasses a range of utilitarian and decorative media, including cloth, wood, paper, clay, metal and more. If traditional materials are inaccessible, new materials are often substituted, resulting in contemporary expressions of traditional folk art forms. Folk art reflects traditional art forms of diverse community groups — ethnic, tribal, religious, occupational, geographical, age- or gender-based — who identify with each other and society at large. Folk artists traditionally learn skills and techniques through apprenticeships in informal community settings, though they may also be formally educated.

[edit] See also

Folklore portal

• Alebrije
• African folk art
• American Folk Art Museum
• Chinese folk art
• Ex-voto
• Latin American Retablos
• Madhubani painting
• Mingei (Japanese folk art movement)
• Naïve art
• Nakshi Kantha
• Old media
• Outsider art
• Pakistani vehicle art
• Tribal art
• Warli painting
• Whirligig
• Yakshagana
• Kuthiyottam

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Folk art

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Museums, festivals and organizations in the U.S.

• Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
• Kuthiyottam at Chettikulangara, Mavelikkara
• Museum of International Folk Art
• The Folk Art Society of America
• American Folk Art Museum
• Fenimore Art Museum
• High Museum of Art Atlanta
• University of Kentucky Art Museum
• Kentucky Folk Art Center

Museums and collections in the U.K.

• Compton Verney has the largest collection of British folk art in the country, acquired for the gallery in 1993 to prevent it being split up and sold abroad
• The American Museum in Britain

Folk Art

• Baalart Organization supporting Mexican artisans and promoting unique handmade work.
• Museum of International Folk Art Santa Fe, New Mexico museum with a large collection of folk art from around the world.
• The Who-Ha Da-DA Outsider Artists Fellowship
• The Rochester Folk Art Guild The website for a residential craft community located in upstate New York, specializing in folk art.
• Midwest Decoy Collectors Association The de facto international collectors group.
• Southern Heart Gallery The website for folk art of today and yesterday.

France Midi Canal

• Ecluse de l’Aiguille One man's work on the Canal du Midi

Indian folk art

• Folk Art of India
• Indian Folk Art - Cultural Heritage

• Indian Tribal and Folk Arts
• Collection of Indian Folk Designs
• Kala Madhyam Store - Folk and Tribal Art and Craft

Research resources

• Folkvine: Florida's Art and Artists Online An interactive exploration of folk arts in Florida.
• Folk Figures: A Survey of Norwegian and Norwegian-American Artifacts
• Contemporary Folk Artists from the Southern United States An adjudicated listing of artists (basketmakers, potters, quilters, storytellers, blues and bluegrass artists) compiled by Southern Arts Federation
• Carolina Folk
• Black Sheep Gallery Biographies and images of folk art from Canada, U.S.A. and U.K.
• Artcyclopedia information.
• Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations
• Folk Art Canada Images, biographies and forums devoted to Canadian folk art.
• Folk Arts Hungary Articles, handmade embroideries dedicated to the Hungarian folk art.
• CBC Digital Archives – Handmade in Canada: The Art of Craft
• Podcast by expert Bev Norwood
• The Finest Folk Art collection