The Fifth Annual Outsider Art In The Hamptons Exhibit

"Untitled" by artist Ab the Flagman, constructed out of wooden chairs, paint and polyurethane. (Galerie BelAge)

Westhampton Beach - The Fifth Annual Outsider Art in the Hamptons: Part II exhibition is currently taking place Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 12 noon to 6 p.m. through September 8. The show will be held at Galerie BelAge, 8 Moniebogue Lane, Westhampton Beach, 631-288-5082.

Mixed Media by artist Rondi Casey.

Outsider Art become an international phenomenon that most everyone loves but few truly understand. The art is as diverse as the artists who make it: Giovanni Geraldi is a butcher who makes enigmatic Joseph Cornell-like constructions; Rondi Casey is a gym teacher whose marionette-like sculptures reference the souls of Middle-Eastern women; Domonic Montiglio was a Mafia hit man – his gritty grid-like paintings recall his sordid past; Alison Silva suffers with a brain tumor and paints ethereal figures; Garance, once an actress and award-winning stage set designer paints huge expressionist portraits, and the list goes on.

More than 80 artists are participating in this exhibit, some of them local, others live abroad. Some are in major museums and collections, others are just discovered. Some live out of trucks and some live in mansions on the bay.

Three advocacy organizations are participating in this exhibition. Survivors Art Foundation provides web-based support for artist-survivors of physical and mental trauma and abuse; Pure Vision Arts promotes the work of the developmentally disabled, and Fountain Gallery for the mentally ill.