Colin Rhodes

Research

Rhodes’ research is primarily in the areas of twentieth century and contemporary art history and theory. He has written and lectured widely on Modernism, especially Expressionism in its many forms, and Outsider Art. His books include the influential Outsider Art: spontaneous alternatives (2000), which has also been published in Spanish, French and Finnish editions, and Primitivism and Modern Art (1994), which has also been translated into French. He has a particular interest in the ways in which western art and culture has interacted with that of its perceived others, and in those cultures of production that exist in the margins of the dominant artworld. He is a regular contribitor to Raw Vision, Création Franche and The Burlington Magazine. He has a keen commitment to drawing and exhibits his own work occasionally.

Rhodes is Director of STOARC (Self-Taught and Outsider Art Research Collection), which is based at SCA. STOARC consists of a growing study collection of self-taught and outsider art, an international journal and Callan Park Gallery, which has a rich program of shows featuring international and local artists.

Recent Exhibitions

Anne Marie Grgich: Archaeologies of the Everyday Extraordinary, curator, Sydney University Art Gallery, Sydney, 2009

Revealing the Human, curator, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne, 2009

American and European Outsiders, curator, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 2008

‘Vision et Créations dissidentes’, Musée de la Création Franche, Bègles, France, 2008

Publications

‘Primitivism: the primordium lost and found and reinvented’, in K. Zijlmans and W. van Damme, ed. World art Studies: exploring concepts and approaches, Amsterdam: Valiz, 2008, pp 385-399, ISBN 13: 978-90-78088-2-6

‘Outsider Art and the outsiderish’, in Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne and Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, 2008, pp.12-14

‘Outsider Art: Moving in from the Margins’ (Special Report), Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 2008, Sydney: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2008, pp.190-191 ISBN 978 1 59339 425 7

'Vicios y virtudes del imperativo autodidictica’, Expressionismo Brücke, ed. Aya Soika, Madrid, 2005

‘Les fantômes qui nous hantent: en écrivant Art Brut et Art Outsider’, Ligeia: Dossiers sur l’art, nos.53,54, 55, 56, July-December 2004, pp.183-195

‘Burlington Primitive: non-European art in The Burlington Magazine before 1930’, The Burlington Magazine, vol.146, no.1211, 2004, pp.98-104

‘Fulfilments of Desire in the Work of a Self-Taught Artist: the intimate existence of Malcolm McKesson’, Art History, vol.25, no.5, 2002, pp.649-675

Ian Breakwell: Vocals (4CD set of artist’s soundworks, edited and with an essay by C. Rhodes, Loughborough University School of Art & Design, 2003

Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives, Thames & Hudson, UK, 2000

Primitivism and Modern Art, Thames & Hudson, UK, 1994

Research Supervision

Glenn Barkley PhD, 'Outsider Art in Australia.'

Gail Hastings PhD, 'The Process of Specific Space: Minimal Art Generally, Donald Judd’s Art Particularly.'

Alex Ma PhD, 'Propaganda Art: Through the Study of ‘The Lost Decade’, evolve Propaganda Art of yesterday into a revolutionary and contemporary art form of today.'

Monica Syrette PhD, 'The Outsider Studio.'

Dell Walker MVA, 'The Formation of Images Without Conscious Direction.'

Awards & Grants

2005 Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Grant
2003 British Academy Research Grant
2002 British Academy Research Grant
2002 Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Grant
2002 Hohenberg Grant, University of Memphis

Professional Membership

College Art Association, USA
Art Association of Australia and New Zealand
Australian Institute of Company Directors

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Carnival, 2008, Linocut, 480 x 225mm