Definition: Outsider Art is produced by artists who are working so far outside of the norms of society that they often need to be with care givers. The question one needs to ask about their art is whether the work conveys some kind of new information, an energy or spirit, and, does it do so in ways that are visually compelling? The concept of “outsider” has become a romanticized term, and when most people think of an outsider they think of a rebel who is bucking the system. Very few people want to think of themselves as a normal, cookie-cutter type person, and everybody has at least a spark or a thought of being a cultural iconoclast.   — Frank Maresca

George Widener (b. 1962)
SMTWTFS
ca. 2009
Ink on paper, 31¼ x 32¼ inches

Recognized as an autistic savant, George Widener is a self-taught, American artist living in Asheville, North Carolina. Though definitely part of and influenced by the society and culture in which he lives, like most art makers who are referred to as “Outsider Artists,” he may also be said to live and work apart from the social and cultural mainstream. That being said, Widener lives on his own and so, in that respect does not fit neatly into the definition of an outsider artist. In this sense, his art emerges from a more personal place than, say, most ordinary, pop-culture products, which are loaded with references to and often emerge directly from the dominant pop culture.

Widener has Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction, by repetitive patterns of behavior, and intense interest in certain subjects. As a child, Widener demonstrated an unusual aptitude for spelling and arithmetic. He was able to memorize large amounts of data and remains keenly interested in such subjects as alphabets, telephone numbers, automobile license plates, and calendars, specifically recalling and or computing birthdays. He is also engaged by the data of the 2000 U.S. Census and is enthralled with significant historical dates (in particular, those on which disasters have occurred). His fascination with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, for example, led him to make a group of drawings in which he exhaustively listed exactly how many furnaces, propellers, and life vests with which the giant ship was equipped, and the quantities of different foods stocked in its galleys. Widener’s focus on the Titanic is further honed because two distant members of the Widener family went down with the legendary ocean liner.

George Widener (b. 1962)
Gott und Brot
ca. 2009
Ink and poster paint on paper, 23 x 72 inches
George Widener (b. 1962)
2045
ca. 2009
Ink on paper, 299⁄16 x 42 inches

Many of Widener’s pictures are drawn on paper, though he uses stained paper napkins for his detailed “Machine Parts,” images where he draws mechanical devices. As a surface, this latter material is both delicate and unusual. Many of his larger drawings, filled with dates and numbers, look like strange artifacts from some unknown civilization. In fact, all of his drawings boast very well organized compositions. They evolve out of the ways in which Widener gives visible order to the data that are his subject matter. At first, some of his elegant compositions might appear static, but as one’s eye settles in on the details, they begin to reveal their dynamic mysteries.

As a highly functioning autistic person (in the 1990s he earned a liberal arts degree in a special program for learning disabled students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville), Widener continues to develop an original and intriguing body of work. Using little more than simple inks on paper, he brings a high level of craftsmanship to his humble materials. When considered from the point of view of contemporary art themes and aesthetics, his work suggests strong affinities with both minimalist and systems-based conceptual art. It’s at once very personal and impulsive and unmistakably sophisticated. Like the best art created by self-taught artists, it’s also one-of-a-kind.

George Widener (b. 1962)
2 and 1
ca. 2009
Ink and poster paint on paper, 32 x 54 inches

Increasingly well known in the outsider art field in the United Kingdom and Europe, Widener is still being discovered by collectors in North America and his art is still relatively new to the market. Though his output is small, the demand for his work is high.