Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University

Curated by graduates of the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies Brendan Greaves ('00) and William Pym ('02) with their colleague Jina Valentine, Fabulous Histories: Indigenous Anomalies in American Art juxtaposes nine artists in potent trios which illuminate the profoundly enmeshed conceptual and formal concerns of prominent artists both self-taught and trained. In addition to marquee names like Jim Nutt and Martin Ramirez, the exhibition takes into account "dark horse" artists who are infrequently shown such as P.M. Wentworth, whose body of work is extremely limited, as well as the recently rediscovered Felipe Jesus Consalvos and emerging artist Anthony Campuzano. The influence of self-taught work on contemporary mainstream art practice has never been more evident. Authenticity and legitimacy are thorny issues in today's young, style-conscious art world. Fabulous Histories offers the opportunity to view masterworks by important artists that are unfamiliar to many, and by establishing and exploring the relationships between self-taught, marginal, and mainstream art practice, the exhibition allows the viewer to more easily discern which contemporary bodies of work will find their place in the art-historical narrative. The exhibition will draw from the collections of the Fleisher-Ollman Gallery Philadelphia, and major private and public collections Fleisher-Ollman has helped build over the last thirty-five years.