George Widener
A former US Air Force technician, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in his thirties. In his case, it manifests as an eidetic memory that allows him to bring a wealth of numerical data relating to his favourite subjects to the surface of his works. Time, magic squares, the Titanic and imaginary megacities are among the recurring themes of his drawings. His work is held in collections including those of the Smithsonian (Washington) and the Centre Pompidou (France), and has been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in the cult exhibition Le Bord des mondes, in An Alternative Guide to the Universe at the Hayward Gallery in London, and at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris.
He is also profiled in the documentary La Folie art brut, broadcast on Arte.
The inconceivably omniscient knowledge of George Widener’s calendars and the exalted and unbridled creativity both stun and interest scientists and art critics to the highest degree.
After a childhood marked by explosions of violence and anger, Widener, born in 1962, became first a technician for the US Air Force, then a painter in construction, and finally a regular at psychiatric institutions and homeless shelters. At the age of 32, it was discovered that he had Asperger’s Syndrome (or a high level of autism). If he is given a date, he knows the major events related to it by heart. His weakness: the sinking of the Titanic, which reappears as a leitmotif of his creation.
Presented at the exhibitions World Transformers at the Kunsthalle of Frankfurt in 2010 and The Alternative Guide to the Universe, organized by the Hayward Gallery in London in 2013 or at the Chalet Society - The Museum of Everything, boulevard Raspail in Paris in 2012-2013, his work already figures among the most important collections of art brut.
Foreword : Christian Berst
Catalog published to mark the exhibition On the horizon, from january 28th to march 1st, 2014.
OUT OF PRINT
