Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art Inside North Carolina

The exhibition 'Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art Inside North Carolina' focuses exclusively on outsider art and artists in the state. Most of the artists are unknown beyond their communities and a small circle of enthusiastic admirers, and very few have ever before had their work exhibited in a major museum. The primary purposes of the exhibition are to bring this art out of the shadows, and to document it and bring it to the attention of a much wider audience through the catalogue. In organizing the exhibition and selecting the art, emphasis has been placed on work that demonstrates the remarkable quality and variety of outsider art in North Carolina.

Outsider art is found everywhere in the state, from Currituck Sound to the Smoky Mountains. The sheer number is astonishing; approximately 100 are listed in the catalogue, and there were several others whom it proved impossible to locate or even identify.

We hope that these works will engage, challenge, and encourage people to play closer attention to the world around them as they drive down the road or walk through their neighborhoods.