I wrote this book, which defines a new genre of American art that is “made, sold, or placed in the public way”, in May 2019. Here’s an excerpt:
This book describes and illustrates Arte Agora— art that is made, sold, or placed in the public way. It’s art made at the intersection of three separate disciplines— outsider art, commercial art, and street art. Arte Agora happens outside, in the marketplace, with human transaction and constant renewal at the core.
It’s outsider art where the artist actively creates outside, often in make-ready street studios, reducing the distance between the artist and the people
It’s commercial art where the artist directly seeks to sell their work to people one-on-one, bypassing the massive scale and reach of brands and technology
It’s street art where the artist places accessible pieces in reach of the people in formats that can be removed intact
Here’s a schematic look at how Arte Agora is cleaved from these three disciplines:
Diagram showing the relationship between outsider art, street art, and commercial art.
In this book, I further define art made, sold, or placed in the public way and detail examples I’ve observed and collected over the years. My goal is to create useful and durable text for understanding the methods, modes, and outputs of the artists who labor in these ways.
