The art world High culture! Big prices and even bigger words! What about artists with disabilities? What is the value of art for them? <i>(narrator) Kamini Nair is 56</i> <i>She doesn't say much</i>
<i>and has an intellectual disability</i> <i>She's a full-time painter</i> <i>And her work is being exhibited</i>
<i>alongside prominent Kiwi artists</i> <i>Danny Miller, he's 49
and lives in San Francisco</i> <i>He has severe epilepsy</i>
<i>and an intellectual disability</i> <i>Two of his works</i><i>are in
the permanent collection...</i> <i>...at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York</i> <i>Meet William, he's 45, has autism</i>
<i>and lives with his mom in San Francisco</i> <i>His paintings sell for thousands</i> <i>And his images have been used</i>
<i>in fashion creations...</i> <i>...by designer, Marc Jacobs</i> <i>Andrew Blyth lives</i>
<i>with paranoid schizophrenia</i> <i>He's spent most of his life</i>
<i>in psychiatric hospitals...</i> <i>...or on the street</i> <i>His exhibitions are sell outs</i> <i>And his work's now caught the eye</i>
<i>of international collectors</i> All of these artists
work full-time at their craft Surely it's about more
than throwing a bit of paint around.. ..and keeping people's days filled We want to find out what value
art brings... ...to the lives of people
living with a disability ♪(music)♪ <i>(narrator) San Francisco boasts</i>
<i>the world's largest space...</i> <i>...for artists with disabilities</i> <i>Creative Growth was the first studio</i>
<i>of its kind...</i> <i>...opening its doors over 40 years ago</i> <i>Back then, many judged art</i>
<i>as merely therapy</i> <i>Or a way to fill time</i> <i>Here, the artists are recognized</i>
<i>for their pure talent</i> Well, you know, I think we probably all
have some experience... ...of being around people
with disabilities in the greater world [Jennifer O'Neal
Creative Growth Curator and Gallery Manager] We see them on the bus We see them, maybe, walking
down the street And we have a concept in our own minds
about who they are... ...or where they fit into society Or whether they do or not I think we all have
our pre-conceived notions And that doesn't exist
here at Creative Growth [The Art of Danny Miller] <i>(narrator) Sit up, take note</i> <i>This is Dan Miller</i> <i>And his huge works</i>
<i>in paint and pen</i> <i>He has an intellectual disability...</i> <i>...and wears a helmet to protect</i>
<i>his head when he has seizures</i> <i>Dan likes words</i> <i>His favorites make it into his art</i> Electrician, right?
On and off, right? <i>He's been coming here to Creative Growth</i>
<i>every day for the past ten years</i> For as long as he'd been here,
made the same kind of artwork... ...which is taking the words
that are in his mind... ...and his language, that he repeats,
and putting them down on the page Again, he's telling a story And over time that story has created
a beautiful composition on the page - Sandy...
- Sandy? ...live here - She lives here?
- Right Dan, too, has been completely infiltrated
into the insider art world His work hangs at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York He too has had exhibitions
at White Columns... ...and internationally
that have sold out And people come to visit him And I would say that he really
has had a shift... ...of being quite a shy person,
to learning how to be social <i>So, art has been this sort of touchstone</i>
<i>for him in that way</i> <i>...where he's really</i>
<i>come out of his shell</i> Straight switch Great A great switch On and off Daniel Miller's work sells
for between 2,000 and 2,500 USD And, again, the money that goes
into his pocket... ...has provided comfort for him
and his living situation <i>(narrator) That's 4,000 NZD</i> <i>The art world recognizes his genius,</i>
<i>the disability is irrelevant</i> In the beginning, the biography
was very important This is a person with a disability:
"Wow, I can't believe they can do this!" And over time, the viewer, the public... ...has been able to really
look at the art Really understand
what the artists are doing And look at the value of the piece
that's been made And not only that it's been made
by a person with a disability... ...but the contribution that it's making
to the larger contemporary art world What are you writing? Straight. Straight. ST. <i>(narrator) These artists need support</i> <i>And the world wouldn't be aware</i>
<i>of their talents...</i> <i>...if it wasn't for Creative Growth</i> Angler, right? A switch on a chain, right? <i>(narrator) The sad truth</i>
<i>is that people with disabilities...</i> <i>...have limited access to the arts</i> <i>These artists don't have a qualification</i>
<i>from an art school...</i> <i>...so they're called "outsider artists"</i> <i>In New York, Suzanne Brown</i>
<i>organizes her world into boxes</i> I particularly like these ones <i>(narrator) The simplicity of her work</i>
<i>is refreshing</i> - Who are these people?
- My mother, over here... ...and my sister Claudia, me,
my sister Connie who's the youngest... ...and my sister Barbara <i>What I enjoy about work</i>
<i>by self-taught artists...</i> <i>...is the intuitive quality</i>
<i>of the mark making</i> <i>Often, there's an obsessiveness</i> And I was thinking, when I
was walking around here... ...I wonder why that is a quality
of work by self-taught artists [Stuart Shepherd
Art Academic and Collector] Often, perhaps there's an
ability to focus... ...that other artists don't have There's too many voices in the world,
critical voices Maybe art theory gets in the way Art school, there's exams, a timetable Maybe there's an ability
in self-taught artists... ...to listen to their intuition
more fully Without a filter [The Art of Kamini Nair] With an exhibition, comes visibility The art and the artist are exposed
to a lot more people I'd been told about an artist
whose huge impressionistic canvases... ...had been snapped up
by an international collector That's my name: Kamini <i>(narrator) At 56, Kamini Nair's talents</i>
<i>have finally been discovered</i> I think the work is exuberent And I think her infatuation
with certain colors comes across I love the fact that she's titled
the show "Yellow Pink Red Orange" It's almost irrepressible And it's consistent.
The work is strong <i>She's having a good time painting too,</i>
<i>you can tell</i> <i>It's nice to capture
the pleasure</i><i>of paint</i> <i>(narrator) Normally shy,</i>
<i>showing her work to the world...</i> <i>...is giving Kamini more confidence</i> <i>She's engaging with the community</i> I think it's meant an awful lot
to Kamini She's empowered as an artist [Emma Fletcher
Sandz Gallery Manager] Seeing her work up on display
in this community space... ...she's got a huge sense of pride
around that And that was kind of portrayed
on the opening night... ...with a number of people
she was showing around And confidently talking
about her work <i>(narrator) This is Kamini's show:</i>
<i>"Yellow Pink Red Orange"</i> <i>Her massive impressionistic paintings</i>
<i>are part of an exhibition...</i> <i>...with recognized Kiwi artists</i> Pink! <i>(narrator) Kamini's family had expected...</i> <i>...she'd probably never</i>
<i>have a special interest in life</i> <i>But 4 years ago,</i>
<i>Kamini began painting...</i> <i>..at Sandz studio, a creative space</i>
<i>for people with disabilities</i> <i>Kamini's artistic ability</i>
<i>astounded her 85 year old mom</i> Well, 2 or 3 years back
she starts coming up... ...with her artwork And I thought this might
be something just ordinary When I went to see the painting,
I was quite surprised I couldn't believe my daughter
had done these huge paintings Brought some of my friends
and it was really a big thing for us Oh, I was very proud to see the painting Just a small gathering with them When I see people, a crowd,
who were coming... ...then I rang my son I said: "Son, come and see this here,
Kamini's is a big day for us" Brush, small brush It was really a big surprise for us We didn't know She was keeping these things in her
all the time! <i>(narrator) English isn't Kamini's</i>
<i>first language</i> <i>She has few words</i>
<i>to describe her art</i> All the color I would paint here,
with paint All the color always paint here,
all the paint in color The color mix the paint, green,
red, pink, purple... Orange, blue... <i>(narrator) Still, she's not</i>
<i>the first artist...</i> <i>...to prefer the work</i>
<i>to speak for itself</i> <i>And the work is selling</i> - Sunflowers?
- Yeah, sunflowers. Pink! Yellow one I think it gives the community... They're challenging their perceptions
and their values... ...when seen on par, amongst
other mainstream artists And that's strong
they're seeing that message Yeah Art lets us explore who we are
and how we see ourselves And with success,
the world sees us differently too [The Art of William Scott] <i>(narrator) William Scott has autism</i> That's me! That's my name! <i>(narrator) But that's not</i>
<i>how he defines himself</i> As popular guy.
I'm a popular guy! William Scott certainly falls
into the category... ...of, you know,
someone who's an artist So, making friends
to a whole lot of people! Make friends a lot of people! He traveled to New York... ...for one of his shows
about 3 years ago And I was lucky enough
to go along with him And as we were walking along the street
one day in New York... ...he turned and he looked at me
and said: "Ok, I'm an artist." And something changed,
something happened He was among peers Other people that understood his work
and that were art makers... ...or art collectors And he'd been in the art scene there And he felt that was the right place
for him to be And so there is an identity shift And although William had never told me
how he identified himself before that.. ...it's a big deal for an artist,
of any stature... ...or any media that they work in,
to finally say out loud:... .."Ok, I'm an artist!" <i>(narrator) William paints what he loves:</i>
<i>heroes, the friendly folk he knows...</i> <i>...and celebrities he admires</i> See that? Cindy Harron's, a peacemaker Terry Ellis, a peacemaker And Janet Jackson is a peacemaker This is the serious stuff Ultra Woman, the real superhero To the highering the peace,
magic peace To put it on the Earth Yes, with the mask on! <i>(narrator) Art's a great escape</i> <i>William creates a world</i>
<i>of moral citizens...</i> <i>...living in a clean and idyllic city</i> Those guards, they take away
the wrong people They get put away, get recycled By those guards Recycles bad people,
what they're doing... ...killings or gun violence They get recycled by guards Recycled. People recycling These people will be
taking evil's place Inner limits will be taking sci-fi's place ...to cancel the evil sci-fies Take away the sci-fies <i>(narrator) The guards</i>
<i>from William's paintings...</i> <i>...don't exist in his neighborhood</i> <i>He lives in a part of town...</i> <i>...famed for high crime</i>
<i>and street dealing</i> <i>Every day he escapes...</i> <i>...taking a 2-hour journey
in to Creative Growth</i> <i>In his art,</i>
<i>William perfects his dream</i> <i>Plans for a new San Francisco,</i>
<i>free of crime</i> He is a man in his forties,
who grew up in San Francisco.. ...in a neighborhood
that was pretty tough There was a lot going on with drugs
and with gangs and violence And he came up with a manifesto
of how to reinvent his neighborhood I design a new San Francisco,
real good Yeah, you wanna see my drawings?
Umm, architects? In the future of the housing,
right here The new housing will be right here Will be in the Candlestick Point,
right here This'll make it a real peaceful place - Where will you live?
- I will live right here Right here I will live right here He started reinventing it in drawings.. ...mostly architectural drawings
and sculpture... ...of the housing facilities
that he grew up in And of the people
that inhabited his neighborhood He re-did them, beautiful and shining
and supported with values... ...that he considered very important
and positive people And that's primarily what his artwork
has been about This is Janet Jackson right here That's my favorite fan, right here And this is Janet, right here.
Janet Jackson's right here People will like pretty woman
of Janet Jackson I love Janet Jackson But this Janet Jackson,
inner limits of Janet Jackson... ...up the higher
we're in the peace world And she stops the war Janet Jackson stops the war And she's the inner limit woman And she's wholesome encounter,
to put people's lives back... ...when they lost their lives What stands out the most
in William's work... ...is that you believe him You believe what he's telling you... ...and you want to support him
in the truth and endeavor... ...of what he's doing Not only to create an environment
that he feels comfortable in... ...but for all of San Francisco
that might be suffering Utopian ideas?
They were very popular And they still are
in contemporary art-making So, there was a moment
there for William... ...especially in New York galleries,
where he really was right on par... ...with what other artists were doing Yeah, William's work sells
upwards of 2,500 USD And the sales of his work
have actually contributed... ...to his family
in a really important way Y'know, he'd been taken
care of by his mother He's 45 years old and taken care of
by his mother for his entire life And in the last 2 or 3 years,
based on his art sales... ...he's contributed to his independence
and to his own life And to his mother's life,
so it's a big deal [The Art of Abbie Twiss] Art is expressive, but does it have
the ability to transcend language? Abbie Twiss is deaf Through her art, she can express
her ideas, thoughts and emotions ♪(music)♪ In terms of the value of art,
art is everything to me To start with... ...without art the world would be
a very dark and depressing place Not to mention, boring It's almost unimaginable That's why I like my art
to be so colorful That means a lot to me (narrator) <i>Unlike our other painters,</i>
<i>Abbie's had formal training...</i> <i>...so she's not an "outsider artist"</i> <i>But being deaf, she doesn't always</i>
<i>feel like an insider</i> <i>When Abbie studied at Elam School</i>
<i>of Fine Art...</i> <i>...she was the only deaf student</i> <i>She felt incredibly isolated</i> Well, I did miss out on a lot... ...especially when people were
getting together and having chats They would feed each other
and critique each other's work Sometimes they would all gather
around a sculpture And if they went out for lunch
or anything... ...they would all get together and chat I was by myself a lot I guess I was used to it It meant that I could focus
on my studies Do you think that being deaf
somehow influences your art? Deaf people communicate visually
and that does show in my artwork I feel both deaf and hearing people
can still make sense of my work This is a painting I did in Melbourne It's an Australian advertisement... ...but I've added my own text
to make people think about being deaf And can you tell me:
do you see yourself... ...do you identify yourself
as a deaf artist? My art has a lot of different elements Some of my art
includes my deaf identity Some of it doesn't There are many aspects
to my work ♪(jazz music)♪ (narrator) <i>Putting on an exhibition</i>
<i>is a huge task</i> <i>Even harder</i><i>when
there's a communication barrier</i> <i>Abbie's curating</i>
<i>Auckland's first exhibtion...</i> <i>...of deaf artists</i> So, why a separate exhibition
just for deaf artists? Couldn't those artists
just be in any exhibition? There are lots of exhibitions
that include work by hearing artists.. ...throughout the world So why not have an exhibition
for deaf artists? Being deaf is no barrier
to becoming an artist And deaf people are naturally
a visual culture That's why we're having
the exhibition And we want to present the art
to a broader audience... ..so hearing people, through this art,
can see things from a deaf perspective Hence the exhibition
and we're just going to go for it [The Art of Andrew Blythe] In the past,
the art of psychiatric patients.. ...was seen as a portal to their minds And exhibitions attracted
a kind of morbid fascination But instead of assuming... ...that Andrew Blythe's work
represents the thoughts... ..of someone
with paranoid schizophrenia... ...perhaps we should be asking:
what role does creativity play... ...in keeping people mentally well? Like, the therapeutic thing in art... Instead of... when I'm painting away,
I can ignore all other things... ...including things in my own self I can paint away
a thing that I want to do... ...instead of worrying,
like I do a lot Yeah (narrator) <i>Andrew Blythe is a painter</i>
<i>in residence at Toiora...</i> <i>...a studio space for artists</i>
<i>with mental illness</i> ♪(operatic singing and harp playing)♪ (Andrew) <i>Before I went to Toiora,</i>
<i>I felt I wasn't really alive even</i> (narrator) <i>Andrew experiences delusions</i> <i>He sometimes feels skeptical</i>
<i>and afraid</i> <i>When we first met him,</i>
<i>two years ago...</i> <i>...he struggled to speak with us</i> <i>He wasn't really comfortable</i>
<i>around anyone</i> Because I went through a couple of years,
where I didn't say anything at all To anybody I somehow thought it was unnecessary
to talk to people and stuff (narrator) <i>Now, Andrew has a clear</i>
<i>sense of purpose:..</i> <i>...he's an artist</i> (Andrew) <i>If Toiora wasn't here</i>
<i>I don't know what I'd be doing</i> <i>Some patients go gardening</i> <i>I always felt that it was so useless!</i> (Tanya) <i>Does creativity...</i> <i>...have a kind of therapeutic
value</i><i>for you?</i> Umm, well, yes it does I was never one to fall in love
with people around the place... ...because I've always been on the dole But painting is like being in love Or is being in love It's like being in love,
it's just wonderful <i>(narrator) Art is love.</i>
<i>Could there be any higher value?</i> <i>Andrew started drawing</i>
<i>on scraps of paper</i> <i>He's had no formal training</i> <i>He feels that's given his work freedom</i> <i>(Andrew) The art of people</i>
<i>in the hospital...</i> It's just comes out of the mind,
like that We're untrained too And yet there'll be such fine work,
produced at Toiora <i>Great work, even</i> <i>It all goes unrecognized</i> <i>We ought to be having exhibitions</i>
<i>of our paintings all over the walls</i> Everywhere! When I first saw Andrew's work,
I assumed... ...it was work by a graduate student,
a painter He has a gift
for the process of applying paint And I think it's highly considered,
abstract painting <i>(Andrew) Yeah, they're completely abstract</i> <i>And they're not figurative,</i>
<i>they're not pictures of anything else</i> <i>They're not still lifes</i> I just love looking at his work Because, when I'm looking at his work,
I'm looking at a record of his choices And that's what I look at
when I look at painting It's not just pretty pictures,
there's a little story there You can look at details
and see the choices the artist's made They might be conscious
or not conscious And in Andrew's work
there's a lot of consciousness And he's a very serious painter <i>(narrator) His work's been shown</i>
<i>in Paris and New York</i> I delight in what he produces The people I've shown his work to
in New York had the same reaction And they immediately
compared his work... ..to some of the painters from the 50s,
who worked in a similar way So they locate the work
in terms of art history What's in my mind when I paint? It's always trying to get the whole
thing to be perfect Concentration and instead of looking
at each tiny letter... ...and composing the picture properly Several acts of daring risk-taking
and things like that A lot of it's thought and composition,
hard work and long hours And if I could, I'd be working
until 12 o'clock at night It's sort of like a love, really Who would have thought
art had this much power? It crosses language barriers,
allows us to convey our emotions It changes perceptions
and opens the mind It's a way of earning money
and respect Well, I'm inspired A big thank you to all the artists
involved in today's program
