Come in to the outside- car wrap photos

The barriers project the words that divide the outsider from the public. These will be acompanied by photos of Leonardo and Van Gogh both who could have been and probably were conisered weird and crazy in their time. One cut off his ear and the other wrote backwards...In this way we can see the visionary outsider artist in a cultural context - the methods may be outsider while the artist as individual need not be. Children hearing and using these descriptive terms will be more reluctant to enter our world- they need to be free of them.

Dial an artcar

Press Release June 5, 2008

Topic: A first for the world of artcars: Call the Artcar! Baltimore Artcars now can be reached via telephone! Find out about them when you see them!

Date: July 18-20

Place: Artscape, Baltimore, Md.

Contact: Conrad Bladey, 510-789-0930 cbladey@verizon.net

Summary: "Oh my God! What is that?" is heard many times each day by Conrad Bladey, Visionary Artcar Artist as he drives his artcars. People want to know! What is it? How long did it take? What does it all mean? They call out in traffic and from the sidewalks. Now all people who "need to know" do not have to go to great dangerous lengths to talk to the driver. All they have to do is get out their cell phone and literally call the artcar. The phone number is right on the side of the vehicle or in the rear.

This is a FIRST for the world of artcars!

Conrad Bladey worked with the on-line voicemail provider Grand Central to obtain a voice mail greeting and mail box for his artcar the Magnet Truck. For Artscape and other events when multiple cars are on the road Bladey will use his Verizon voice mail account to give each a distinct voicemail announcement.

In just a moment a visitor to the car at the Artscape Festival can get out their cell phone and find out all about the car that they have encountered.

Conrad Bladey is a self-funded, visionary, outsider artcar artist. His main artcar web page is here:

http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/artcars/hutmanartcars.html

Try out the phone number: 410-981-9256.

Artcar artists- They are not Outsiders- Just the Art! The Wrap Makes a strong case for more incluson.

Press Release

Topic: "Come in to the Outside" Art installation highlights the cultural reality of the

Date: July 18-20 2008

Place: Artscape, Baltimore Maryland

Contact: Conrad Bladey, 510-789-0930 cbladey@verizon.net

Summary: Outsider Artist- Artcar to be wrapped by fabric barrier. The "Welcome to the Inside" installation walls off an artcar with colorful fabric a la Christo. A gate lets visitors "Come in to the Outside". The fence symbolizes the cultural divide which exists between the arts community and visionary cartists like Conrad Bladey. Visitors will be asked to leave something - a shoe, hat, article of clothing…something behind as they enter the installation thus symbolizing that which artists have to give up in order to be Outsider Artists or Visionaries. It is hoped that the installation will bring the cultural isolation of cartists to the attention of the Baltimore Arts community and that they will be included in future city wide arts events and made welcome. One need not be culturally outside when one is a visionary, outsider artist.

Description: The "Outsider" or "Visionary" artist is defined as generally self taught, executing artworks that express visions or ideas that often use techniques and materials and genres that are outside of the mainstream. In addition in stark contrast to artists such as those now working in studios in the Bromo Seltzer Tower who tend to represent themselves as for example: Artist Inc. visionary artcar artists do little at all to make money (their obsessive visionary behavior more often accumulates debt). Artcar artists in addition to supplying their own materials must keep a car running and filled with gas. Yet, neither AVAM nor Artscape provide any funding at all for local artcar artists. Yet participation in city events brands the artcar artist in the eyes of the public, draws thousands to the festival and generally provides free entertainment while at the same time other entertainers are paid. Unlike other artists artcar artists generally stay at the festival full time. It is not as with other artists represented there who come in, hang an artwork on the walls (which they are actually offering for sale) and leave.

For more than a decade Visionary Artists such as Conrad Bladey have been included in prominent City events. Their art is very popular with the public at large. Appearances by Artcar artists from the "outside" have ranged from Artscape to the Charles Village Parade, Mayor's Christmas Parade, the Baltimore Book Fair and the harbor festival. While the art is visionary and "outsider" the artists are no different than other artists pursuing their own more conventional goals. Although the art has found a place in the hearts of the public the artists like Visionary Artcar Artist Conrad Bladey remain culturally isolated and do not yet have a place within the loop of the local arts community. These artists are not included in calls for participants and artworks such as Baltimore Festival of Maps which involved many arts organizations and artists in the city of Baltimore. They were also left out of the popular Fish out of Water project a few years ago.

Visionary artcar artists have seen opening receptions for their installations disappear and out-of-town curators brought in to curate art car exhibits at Artscape. Yet because of minimal association visionary cartists have been "branded" by association with institutions such as the American Visionary Art Museum and Artscape. They are not so much supported by these institutions but used for publicity purposes- and to draw crowds. Each day cartist Conrad Bladey is told that he must have something to do with them when in fact, Artscape has only the most minimal of relationships providing only a parking spot, and the AVAM simply starts a parade.

Details:

The artcar for this project is the 1966 Pontiac Catalina now known as "Someday the Frogs will Inherit the Earth." The car is a wetlands inspired Jackson Pollack painting inhabited by frogs with a large trombone horn on the hood which plays. A soundtrack reflecting on outsider existence will be playing from the car. The car will be surrounded by a 5 foot or more wide bright florescent orange and red fabric fence supported by poles set in cinder blocks.. Signs at the entrance will instruct the visitor participant to think of the present day culture of the Outsider artist. Visitors will be instructed to leave an item of clothing, hat shoe or belonging at the door just as the visionary/outsider must leave cultural belonging and personal inclusion outside when they practice outsider and visionary art.

There is a web page for the fabric which was used to wrap a house here

http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/envorn/thewrap08.html

A web page for the car is here. http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/artcars/partycar/partycar.html

Hornhats at Artscape 2008

Press Release June 4, 2008

Topic: The Horn Hat- Bringing Artcars into Sound at Artscape

Date: July 18-20

Place: Artscape, Baltimore

Contact: Conrad Bladey, 510-789-0930 cbladey@verizon.net

Summary: In addition to being a Visionary Artcar Artist or "Cartist" Conrad Bladey has also invented the Horn hat which is a Zany Wacky yet functioning musical instrument. As he dresses to match his vehicles Conrad Bladey also creates horn hats to play wonderful brass music which can be heard for blocks. The hats have many subjects: A boring weekend at his mother-in-laws house prompted Conrad to construct a hornhat of pistachio nuts. Another to go with the Mondrian car has a fabric cover with blocks of color, another looks like something out of the middle ages. Wherever they go people are amazed. Bladey has conducted workshops in the Horn Hat and has equipped entire bands with his creations. You wear them on your head and play them just like ordinary brass instruments. It leaves your hand free and transforms your head into art.

Conrad has created two new Horn hats for Artscape 2008- The Frog Horn Hat and the Volcano Horn hat. The Frog hat goes with his car- "Someday the frogs will inherit the Earth" and features a trumpet with frogs in a swamp. The second hat is designed to go with his Art Gurney and has a brass trombone bell sticking right out of the center of the hat. It appears to be coming from an erupting volcano. You can meet the horn hats at the Hutman Artcars studio in Linthicum or see them on Bladey's head as he struts and plays at Artscape.

If enough children are interested Conrad will equip them all with horn hats and create a parade of budding brass players. Workshops are available. constructing and learning to play a hornhat is a great way for children to have fun while exploring music.

The Hornhat Page has a video and many images of the current hornhat gallery:

http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/artcars/hornhat/hornhatman.html

Finally the rest of the Hornhats!

Mondrian Color block hat

Pistacio Shell Hat

Renaissance Turban Hat

The Frog Horn Hat

The horn hat goes with the artcar..."Someday the Frogs will inherit the earth!

Volcano Horn Hat nears completion....a test drive...

At the studio in front of leg gate...needs a bit more paint but on its way...volcano hat..



Stay tune.....more to come...

The Horn Hatter at Work

At work making what is now the volcano hornhat~!

The Horn hatter plays to tune the horn

Take a leuk at the base- a helmet liner-it is covered with foam in stages



Another sound check- gradually shortening the hose till the right harmonic is achieved

Charles Village Festival Baltimorfe May 31, 08

There I am trying out John's Paradise Gourney


The Patient...

New car this year....


Karl's Car from Delaware


Another view of the new local car


Local used book seller


Margaret Prepares the Gourney

New Sculpture for the Art Environment

Cubist Man created from a piano plate-our latest addition to the environment.

Mayday 2008 Linthicum

Wurtzelmann! our Jack in the Green! Sunrise, May 1 2008

Celebration of New Sidewalks....chalk art day

And a Grand time Was has by all.....

Before the Wrap

Click here to view the wrap web page
http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/envorn/thewrap08.html

Because it wasn't there....yet...

"Christo" Bladey Wraps house!

Yes indeed! Briliant orange!

take a leuk....

Tales of my death greatly exagerated

Stopped everywhere because of this......

Art=Madness- Not!
This is the headline of the Examiner Newspaper of Baltimore the Weekend before Artscape.
We have reacted with the press release below with the hope that the public can come to a better undersanding of our work.

Date:Sunday July 15, 2007

From: Conrad Bladey, Visionary, Cartist

Topic: Escaping the Categorization of Artists as Madmen and Women

Description: Yesterday whilst attending to a brutal murder investigation next door…..a policeman gave me a copy of The Examiner, Baltimore, Weekend Edition, July 14-15. On the front page there was this image:

\

The headline reads: Artlife- An Escape into Madness

The photo is of my arttruck Magnet Truck

I have spent my entire career as a cartist projecting the image that cartists can be ordinary people and that artcars should be in every driveway replacing cars which are the products of the assembly line. Americans and everyone should feel free to engage in art in their daily lives and utilize artcars as canvases.

The Examiner front page gives us a reflection of the state of the arts in our society. No wonder when portrayed in this light, art programs in schools are cut, grants are reduced and hard to get and art of all kinds seems distant to the people.

This article should give us all cause to examine the way art is projected in the media. I am taking the time this week to give media representative's calm, cool, collected time to investigate the process of creating artcars at my studio in Linthicum. I will make my cars, studio and work in progress available to all who are interested from Monday July 16 to Thursday July 19. It is hoped that representatives of the local media will take advantage of this opportunity to escape the chaos of the moment at Artscape and compose an accurate picture of the cartists, the artworks and the process. Visitors can view work in progress..

Both my daughter Margaret (Stella the Star Car) and myself will be available. Make an appointment to stop in:Phone-410-789-0930 or e.mail cbladey@bcpl.net

The studio is conveniently located at 402 Nancy Ave. Linthicum, Md. 21090. We are only a few blocks from the North Linthicum, Light rail stop.

As for my characterization by the Examiner as "mad" That is fine with me! But, at this time nobody knows for sure.

Conrad Bladey

Merry Christmas to one and all!

View our Christmas card here:

http://www.geocities.com/joecartist/xmmas06b.html

The Peasant and Luther. 

In the Lutherest hall 

The peasant goes to Lutherfest! Spaten time!