James Castle
Untitled (Duck), n.d.
found paper, string, soot, 20 x 14 1/4"
Courtesy J Crist Gallery, Boise


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19 November 2008 | 5:00–7:00pm
Ibrahim Theater, International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
with American Sign Language Interpreters present

Changing the Canon: Self-Taught Artists
Film Screening and Panel Discussion

James Castle: Portrait of an Artist
A film by Jeffrey Wolf

Introduction by Molly Dougherty,
Executive Director, Foundation for Self-Taught Artists

Brendan Greaves, Folklorist, University of North Carolina
John Ollman, Director, Fleisher-Ollman Gallery
Ann Percy, Curator of Drawings, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Jeffrey Wolf, Film Producer and Director
Wendy Steiner (moderator), Founding Director, Penn Humanities Forum

Born deaf, James Castle (1900–1977), a self-taught American artist who refused to read, write, or otherwise communicate except through art, used soot, saliva, and found materials such as ads and food wrappers for his creations. Today, major museums throughout the U.S. collect his work.

In association with the exhibition James Castle: A Retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (October 14, 2008–January 4, 2009), the Penn Humanities Forum presents the Foundation for Self-Taught Artists’ new documentary on Castle (click here to download a film review by David Ebony in the 10.8.08 issue of Art in America, p2).

Join us following the film for a special panel discussion on the radical changes in the canon of art reflected in the new acceptance of self-taught artists.

Cosponsored by the Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists and
International House, Philadelphia.