Albert Louden (British b. 1943)
Although he toyed over the years with higher mathematics and left-wing politics, from about 1962 Louden decided to concentrate on art. It was Victor Musgrave, the co-organiser of the Outsiders show at the Hayward Gallery, who discovered Louden in 1979.
In 1985 Louden had a sell-out exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. He exhibited internationally having a solo show in New York at Rosa Esman Gallery in 1986 and his further shows included Boundary Gallery in 1990. Louden's paintings comprise of heavily distorted figures in urban settings and situations observed with wit, using a unique palette.
His work can be found in many private and public collections in Britain and abroad, including the Arts Council and Collection L'Art Brut, Lausanne. The Baltimore Museum of Visionary Art are about to show 30 works by Louden in one of their new wings.
Public Collections
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
The Anthony Petullo Collection, Milwaukee, USA
Arts Council of Great Britain
Collection l'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, USA
Musee de l'Art Brut, l'Arcaine, Neuilly-sur-marne, France
Museum of American Folk Art, New York, USA
Site de la Creation Franche, Ville de Begles, France
Solo Exhibitions
2009, Albert Louden, Falicon, France
2006, Albert Louden, Museum of Brut Art, Bordeaux
2001, Albert Louden: Recent Works, Whitford Fine Art, London; Judy Saslow Gallery, Chicago, USA; Jean Pierre Ritsch-Fisch, Strasbourg, France
2000, Albert Louden Out Loud, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, USA; Outsider Inside, Boundary Gallery, London; Jean Pierre Ritsch-Fisch, Strasbourg, France
1999, Mexican Cultural Institute, Quito, Ecuador
1998, Boundary Gallery, London
1996, Gallerie Del Grabbo, Santiago, Chile; Instinct Gallery, Milwaukee, USA; Judy Saslow Gallery, Chicago, USA
1995, Maria Louisa Marino Fine Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.; Liz Backman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
1992, Galerie Jean-Pierre Harter, Paris, France
1988, Boundary Gallery, London
1987, Art et Marge, Brussels, Belgium
1986, Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, USA
1985, Streets and Rooms, Serpentine gallery, London; Prema Project, Dursley, Gloucestershire
1983, Carol Conrich, London
Group Exhibitions
2008, British Outsider Art, Musée La Halle Saint Pierre, Paris
2001, Private Worlds: Outsider and Visionary Art, Orleans House Gallery, London The Anthony Petullo Collection, John Michael Kohler Arts Centre, Wisconsin, USA; Obsessive Visions: Art Outside the Mainstream, England & Co., London
1999, Love, Error, and Arrows, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, USA Musee Anzac, Paris, France
1998, Art Unsolved, The Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
1997, Angel Road Gallery, Nottingham; Het Formaat, Stadshof Museum, Zwolle, The Netherlands
1995, Three Outsiders, Belgrave Gallery, London; Outstanding Outsider Art, Marion Harris, Connecticut, USA
1992, The Magic of Naive, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, Korea
1991, Malmo Museum, Konstall, Sweden
1990, Outsider Art, Alpha Cubic Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Portraits from the Outside, Parsons School of Design, New York, USA
1989, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, USA
1987, In Another World, Arts Council, touring exhibition
1983, Artists Make Faces, Art House, London
1982 Group Exhibitions, Art House, London