Ionel Talpaza, Galaxy and Reverse, 1997, 61 x 61 in, oil on canvas
The Outsider Art Fair is pleased to honor Ionel Talpazan (1956 - 2015) with a memorial exhibition of his art.
Since the late 1980s visitors to New York might have had the chance to find a gregarious immigrant from Romania on the sidewalk hawking his drawings and paintings of outer space and UFOs. Sometimes her would be seen near MoMA, sometimes in Soho, and for many years he could be found outside the entrance to the Outsider Art Fair.
His work was collected by some, overlooked by others, yet recognized and acclaimed in numerous shows here and in Europe,and became the subject of museum acquisitions. For periods of time his art was shown by dealers and galleries in New York and Europe in the context of artists outside the mainstream.
He appeared in newspaper articles and well-know publications, from ones such as Raw Vision, Art Forum, Frieze, or Folk Art Messenger, to others devoted to UFOlogy. Additionally, his life and art was shown on the PBS series City Arts and the BBC documentary Turning the Art World Inside Out.
With the passing of this one-of-a-kind artist familiar to many, we've decided to show the remarkable art that he sold in the past and that he hoped would one day be recognized for its combination of art and science, revealing the mysteries he believed in. We offer a warm welcome to Ionel’s art and memory.
