About the Exhibition
The drawings and fabrics of Valerie Potter (b.1954) were unveiled after the discovery of a book by the late Roger Cardinal in a reduced book section near the artist’s home. Upon reading the seminal Outsider Art, Potter decided to send Cardinal a group of her drawings. The art historian was so impressed, he agreed to curate Potter’s first solo exhibition at the University of Kent, where he was teaching. The author subsequently introduced her material to Monika Kinley and other collectors.
Over the next thirty years, Potter embarked on a creative and autobiographical journey. Impulsive sketches and drawings evolved into delicate hand-stitched tapestries, with imagery and humorous text offering insight and advice. These instinctive explorations of the artist’s subconscious were not originally intended to be seen, let alone sold. Rather, they were a way for the artist to express an interior monologue. Yet Cardinal’s intervention and encouragement led them to occupy in an important place in the British canon of the then emerging genre known as Outsider Art.
Today Potter continues to alternate between cross-stitch works, line embroideries and elaborate colour weaves. Her work is included in a number of important collections, including the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection at the Whitworth (Manchester), The Museum of Everything (London), the Haines Collection (London) and the Moscow Museum of Outsider Art (Montenegro).
NOTE: A 360-degree view of the exhibition is available on the bottom of the exhibition page on the Gallery of Everything page that you can click on here. On that page, on the floor plan, click on the white circles on the right picture for Valerie’s work.