Page 124 - Constructing Craft

Brian Gartside. Started as a maverick but was
gradually accepted as an integrated professional.
Photo: Art New Zealand.

Naïve Artists

Naïve artists do not have the training that people who exist in the formal art world

have, or even know these people. ‘They know very little about the nature of the
medium they are working in, its history, conventions, or the kind of work ordinarily
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produced in that medium.’ Naïve craftspeople usually became involved in craft
through informal craft groups that formed in large numbers after the Second World

War. They rarely had any formal training in craft – or indeed art – and they did not
understand the secret codes that a formal training implants in integrated

professionals. Furthermore, they did not have to break habits like mavericks. Many

New Zealand ‘hobbyists’ were in this sense naïve. Most did not aspire to become
professionals even though many – because they earned a living through craft –

could be classed in this way.

Constructing Craft