Strangers in a Strange Land: Photographs of American Visionary Artists and Eccentrics

Strangers in a Strange Land: Photographs of American Visionary Artists and Eccentrics presents a diverse group of visionary artists and eccentrics who collectively represent a vanishing fragment within American culture. In contrast to our bland, consumer-oriented society, the lyrical worlds created by these often marginalized, sometimes unconventional visionaries result in a universe of places and artifacts rich in meaning, juxtapositions, and unintended beauty. Some are utopian, others dystopian. Their visions and life experiences shape the environments they construct—generally out of found materials discarded by modern mass culture. They express a wide array of religious, social, political, and spiritual themes. With minimal resources and little support, they persist, pursuing their own paths on the margins of American society, where, to cite author James Baldwin, they “…make their kingdom new [and] make it honorable and worthy of life.”