04/20/2025
Of his Happenings, Hansen once explained, “I only prepare the skeleton and then invite people to put meat on it and see what the animal looks like in the end.” In addition, Hansen created collages and found object assemblages made from burnt matches, cigarette papers and text ripped from Hershey Bar wrappers, often riffing on images of Venus.- artsy.net
The 1st Annual Outsiders Festival begins with an opening reception at the Provincetown Commons located at 46 Bradford Street on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 7PM. The event is a Happening we have aptly titled, HERESY, honoring the legacy of early 1960s Provincetown gallerist and collage artist, Al Hansen. (The actual exhibit runs from April 30 – May13.)
We discovered Hansen via a 1964 Newsweek feature on Provincetown’s 50th anniversary celebration – fifty years of tradition vs. ignition – as an art colony. Hans Hofmann, an important teacher and artist based out of Provincetown is quoted, “I wish the Art Association (PAAM) a long existence and from time to time some healthy troublemakers which hold the creative spirit alive.” Hansen retorts, “The Art Association is a great case of arteriosclerosis.”
Thus born was the inspiration for the Outsiders Festival.
more at: https://campprovincetown.com/al-hansen/
