I have been searching for sites on the Internet which encompass these forms of art. "Primitive" was a term used for art which was produced by people in underdeveloped areas of the world, even right in the US, back in the last century, when I was at the university. For me, "outsider" art is a new term, and one I do not have much familiarity with. I sense that it can be produced by those who have been trained in traditional art, but have chosen to give it up and go to the "outside."
Folk Art is the label usually given to creations done by folks who have not had formal art training, and who often have their own individual style. I personally find this genre to be of considerable appeal. Folk Art in the Americas can even encompass the vastness of indigenous native American arts - from the Arctic to the tip of South America! Good Heavens, this can never be considered "primitive," any more than can the arts of Africa or the Pacific Islands. And let's bring in China, India, Japan... are these all Folk Art, simply because the artists and artisans were not trained academically? The disparities between these and the arts of the Renaissance are tremendous in some ways, yet, in their creation, their human expression, their genesis in the core of the human psyche/spirit, they are similar, indeed.
In the case of the "primitive," the artist is not really trained in the formal methods of design and color, but produces art - sometimes of poor quality. Some wood carvings are, however, way beyond the primitive in their conceptualizations, and many of the creators are missing parts of fingers, due, no doubt, to their excited enthusiasm. Here is a web page that you will find to be of interest. Click on "traditional" to see some woodcarvings in Brazil. These pieces might be called "turista" art, but I think they bespeak their origins well, i.e.- interesting, very much of their place, colorful, and done by someone who has not been trained academically, but who has probably apprenticed to an accomplished artisan.
http://www.artfrombrazil.com/index.htm
The same can be said for this site of African art. I wonder about the "antiquities" section, because, if these are real antiquities being sold, I have some strong and negative feelings. The older, "traditional" pieces appear on my little monitor screen to be either real or real good copies. Even though these are for sale, I am showing them, because they are good examples of "primitive" art.
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