Etty Yaniv reviews the exhibition Outside In at Life On Mars Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, on view through March 1, 2014. The show features works by Katherine Bradford, Farrell Brickhouse, James Castle, Thornton Dial, Chris Martin, Joan Snyder, and Fred Valentine.

Yaniv writes: “Viewing these radically different artists side by side brought to life the question, What does inside or outside mean, not only in context of the art market but also in terms of gender, race, and art history at large? … No matter how disparate the life circumstances of each of the artists in this eclectic group are, the relationship between their individual artworks forms a cohesive and energetic visual and thematic flow. Without paying much attention to art norms or market trends, these veteran artists share a long-term compulsion to visually express their personal and political truths with deep conviction, persistent exploration of daily material, and a search for individual vocabularies.”