The World’s Most Influential Artists with Disabilities
Some of the artists in this list are world renowned for their works, and have been the subject of many books and television documentaries. Others are less well-known, but are equally captivating, whether for their attention to detail, the unique approach to their craft, or the broad scope of their artistic vision. What they all have in common is the ability to wow viewers with works that acknowledge adversity and turn it into something beautiful.
Stephen is famous for his remarkable attention to detail. He is an ‘autistic savant’, meaning that his autism happens to imbue him with a skill that is profoundly developed beyond typical ability. This means he was able to draw an eighteen foot wide, panoramic landscape of the New York City skyline after just one 20 minute helicopter ride. Stephen was the subject of the BBC documentary ‘The Human Camera’, and in one clip a member of the public compares the number of windows on his apartment building to the same building in Stephen’s landscape. Of course, with his photographic memory, Stephen’s landscape is faultless.
Lisa Fittipaldi
Lisa learned to paint after losing her sight in 1993. Her paintings are vibrant snapshots of people and places in a polychromatic palette. A remarkable talent of Lisa’s is her ability to differentiate paint colours simply by the texture of the paint. Her book ‘A Brush with Darkness’ documents her life as a trauma care nurse in the run up to losing her sight, and her rise through the art world after a two-year long battle with the emotional trauma of her disability.
Keith is a painter of semi-abstract landscapes and urbanscapes. Despite being registered blind, he has climbed over 100 Munros (the highest peaks in Scotland), and has distilled these experiences in his artworks. His work is particularly full of texture, and broad strokes that form the ghostly climes of the Scottish Highlands. Keith is currently preparing for a new exhibition in Edinburgh titled, “The Oregon Project and other works: A Keith Salmon landscape retrospective in light and sound”, which runs from the 8th to 22nd April 2017.
Jessica Park
Jessica takes everyday urban architecture and transforms it with pastel and neon colour. Bridges, skyscrapers, mansions, are all intricately detailed with their architraves, columns, and reliefs picked out in a rainbow that is only found in this artist’s work. When Jessica’s parents discovered she had autism at a young age, they devoted themselves to finding a medium through which she could express herself. The end result is Jessica’s accomplished career as an artist.
Michael Monaco
Michael Monaco is a member of the Mouth and Foot Painters Association and has exhibited his paintings all over the world. After a car accident in 1979, Michael was left paralysed from the neck down. After learning to sign his name during therapy, he moved onto the paint brush, and paints large still life and landscape canvases by mouth.
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