Life’s drama and pageantry link this pairing of exhibitions of outsider artists Eugen Gabritschevsky (1893–1979) and Carlo Zinelli (1916–1974). Born in Moscow, Gabritschevsky had a successful career as a biologist until he was committed to a Munich mental hospital in 1931. There, he made more than 3,000 drawings and paintings on paper that combine his scientific knowledge with his imaginings of otherworldly landscapes and beings. A 1938 pencil study describes several species of woman-insect hybrid; later works present startling scenes of tadpole-like creatures in formal wear thronging city streets and packing opera houses.
The parade of human affairs is the focus of Zinelli’s rhythmic, boldly colored compositions, which are packed with nonsense writing and silhouetted humans, animals and machines going about their business. Often, that business is war: In 1939, Zinelli volunteered to fight with Mussolini’s army in Spain. He served two weeks before being sent home to Italy with shell shock, and he was permanently institutionalized in 1947. This survey includes a grim landscape in which tanks roll over dunghills, as well as more enigmatic works such as a painting of four red personages riddled with holes, towering over ranks of smaller black figures. The piece could be read as either a processional or an exodus; its graphic punch makes a fine contrast to Gabritschevsky’s atmospheric visions.