Bio

Walter Mika was born in Queens, New York in 1961 with Down syndrome. He has attended Pure Vision Arts since its opening in 2002. Known for his intense and energetic use of line, color and form, his figurative, art brut style, drawings are influenced by cartoons, movies, and other aspects of popular culture. Mika’s drawing are included in numerous private collections and have been populare at the NY Outsider Art Fair for over 14 years. His work has been featured in magazines such as Arts & Antiques and Envision Folk Art.

Exhibition History

Selected Exhibitions

2019

PURE VISION PURE JOY, group exhibition, 824 Madison Avenue, NYC

The Eye of the Outsider, group exhibition, La Esquina, NYC

A Ball for All, The Shield Institute and Pure Vision Arts Gala group exhibition, Three Sixty, NYC.

27th Annual Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC.

2018

Outsider Insight, group exhibition, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

GADGET GURLS: THE DOLLHOUSE (group exhibition), Water Mill, NY.

26th Annual Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC.

2017

Et Tu, Art Brute?, Andrew Edlin Gallery, NYC.

Clifford Chance Law Firm, Pure Vision group exhibition, NYC.

Paint the Town Brown, Three Sixty, NYC.

25th Annual Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC.

2016

Birds of a Feather, Pure Vision Arts, NYC. Visions from the Edge, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, VT.

Exhibit at MADmusée, (guest curator Alain Platel), Théâtre de Liège, Belgium.

24th Annual Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC.

2015

BEAUTIFUL MINDS pure vision, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY.


Somoza Palooza, Metropolitan West, NYC.

22nd Annual Outsider Art Fair, Center 548, NYC.

2014

Museum Acquisition, MADmusée, Belgium.

Savant-Garde, Pure Vision Arts, NYC. Clifford Chance Law Firm, NYC.

Public Access: Selections from Pure Vision Arts, The Gallery at Ace Hotel NY, NYC.

Any Colour You Like, Weird Days, Brooklyn, NY.

2014

Al Fresco, LWR Fine Art, NYC.

22nd Annual Outsider Art Fair, Center 548, NYC.

Developmental Disability Awareness Day, Healing Arts Initiative, City Field, Flushing, NY.

Transit on the Spectrum: The Art of Pure Vision, NY Transit Museum, Brooklyn, NY.

2013

Outsider Art Inside the Beltway, Art Enables, Washington DC.

Personal Space, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

21st Annual Outsider Art Fair, Center 548, NYC.

2012

Pure Folk, American Folk Art Museum, NYC.

20th Annual Outsider Art Fair, The Mart, NYC.

Visions from the Edge, Mass.

College of Liberal Arts, Gallery 51, North Adams, MA.

2011

Innocence & Experience, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

6th Annual Outsider Art in the Hamptons, Gallerie BelAge, Westhampton, NY.

2010

Labor of Love, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

5th Annual Outsider Art in the Hamptons, Galerie BelAge, Westhampton, NY.

Outsider Art Fair, The Mart, NYC.

2009

Paradise Found, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

4th Annual Outsider Art in the Hamptons, Galerie BelAge, Westhampton.

The Pure Vision Arts Connection, Gallerie Olof, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Pure Vision Arts at Marlborough Gallery, NYC.

Outsider Art Fair, The Mart, NYC.

2008

Modern Primitive, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

Pure Vision Arts @ JBFCS, NYC.

Pure Vision Arts at Marlborough Chelsea, NYC.

European Outsider Art Fair, Vienna, Austria.

Outsider Art Fair, Puck Building, NYC.

2007

City Folk, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

Pure Vision Arts at Marlborough Gallery, NYC.

Urban Visionaries, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

Another Look Outside, Van Der Plas Gallery, NYC.

15th Annual Outsider Art Fair, Puck Building, NYC.

2006

Pure Vision Arts, Marlborough Chelsea, NYC.

Pure Vision Arts Group Exhibition, NYC.

The 14th Annual Outsider Art Fair, The Puck Building, NYC.

2005

Pure Visions in the City, Pure Vision Arts, NYC.

Art/View, City Museum of Washington, D.C.

13th Annual Outsider Art Fair, The Puck Building, NYC.

2004

The 12th Annual Outsider Art Fair. Puck Building, NYC.

2003

Art View - The Carnegie Institute, Washington DC.

Credit Suisse First Boston, Pure Vision Arts Exhibition, NYC.