Why do we feel called to create art? What does art accomplish? Is the clarity of creation a way back to mental health?

For the groundbreaking Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles art labor and psychotherapy all constituted a cohesive form of work through which a person who had lost the experience of reality or self could begin to reconstitute these mental frameworks.

With this conceptual framework in mind Fountain House member and artist Conor Gannon in conjunction with psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Landry led a 9-week mixed-media workshop for the Fountain House community. Painters sculptors musicians and writers met at the Clubhouse for nine weeks alternating between art creation and discussion to develop their accounts of the value of creative expression in the context of mental illness and recovery.

On August 14 2024 participating Fountain House artists will be joined by Edward Dioguardi Anthony Petullo Foundation Curatorial Fellow and co-curator of Francesc Tousquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut at the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) for a panel discussion about art’s relationship to mental illness and recovery and Fountain House’s encounter with Tousquelles’ legacy.

The workshop exhibition and accompanying panel are organized in response to Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut currently on view at the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) through August 18 2024.

“In the Tosquelles exhibition we raised the question of what relation the singular social conditions at the Saint-Alban Psychiatric Hospital might have to the development of its significant material culture and artistic legacy. The Fountain House members’ and artists’ visit to the Tosquelles exhibition was so exciting because we got to pose the question in reverse: what conditions or causes — internal external or otherwise — call us to produce art and work as artists? I’m looking forward to continuing this productive intellectual exchange and exploration with ARTiculations.”

– Edward Dioguardi Anthony Petullo Foundation Curatorial Fellow and co-curator of Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut at the American Folk Art Museum

When?
Wednesday August 14
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Where?
Fountain House Gallery
702 9th Avenue corner of 48th Street
New York NY 10019
Directions

Or tune in virtually on Zoom:
https://fountainhouse-org.zoom.us/j/88396464113?pwd=HYSWDbN7LmV0KOgWIwJTgeuyhO1aZc.1&from=addon
Meeting ID: 883 9646 4113
Passcode: 874414

We strive to host inclusive accessible programming and events that enable all individuals including individuals with disabilities to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility please contact Becky Wilkening at [email protected].