ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

For nearly 30 years, the MAHHSA’s exhibitions have taken a thematic approach, creating a dialogue between the works themselves and, at times, with contemporary art. “We want to let these masterpieces speak for themselves, by weaving together stories, themes, and contexts, without reducing them to their creators’ illnesses,” explains Anne-Marie Dubois, the exhibition’s curator. A patient cannot be reduced to their pathology, and their work is an integral part of art history. This exhibition brings together works with remarkable formal and narrative parallels: accounts of asylums and hospitals, reflections on the history of psychiatry, and echoes of the first art workshops.

Six thematic categories structure the exhibition: history of asylums and refuge; dreams of landscape and adventure; imaginary worlds; raw and beautiful; the intimate and the living; symbolism.

These 145 drawings and paintings—by artists who became patients, patients who became artists, or artists who witnessed psychiatry—are displayed side by side without chronological hierarchy, inviting visitors to set aside their preconceptions. The goal is to stir emotions, affirming that creativity transcends illness.

1. A History of Asylum and Refuge: This first theme explores the hospital as an ambivalent space: both a place of confinement and a sanctuary.

2. Dreams of Landscape and Adventure: Artists or patients who have taken up graphic expression sometimes give form to creations seen as escapes.

3. Imaginary worlds: Here, elaborate fantastical constructions coexist with certain hybrid figures.

4. Raw and pretty: This theme juxtaposes two aesthetics: raw spontaneity and the pursuit of beauty, or even prettiness.

5. The intimate and the living: The works in this section offer access to deeply personal expressions, a kind of inner life.

6. Symbolism: Here, objects, figures, and motifs are organized into symbolic languages that are often complex and carry multiple meanings.