Writing the Image, 2024
Museum of Art and History of Sainte-Anne Hospital

Textual works have a dual nature. Straddling the line between art and historical objects, they question the artistic creation process and the value they may have as traces of the past. The texts gathered here reveal the diversity of writings and question the possibility of transcending their original function. As testimonies to different eras, knowledge, and cultures, they help to destigmatize the perception of the authors and the psychiatric context from which they originate. As a graphic component of the work, they embody and express the fusion of words and forms in the image.
Featuring nearly twenty artists, from anonymous figures to emblematic figures of the Sainte-Anne Collection, such as Maurice Blin, Auguste Millet, Claude Brun, and well-known figures such as Josome Hodinos, Écrire l’image covers different periods, origins, creative contexts, materialities, and fragilities. The works on display illustrate the richness of the writings within the Collection and more broadly question the importance of writing in 20th-century visual arts.

Self-published by MAHHSA