Sociology

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Pictures of Madness: Art therapy and Outsider Art's struggle for cultural authority
(2015) Poling, Jessica; McCormick, Lisa
Art therapy and Outsider Art share similar beginnings as both were founded on similar psychological, philosophical, and artistic trends that highlighted the connection between madness and creativity. Despite this, contemporary art therapists reject this concept and instead use art for strictly therapeutic purposes. Art therapy’s evolution has consequently created a discrepancy between how art therapy and Outsider Art approach “psychotic art”. This discrepancy poses a significant problem for art therapists as Outsider Art now challenges the cultural authority art therapists strive for. I argue that the professionalization of art therapy since the 1970’s has allowed art therapists to maintain this authority by aligning art therapy with Western medicine and creating practices within the field that allow art therapy to coexist with Outsider Art. These practices namely include the medicalization of patient artwork and the projection of art therapy’s values onto Outsider Art exhibitions, thus undermining Outsider Art’s legitimacy and preventing galleries from acquiring this art. By instituting these practices at both a macro and micro level, art therapists have protected their profession’s cultural authority.