Well Space London | Curated by Tugba Tirpan and Sophie Akehurst            Anti- psychiatry  neoliberal mental health hegemony 

‘States of Existence’ explored mental health and systemic causes of the taboos surrounding them. We have selected 25 artists from diverse background some of which are currently inpatients at psychiatric institutions. https://www.artlyst.com/whats-on-archive/states-of-existence/?fbclid=IwAR3H_saduxrYeys5wCji-rmL9bs275RAVLuenZkxKmVl17iGp5ngAcWcEBk

Exhibition Statement:

S T A T E S  OF  EXISTENCE

|10-15 October 2019|

States of Existence showcases transitory works from humans who express themselves through art to convey varied experiences of human life in the complex world we live in today. The 25 featured artists dive deep into human existence whilst raising an array of important questions.

Breaking the stigma surrounding *mental health* is challenging in the binary narrative of normal/abnormal, healthy/unhealthy and well/unwell. We examine why & how the stigmas were created in the first place.

The works on show explore physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual or racial adversity of the modern human life while looking into the establishment and perpetuation of these difficulties by the historical abusive assertion of power and control through psychiatry.

The creation and fetishization of a ‘perfect mind’ through the advent of capitalist societies has mental illness reduced to ‘individual’ chemical imbalances; today the possible economic, social and systematic causes of such difficulties are rarely discussed. We feel lonelier more than ever. This exhibition aims to bring us together in a stigma free, safe space to evoke thought and initiate important conversations we all desperately need.

 

Artists  
Adam O’Connor 
Ali Choudhury
Catherine Jack
Diler Incelen
Duygu Dilber Temur    Émilie-Christine Newman
Guru Dee
Helly Fletcher
Henryk Terpilowski Jovana Mladenovic
Laura Ply      Lazaros Pasdekis
Liam Collins
Mark Thornhill
Naheen Ali
Mustafa Boğa
Myriam Tilson
Paul Calcutt  Paula De Sausa  Rosa Maria Nuuiten   Rosina Godwin    Simon & Nick    Susan Plover  Vanja Karas  Zeynep Cansu Başeren