Psycho Painting: Group Show

About

Psy·che (sk) n. Greek Mythology A young woman who loved and was loved by Eros and was united with him after Aphrodite's jealousy was overcome. She subsequently became the personification of the soul. psy·che 1 (sk) n. 1. The spirit or soul. 2. Psychiatry The mind functioning as the center of thought, emotion, and behavior and consciously or unconsciously adjusting or mediating the body's responses to the social and physical environment. Psycho Painting is an exhibition exploring the mental processes that determine painting and artwork. It aims to be an interrogation of the subtle border between emotional and rational concepts in the manufacture of artwork. In ancient Greece the word psyche meant or alluded to the spirit, the soul and not to the mind. It is only in the course of the past two centuries that the word psyche has become a common signifier for the rational. Whilst the mind has come to be associated with logical processes, the previous signifiers of psyche inferred emotion and spirituality; in Greek mythology Psyche was a woman and lover of Eros in their epic relationship. Starting from these two literal definitions Psycho Painting tackles the conflict between the cerebral and emotional in the work of a group of artists. Each of the selected artists has been invited to prepare a piece that engages this tension; inevitably letting the emotional or rational part of their work become preponderant. A portrait of Sigmund freud by Gerhard Richter introduces their work serving both as a homage as well as a ghostly reminder to the difficulty of defining or fully grasping our psychological nuances.