MADNESS & MYSTICISM

CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE KIRCHE AM STEINHOF

OTTO WAGNER PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, VIENNA

Curated by David Rastas

JOSEPH BEUYS, YAYOI KUSAMA, SEIKO GRABNER, LAURIE ANDERSON, OLIVIER HÖLZL, NORBERT BULA, ROBERT DRUMMOND, CHRIS LANDRETH, STELLA REINHOLD, HANS AHNERT, AUGUST WALLA, VIRGILIUS MOLDOVAN, SILVIA BISCHOF, HANSPETER ILG, JEANINE OSBORNE, MARTIN KUNZ, ANDRZEJ KOWALSKI, RICHARD SAVILLE-SMITH, DAVID RASTAS, ELIAS, MATTHEW SILVER

The exhibition offered a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between language used to describe the psychotic state and mystical experience, exploring the spirituality of mental illness through an immersion in sacred space. Otto Wagner’s Jugendstil Church is one of very few sacred spaces built exclusively for the mentally ill, providing a sanctuary for the patients of the Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital.