“I would rather die of passion than die of boredom” said Vincent van Gogh, the father of all insane artist. Why is creativity so in love with madness? Or is it that insane people need to make art for words could not describe what they are feeling?
Neurological studies suggest that the same parts of the brain are active during creative process and psychosis. Van Gogh himself claimed that he is only painting between mental episodes; therefore he is not a mad painter. Glorified melancholia or not- visiting the first outsider museum in Amsterdam at the Hermitage made me wish I were a bit crazier (but only for short periods so I can work in between)
Here are three reasons to visit the Outsider Art Museum in the Hermitage Amsterdam this weekend:
- The Japanese selection got my insides out and turned me all around. Japanese, a language that contains a word for “dying from too much work” also has a long esthetic tradition (what I perceive as radical passion). It is interesting to see the difference between the Japanese outsider’s art and the Western one.
- The films about the Japanese makers show the artist/outsiders. Each and every maker was fascinating to watch. The graphs of a man that is obsessed with calculating strength and achievement got even more painful after watching the film.
- The excellent wine at the Hermitage garden café, It gave time to think and marvel the Japanese outsider art.
