Aesthetics in art therapy: Theory into practice. Special Issue: Aesthetics and the creative arts therapies

Journal/Book: Arts in Psychotherapy. 1992; 19: 153-161.

Abstract: Discusses "Art Brut" (J. Dubuffet, 1989), which views psychopathology as less a symptom than a vital ingredient of artistic vision. Rather than viewing Art Brut and ego psychology as in conflict, these concepts can be applied on a therapeutic-aesthetic continuum. Therapists can appreciate the purity of an image for its existential authenticity while also intervening to further the artist's adjustment to the world. An analysis of 5 paintings of a 14-yr-old male inpatient/artist is presented as illustrative. It is only in the most extraordinary instances that the regressed ego can achieve fully formed artistic expression. More often, affect is discharged through acting-out, dissipated through mind-numbing drugs, or bound through denial, projection, obsession, and other mechanisms.

Note: application of aesthetics to art therapy; "Art Brut" & artistic expression of patients

Keyword(s): Art therapy; aesthetics

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