10 Madnesses

by Fiona Tan

Five Portraits of the Insane by the nineteenth century French artist Théodore Géricault are said to be all that remain of originally ten commissioned portraits of insane patients. Each painting depicts a particular mental condition, a so-called monomania including a kleptomaniac, a woman mad with envy, a child kidnapper. Almost nothing is known about these portraits, but they raise a multitude of questions. Who are these people? In what way are they insane? What and where are the five missing madnesses? Intrigued and inspired by an absence, Tan decides to go in search of them. Pairing personal impressions with formal analysis and archival research, the essay ventures far beyond the boundaries of art history.

Written by Fiona Tan during a fellowship as artist-in-residence at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Fiona Tan is a visual artist and filmmaker. She is best known for her skilfully crafted video and film installations, in which explorations of memory, identity and the role of visual images are key. Her installations and photographic works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in international venues. She has written and directed to date three feature length films.

Recent solo exhibitions took place at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Museum der Moderne Salzburg and Kunsthalle Krems, Austria, Museum Ludwig Cologne, Museum für Modern Kunst, Frankfurt, Mudam, Luxembourg, Nasjonalmuseet Oslo, The BALTIC, Gateshead, UK, MAXXI, Rome and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. With her solo presentation Disorient, Tan represented The Netherlands at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. Her work has been shown at various international group shows including in the São Paulo Biennial, Venice Architecture Biennale, Documenta IX, Istanbul Biennale. Her work is represented in numerous international public and private collections including the Tate Modern, London, the Guggenheim Museum New York, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Neue National Galerie, Berlin and the MCA, Chicago.

Reviews

[P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for books where the author is on a mission in archives. This is a suspenseful search for the impossible. Very satisfying!