This was fantastic!!! I am so glad I went… I almost didn’t go because I was running out of time before I had to leave for Sjælland. But, I figured I could go for just a couple of hours and if it sucked, I could turn right back around and go home. Besides, it was literally about a mile from my little house. Anyway, the museum is actually located in a functioning Psychiatric Hospital and the art was done by its residents.

There was some really fantastic stuff there. Of course I had my favorites. One of my favorite artists is Lone Pedersen who is still at the hospital but I don’t know what her affliction is. But her art is fantastic, so who cares?

Then there was Ovartaci. He was born in Denmark where he lived until his early 30s. He spent three years in Argentina and when he returned, he was admitted to the Århus Psykiatrik Hospital. He lived there for 56 years until he died at the age of 91. He refused treatment and opted to treat himself through art. He was prolific to say the least. I kept wandering around saying to myself, “Wow, this guy is nuts!” and then realizing that, yes, he was indeed nuts. He viewed women as ultimately good and creative forces so much so that he wanted to be a woman. I think he managed to get a sex change operation at some point later in his life (but I haven’t confirmed that yet and I don’t want to start any rumors… it could just be an error in my translation). Anyway, in many of his self portraits, he paints himself as a woman, albeit a very strange looking woman. If there hasn’t been a Hollywood movie made about this guy yet, there should be one. I bought a book about him but it is all in Danish. I guess I really had better learn the language now!

The history part of the museum was definitely anti-climactic after the art portion. There were some interesting displays of various apparatus but I just couldn’t get into it after seeing all the art. Unfortunately, I am a conscientious art viewer and I turned the flash off of my camera. Most of the pictures came out blurry because of it. But here are a few that were okay.

 

Images above: I am an idiot and didn't focus on the names when taking the pictures. I guess I assumed there would be a book in the museum gift shop that had the artist's paintings and names in it which I could refer to at a later date. So, as far as I can tell, this artist is 'S. Hotti.'

Images above: These were done by Lone Pedersen, one of my favorite artists of the bunch.

Room of Ovartaci's paper women.

Image above: One of Ovartaci's paintings.

Images above: Someone had done a portrait of Ovartaci that was really well done, especially once you realize that it was done entirely of fabric and thread. The second photo is just a close-up so you can see for yourself.