by Victor Musgrave
Madeleine Parker (london) - Tomboy's face before and after petit mal epilepsy (line drawing)
Perhaps the heart sinks at the thought of yet another exhibition in which the participants are likely to be categorised as a group identifiable only because of a particular characteristic held in common, such as prisoners, housewives, politicians or homosexuals from whom creative effort may be thought surprising and unexpected.
And it is true that most of those in this show, with the exception of one or two highly regarded professionals who kindly agreed to exhibit work at the risk of being regarded not as artists, which is what they would wish, but as phenomena of a special kind, may have been prompted to make things because it seemed to offer a way in which the spirit could triumph over adversity.
Milton went blind, Beethoven became deaf, van Gogh was probably a paranoid schizophrenic. But we think of them as people, not as disabled people. It is to be hoped that this endeavour will be looked upon in a similar light in spite of the varying degrees of creative ability on display because the desire to leave some permanent and symbolically heightened record of our passing is shared by us all, even if not always expressed.
Victor Musgrave is an art exhibition organiser, art critic and film maker. He lives in London.