Body, art and madness in Arthur Bispo do Rosário

Abstract

This essay investigates the relations between body, art, and madness in Arthur Bispo do Rosário’s oeuvre based on the Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic theoretical reference, in dialogue with other fields of knowledge, drawing on the following interrogations: in what ways does psychoanalysis dialogues with the theme of art? What is the status of art in psychosis? How do psychotic individuals use art, through inventions, to deal with the body and stabilize their psychic suffering? In this regard, this paper discusses the status of art in psychoanalysis, brings some historical-philosophical contributions to the relationship between art and madness, and interprets his work in the light of Jacques Alain-Miller’s propositions, to understand the ways in which the art produced by subjects in psychological distress can serve as a buffer to madness and favor how they deal with their bodies.

Keywords:
art; madness; psychoanalysis