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Gary Molloy

January 2012

Art saved my life
Interview with Gary Molloy on the Community Channel

Barmy Park

September 2010

Do we need a little madness to set us free or freedom to be mad?
The free arts festival in Bethnal Green Library harks back to the history of the site as a ‘private madhouse’ between 1727 and 1922. To this day The Green is still known locally as ‘Barmy Park’. The exhibition and events set out to explore the links between madness and creativity and the stereotype of the ‘mad artist’.

The Greek philosopher Seneca once said, “there is no great genius without a tincture of madness.” Even today psychopathologists are researching the evolutionary potential of ‘schizotypy mind’ (the kind which Mozart and Einstein were thought to have possessed) for breaking out of conventional frameworks.

Barmy Park brings together 30 artists and performers with and without mental health issues. Some of them tackle the taboos surrounding the subject while others do what they do best – offering a refreshingly leftfeld perspective on life.

Barmy Park has been curated by artists Imogen O’Rorke and Nicole Wassall in collaboration with Core Arts, a local arts charity which aims to break down the prejudices surrounding mental health.

Artist and curator Julika Gittner on 'Scare in the Community'

26/11/09

The art event Scare in the Community was held over the space of an evening (24 Oct 2009) at Hackney’s mental health art resource, Core Arts. The show scrutinized the fissure between mental health service users art and work by 'professional' artists by simply showing the two sides alongside each other.

Whilst current mental health practice aims to de-institutionalise people by sending them 'out' into the community, many mental health service users still find themselves just as discriminated and isolated as they were inside former mental health institutions.

Reflecting on these ideas of de-institutionalisation, Scare in the Community showcased art works that directly relate to issues of community care alongside art works which explore their relationship to the art world’s institutions of power, elitism and exclusion.

read more and see images from the show

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