The Artist Is The Greatest Healer

“Why all the honour to logos and to pathos all the healing?”

In creating this exhibition I was inspired by a phrase of Joseph Beuys. “The artist is the greatest healer”. For the German artist, a shaman artist, endlessly searching a deep harmony within himself, his fellow men and nature, man is the keeper of an energy able to modify the world and transform the planet. The fundamental engine for such a process is creativity. “The artist is the greatest healer”, that is, the more artists approach the creative processes as to the very essence of life the more they take part in universal harmony. To heal means to return to an original state of harmony, putting together fragments of oneself, confronting one’s demons, passing from the diabolical (that which divides) to the symbolical (that which unites). Think only of the Caduceus, the symbol of medicine which represents two snakes entwined around an axis and which indicates the power to reconcile opposites thus creating harmony between diverse elements. In the same way, the artistic knowledge shares with scientific knowledge the desire for knowledge and truth. Art is a transcendent and cathartic means, which purifies the shadowy areas of mankind and illuminates their existence. It is a thaumaturgic force in the broadest meaning of the term, like a state of mind which sustains and directs in the act of taking care of oneself and others. It is something different compared to the working of the mind, to the “thinking” of everyday, and in this lies the therapeutic function. Art is art not so much as a symptom, rather as a symbol, a sublimation of neurosis. Every pearl is the fruit of the illness of the shell, however, not every illness produces a pearl!
Artists are “wounded healers”, archetypal figures able to transform into energy the fuel with which they were gifted, that fire of inspiration which magically transforms into the fire of creation. Their “wound” is itself a source of creativity. The inspiration which comes from the artist is like an enzyme of healing, a multivitamin compound and it has a crucial role in the psychological well being of a people and it is an archetype process, which acts at the level of our collective unconscious. The artist is a receptive and open instrument through which a vital creative spirit takes shape and reveals itself. The artistic activity thus performs an important role in the quest to make human beings conscious of their original unity so as to be able to restore it.
The art of the future is the art of awareness of the true nature of man which is, essentially, to be creative. The art which will make us feel good will be devoid of ego, a sacred act at the service of humanity and it will make us feel a part of a whole. It will lead to real communication without barriers, because it is the real universal language which belongs to all the beings whose canvas is life itself.

Stefania Carrozzini