Bio

The Friern Collection is a historical group of drawings and paintings created by patients of Friern Hospital in the UK between the years of 1930 and 1960. The hospital's lead psychiatrist, Dr Alec C. Dalzell, collected and saved his patients’ works. Dalzell was deeply influenced by Hans Prinzhorn’s Book, The Artistry of the Mentally Ill (1922), and he believed that meaningful activity, like creating art, was therapeutic for his patients. Dalzell was interested in the links between creativity and mental illness and the boundary between illness and art.

The Friern Collection represents a new discovery in the field of Outsider Art. The works within this collection are rare examples dating from the earliest definition of the genre termed “art brut”, or “raw art” by the artist Jean Dubuffet. These works were produced by makers without formal art training, indeed without the awareness of itself being art at all. The resulting output displays an unfettered directness with a complete lack of inhibition.

CV