Art is about connection. It has been a tool for communication long before the written language. Much of what we know about ancient humans is from art. It conveys a message. It creates connections and a deeper understanding of the world around us and ourselves. Through art, the complexities of human emotion and experience are explored and, as a result, can cause a cathartic experience for the viewer. Catharsis isn’t a new concept; the concept was created by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC). Catharsis is derived from an ancient Greek word for purification and cleansing. The artist uses visual art as an outlet to purge emotion and invites the viewer to participate in this purification process. This creates an emotional connection between the viewer and the art piece.
The
concept of catharsis was further explored by modern psychologists such as Josef
Breuer and Sigmund Freud, who” applied it to describe instinctive outbursts of
human emotion, such as crying, in response to an acute or underlying stressor,
situation, or unresolved state” (Greene,2022). While psychology and art are
divergent paths of catharsis, they often overlap to create emotionally rich
visual narratives. Aristotle argued that” if a tragedy shows how a good person
confronts adversity, it elicits a cleansing or ‘katharsis’ through emotions of
fear and pity” (Freeland, 2003, p.18). Understanding and experiencing the gambit
of emotions explores what it is to be human and how we are connected in the
world.
The cathartic aesthetic
in artwork has been an ongoing theme since Aristotle. Cathartic Imagery
connects the viewer to a deep and complex emotional context. It can be seen in the work of 20th-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Her life was
full of tragedy and pain, which she reflects on in her paintings. She connects
the viewer to the trauma of her life. She was a victim of a terrible bus
accident that left her unable to have children and was a survivor of polio. Her
life was painful, and her paintings were a cathartic escape and
purification. In her painting “Henry Ford Hospital” (1932), she reflects on her
frustration and emotional turmoil over miscarriages and failed motherhood. The painting
shows the artist connected to multiple umbilical cords while lying in bed. The umbilical
cords are connected to imagery that is symbolic of her inability to give birth.
Floating above her is a fetus, a snail, a malformed uterus, an orchid, gynecological
tools, and the female abdomen seen “inside and without” while connected to her
bedridden form through umbilical cords (Pérez, 2014, p.418). The distance of
the composition shows the Detroit skyline with its industrialization and
production. This adds to the bleakness of her situation, having such a
personal and painful experience in a foreign land, where her otherness is even
more reinforced. Her naked body confronts the viewer and strips away
sexualization by presenting her pain and loss. The viewer sees these deep emotional
visual representations and partakes in her cathartic process. While art is used
to purge the emotional turmoil of the artist’s life, the viewer purges but is
left with the realization that “their lives are less unfortunate” (Pérez, 2014,
p.414).
Another artist who uses art as a cathartic release is Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944).
Munch had a difficult life with the tragedy of losing his mother and sister to tuberculosis and with his often being ill. Munch was compelled throughout his life to
explore the question of “To what extent can artists convey their innermost
thoughts and feelings using lines, forms, and colors” (Iker, 2020). Munch felt
art should be focused on subjective, deeply emotional experiences rather than
mimicry of pleasant scenes and people. This created his usage of cathartic
visual aesthetics to convey his deep emotions and to reflect living people and
their complex human experiences. “The Scream” (1893) is one of the most famous
pieces of modern art with a figure who has their hands to their face in a state
of screaming. Munch stated, as a reflection of his creation of “The Scream,” that “I was being stretched to the limit—nature was screaming in my blood—I was at a breaking point” (Iker, 2020). His emotional state and anguish are symbolized
in the figures’ scream. The cathartic experience of purging his emotions through
visual representation confronts the viewer and makes them part of the
purification process. This shared human experience explores “real life” and all
its emotional complexities.
The exploration of the cathartic experience is enduring and a shared purification process. It explores what makes people human and how we deal with deep emotions and experiences. The question of whether this is relevant in our current age, where shock art without substance is rampant, is yes. Artists create visual narratives to process the world around them, the good and the bad.
References
Freeland, C. (2003). Art Theory: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford University Press Academic UK.
https://tiffin-bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780191579325
Greene, J. (2022). Catharsis. Salem Press
Encyclopedia.
Iker, A. (2020, January 1). Edvard Munch. MoMa.
Retrieved March 20, 2024, from
https://www.moma.org/artists/4164
Pérez Alonso, L. (2014). Frida Kahlo and the
Improper/Unclean: Toward the Condition of Abjection.
Women’s Studies, 43(4),
407–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2014.897165
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