In Defense of Madness: On the Art of Ovartaci

How could one approach the work of the Danish artist Ovartaci (1894-1985) without describing, not simply the life of this person with all its biographical details, but this artist’s persistent self-experimental productivity? Ovartaci changed himself throughout his life, from a shy boy from rural Denmark, named Louis Marcussen, to the great artist Ovartaci, the creator of spectacular visions from his lives in other eras and places. He morphed from a shy boy into a shaman, who stood in contact with spirits, animal spirits, and the spirits of long-lost family, which he magically brought to life with improvised materials. Ovartaci lived in and through his art, and to some extent, he artificially rebuilt himself.