Comedian Hannah Gadsby on mental illness, art and Picasso's dark side

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Friday 8 January 2016 10:23AM (view full episode)

IMAGE: AUSTRALIAN COMEDIAN HANNAH GADSBY (SUPPLIED)

As part of a lecture series at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby is airing her concerns about the legacy of Pablo Picasso. She speaks to Books and Arts about the trail of emotional wreckage the artist left in his wake.

Why is Hannah Gadsby talking about Picasso, and why does she think he was an 'arsehole'?

This adoration of an artist as a lone genius is quite misled I think, because they are very much part of their time and their community.

HANNAH GADSBY

For one, she has a deep grounding and long association with art.

Having studied art history and curatorship at the Australian National University, she had every intention of becoming a curator.

This isn't about developing new comedic material by taking a cheap shot at one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, either.

Gadsby is genuinely troubled by Picasso the man, and she want to tell others about it.

'I want to have a look at his art, introduce the century back into his art and deny him the monolithic presence that he has in our memory,' she says.

'This man wasn't without victims. I think it's important to remind people of that.'

Those victims, Gadsby says, were predominately women.

She points to Picasso's depictions of himself as a fearsome minotaur, often positioned over a female figure, as a fitting illustration of his relationship with women.

'Most of the women he was with he destroyed. Their life with him was devastating,' she says.

'I don't think he's a bad artist, but I don't want to make him exempt from his actions.'

IMAGE: PICASSO'S 1933 ETCHING, MINOTAUR KNEELING OVER SLEEPING WOMEN (© 2015 ESTATE OF PABLO PICASSO / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK)

While an artist's work can endure and evolve in meaning over time, Gadsby condemns what she sees as a tendency to view artists as removed from the time and context in which they lived.

'This adoration of an artist as a lone genius is quite misled I think, because they are very much part of their time and their community.

'I'm a very big fan of Bill Cosby, but I'm not going to laugh anymore.'

Gadsby will bring her concerns about Picasso to a sold-out lecture series at the National Gallery of Victoria.

In a separate stand-up show for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival titled Donkey, Gadsby deals with being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

'Some things happened last year,' she says. 'My life was good on paper and terrible in practice. I was spiralling.

'I finally got around to seeing a psychiatrist and really trying to get to the bottom of this struggle.'

Stand-up might seem a less than ideal medium to unpack mental illness, but Gadsby says the adrenaline of being in front of an audience gives her a level of focus.

'That's the problem with ADHD, I have no focus, I get bored.

'My brain is just so busy. I'm inattentive, I'm a daydreamer; the space cadet kind.

'[Live shows] hold me in place.'

Gadsby describes her comedy as self-deprecating storytelling with a heavy focus on mental health.

'Vincent van Gogh is often the example I'm given as a good reason not to take medication, because we wouldn't have his Sunflowers.

'As an empathetic person, I feel quite sad that a man should shoot himself in the chest so someone 100 years later can enjoy some sunflowers.'

Books and Arts explores the many worlds of performance, writing, music and visual arts, and features interviews with local and international authors and artists.

This interview was first broadcast on 25 March 2015.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/comedian-hannah-gadsby-on-personal-failure-and-pablo-picasso/6966344