Mary Barnes (artist)

In 2010 there was a major retrospective exhibition of Barnes’s work at Space studios in London and in 2015 at Bow Arts Boo-bah a retrospective co-curated by Dr. Joe Berke of Mary’s work on paper and board in pastels and oils alongside photographs chronicling the therapeutic period at nearby Kingsley Hall. The exhibition Boo-Bah refers to a pet name Barnes called Berke in a love letter she wrote which was over a meter high.

In 1985, she moved to Scotland. Something Sacred, her book of conversations, writings and paintings, was published in 1989. In 1993, she moved to Tomintoul, where she died in 2001, aged 78.

Her works, vivid oils often depicting religious themes, were first shown at the Camden Arts Centre in 1969. She subsequently became a respected artist, painting evocative works based on her experiences and showing her work on tour worldwide, accompanying it with talks on her experiences and mental health. In 1979 a play was produced, with script by Barnes with David Edgar. This was broadcast on BBC radio in the United Kingdom, most recently in December 2011 on Radio 4 Extra.

In 1963, after reading R. D. Laing’s book The Divided Self, she contacted him and began therapy. She was admitted to Kingsley Hall as the first patient. This intensified when in 1965 when she underwent regression therapy. During the process, she discovered a talent for art. She would later be described as “an ambassador for Laing”, emerging from her journey to co-author a book about it with Dr. Joseph Berke, the resident psychiatrist who helped her.

Barnes had her first psychotic breakdown in 1952. She was admitted to St. Bernard’s Hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia. After a year, Barnes was discharged and returned to working as a nursing tutor.

Mary Barnes trained as a nurse and joined the army in World War II. In 1945, Barnes spent a year working at hospitals in Egypt and Palestine. She worked in Frankfurt for two years before returning to London as a full-time nurse.

Mary Edith Barnes (9 February 1923 – 29 June 2001) was an English artist and writer with schizophrenia and became a successful painter. She is particularly known for her documentation of her experience at R. D. Laing’s experimental therapeutic community at Kingsley Hall, London. She is referenced in the book The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson and Thomas Szasz’s Schizophrenia.