Marian Henel's Art Brut Tapestries from Mental Hospital Exhibited in Wrocław

The Ethnographic Museum in Wrocław, Poland, recently presented 11 tapestries and dozens of photographs by Marian Henel (1926–1993), a patient at the Bishop Józef Nathan Specialist Hospital in Branice. Henel, described as a “devilish spawn” and “lecher from Branice,” was convicted of arson in 1960 and institutionalized until his death. In 1968, he joined the Studio of Psychopathological Art Expression founded by Stanisław Wodyński, where he created large-scale woven works using a vertical loom. His tapestries depict explicit sexual acts, violence, grotesque creatures, and bodily functions, executed with remarkable composition and color. Henel also produced hundreds of staged photographs, modifying his appearance toward a male-female chimera, and experimented with animation. The exhibition, prepared with the National Museum in Wrocław and doctors including Dr. Bogusław Habrat, showcases Henel's art brut as a testament to illness and creative expression. Dr. Anna Steliga contributed an essay on the symbolism in his work.