The CCA holds the largest collection of drawings by artist and architect Paul Goesch (1885–1940). A large selection of Goesch’s drawings will travel to the Clark Museum to be shown in their exhibition Portals: The Visionary Architecture of Paul Goesch.

The exhibition highlights the decorative portals and passageways that proliferate in Goesch’s graphic work. These apertures reflect the artist’s interests in metaphysics and altered psychological states. Goesch was drawn to diverse spiritual and esoteric beliefs and long struggled with schizophrenia, which eventually required institutional care.

Goesch’s drawings occupy a liminal position between art and architecture, “sanity” and “madness,” and the work of the trained artist and institutionalized “outsider.” His works also align with the graphic explorations ofa contemporary group of architects interested in sketching utopic visions. Goesch stands out among them for his formal inventiveness, kaleidoscopic use of colour, and playful and pluralistic approach to history.

The exhibition, curated by Robert Wiesenberger, is accompanied by the first English-language monograph on Goesch, co-authored by Raphael Koenig, which considers the artist and his work in terms of vibrant period discourses on art, architecture, and mental health.