Masks of Folly: Portrait of the Idiot is an MFA thesis exhibit by Grace An that creates a portrait of the Idiot or, fool. The Idiot is an exception, one who interrupts and blurs boundaries in the refusal of rationality. Using folly and profanation to ask questions. The mask as a concealment of intellect, ironically unmasks. Drawing from the concepts of Mikhail Bakhtin, the exhibit functions as polyphonic utterances by way of the multitude. Multi-voicedness and the cyclical nature of the carnivalized folk, removes the concept of the individual. The site of the Idiot, the carnival, is a space where power structures are temporarily suspended. Offering the character of the Idiot as an unfinalizable being.

Key words: Idiot, carnivalesque, multitude, polyphony, masks, folk