By Laura Stevens and James Lillywhite

Paintings adorning lampposts and a light box installation in Jubilee Square are all designed to illuminate publicly the often taboo and hidden issues surrounding mental health.

Amateur and professional artwork is displayed in the exhibition All Very Well in Brighton which focuses on visualising illnesses.

The free month long light box exhibition shows work created in local art and mental health groups under leadership from Jake Spicer, a Brighton based artist and drawing tutor.

These are displayed alongside Bobby Baker’s renowned Diary Drawings, a series of images that reflect her decade spent in the mental health system.

Lisa Buttery, 22 from Brighton, who has a painting in the show said: “It was the first time I have ever included an image of myself in my work.

“I was inspired by Bobby to do that. I’m really glad to have had the opportunity.”

The haunting, child-like simplicity of the paintings illuminate an often hidden world where art is rarely a feature.

Jake Spicer said: “Community art space has a stigma of being low grade, but I brushed this off as I wanted to empower people.”

Blending the line between amateur and professional through staggered light boxes creates a dynamic and interactive exhibition space where you can wander between the colourful and poignant works.

Kevin Wratten, programme manager at The Basement, a Brighton arts organisation who presented the exhibition said: “People connect with these images and it blurs the line on mental health as something taboo and as an exaggeration of feeling that everyone has.”

This is starkly contrasted with the paintings swinging from Brighton’s lampposts throughout October.

In Old Steine, Queen’s Road and Grand Parade images will catch the eyes of drivers and passers by alike.

Mr Wratten said: “Through the lamppost art work mental health is presented publicly and everyday”.

The exhibition, ending Monday, October 28, is part of a larger city wide campaign coinciding with World Mental Health Day on Thursday, October 10 which has seen movie screenings and performances to raise awareness for mental health.

For more information on the campaign and the multiple charities involved, visit www.thebasement.uk.com/whats-on/world-mental-health-day.