A very happy new year to you all. I'm delighted to announce VISION QUEST, the next group show I've curated, opening on Saturday, January 16th and up through February 21st. Hope to see you there:
VISION QUEST – A Group Show of Neo-Shamanic Art
Opening: Saturday, January 16th, 2010 7-10pm
On View: January 17th– February 21st, 2010
Hours: Thursdays & Fridays 3-6pm; Saturdays & Sundays 12-6pm
Brooklyn, NY - OBSERVATORY and Phantasmaphile's Pam Grossman are proud to kick off 2010 with VISION QUEST, a group show of neo-shamanic art, on view from January 16th through February 21st.
A healer, a medicine (wo)man, a guide: the shaman is a figure who
interfaces with nature magic and the invisible world at large, for the
betterment of the tribe. Fluent in the language of symbols, and a
perennial student of plant wisdom, the shaman is also a translator –
bringing back messages from a place veiled thick with leaves, bones,
smoke, ghosts.
This journey to the other side – to the innerside – is not just a
flowery promenade of song and trance; of friendly animal spirits and
ancestral reunions. For while this land is rife with vibrant,
variegated beauty, it can also be a danger zone. Images of
decapitation and dismemberment abound - though ultimately act as
portents for personal transformation and rebirth. This shadowy terrain
is trod only by those brave enough to encounter whatever may be found
along the way, as each sojourn is mysterious, thoroughly unpredictable,
and entirely individual. However, the results of the trip often prove
invaluable, as the traveler returns armed with knowledge that will in
turn illuminate and repair the community, and fortify his or her own
soul.
While the role of the shaman has traditionally been fulfilled by
experienced elders in indigenous groups spanning culture and time,
VISION QUEST posits that our artists fit the bill as well. Today, with
more of us living in an urban jungle rather than a real one, it has
become all the more important to figure out ways to internalize the
lessons of nature: its growth, its brilliant bloom, its death. And in
an age of digitization and distraction, of wire vines and humming
screens, it’s no wonder we long for deeper, more sensory experiences of
self - with all of its darkness and divinity.
As such, each piece in VISION QUEST explores the archetype of the
shamanic voyage, using the tools of paint, pencil, or paper in lieu of
fire, flower, feather. Taken together this work represents a full
spectrum of what it means to go underground and out of body; to go
there and come back again, perhaps just a little bit wiser or, at the
very least, more wide awake.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Jesse Bransford
William Crump
Scott Gursky
Juliet Jacobsen
Ashley Lande
Adela Leibowitz
Jason Leinwand
Christopher Mir
Joe Newton
Herbert Pfostl
Christopher Reiger
Christine Shields
Erika Somogyi
Jessie Rose Vala
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Pam Grossman is the creator and editor of Phantasmaphile,
the premiere online destination for art aficionados with a passion for
the surreal and the fantastical. An internationally beloved art and
culture web log, it features daily spotlights on artists and events, as
well as interviews with such visual luminaries as Thomas Woodruff, Nils
Karsten, and Richard A. Kirk. Phantasmaphile was written up two years
in a row on the Manhattan User’s Guide Top 400 New York Sites list, and
Grossman’s previous show, “Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists,” was featured by myriad taste-making outlets including Juxtapoz, Arthur, Upper Playground, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter
page. “VISION QUEST” is her latest curatorial effort, and she is proud
to have it hanging at OBSERVATORY, the art and events space she
co-founded.
ABOUT THE GALLERY
OBSERVATORY
is an art and events space in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New
York. Founded in February 2009 and run by a group of seven artists and
bloggers, the space seeks to present programming inspired by the 18th
century notion of “rational amusement” and is especially interested in
topics residing at the interstices of art and science, history and
curiosity, magic and nature. The space hosts screenings, lectures,
classes, and exhibitions, and is part of the Proteus Gowanus
art complex. It is located at 543 Union Street (at Nevins), and is
accessed through Proteus Gowanus Gallery’s entrance. OBSERVATORY’s
gallery hours are 3-6pm on Thursdays and Fridays; and 12-6pm on
Saturdays and Sundays.
For press and media inquiries, please contact Pam Grossman: phantasmaphile [at] gmail.com
Show image: Jason Leinwand "Accepting Fear Rather Than Trying to Understand It"
awesome1 i'd love to stop by and see the work. i never thought of using the word "neo-shamanic" before, but now i realize how perfect it is.
Posted by: l'elk! | December 31, 2009 at 05:55 PM