New work by Heather Nevay is always cause for celebration. Her show, Flesch and Blood, will be up at Miami's 101/exhibit from February 11th through March 3rd, and features her signature rose-toned Flemish figures in beautifully cryptic tableaux. In her own words:
In a child's imagination the doll's house becomes a reliquary of precious memories and beloved treasures, or factories where alchemy turns rose petals to perfume, and tears are rendered into flesh hued clouds overhead. Noah's Ark becomes a prison for wooden animals being led by the butcher's boy to an uncertain fate. Power and control holds a heady allure in the world of childhood games and roleplay.
Suzanne Treister "Seven of Swords - Cybernetic Seance"
I've been a big fan of Suzanne Treister's ever since I encountered her tongue-in-cheek alchemical headline mash-up drawings from a few years back. She's currently touring a new piece, Hexen 2.0 (kind of a sequel to her previous Hexen 2039), which explores the historical criss-cross of government, technology, and the supernatural via a series of tarot cards, video, photographs, and new alchemy drawings. An accompanying book, Hexen 2.0 Tarot Deck, will be released as well:
HEXEN 2.0 Suzanne Treister2009-2011
HEXEN 2.0 looks into histories of scientific research behind government programmes of mass control, investigating parallel histories of countercultural and grass roots movements. HEXEN 2.0 charts, within a framework of post-WWII U.S. governmental and military imperatives, the coming together of scientific and social sciences through the development of cybernetics, the history of the internet, the rise of Web 2.0 and increased intelligence gathering, and implications for the future of new systems of societal manipulation towards a control society.
HEXEN 2.0 specifically investigates the participants of the seminal Macy Conferences (1946-1953), whose primary goal was to set the foundations for a general science of the workings of the human mind. The project simultaneously looks at diverse philosophical, literary and political responses to advances in technology including the claims of Anarcho-Primitivism and Post Leftism, Theodore Kaczynski/The Unabomber, Technogaianism and Transhumanism, and traces precursory ideas such as those of Thoreau, Warren, Heidegger and Adorno in relation to visions of utopic and dystopic futures from science-fiction literature and film.
Based on actual events, people, histories and scientific projections of the future, and consisting of alchemical diagrams, a Tarot deck, photo-text works, a video and a website, HEXEN 2.0 offers a space where one may use the works as a tool to envision possible alternative futures.
HEXEN 2.0 is the sequel to HEXEN 2039 which imagined new technologies for psychological warfare through investigating links between the occult and the military in relation to histories of witchcraft, the US film industry, British Intelligence agencies, Soviet brainwashing and behaviour control experiments of the U.S. Army.
The show's first stop is at the Science Museum in London from March 7 - May 1st, and then it moves on to Germany, and then finally here in NYC at PPOW. Can't wait til it crosses the pond.
I had the privilege of showing a piece by Rene Lynch in my first ever art show, Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists. I was captivated by her paintings of adolescent girls, sharing secrets and losing their innocence in the woods. Her latest body of work is even more sophisticated and lush than ever, which is a feat to pull off indeed. "Leda's Swan," her current show up now at hpgrp GALLERY NY is a sensual stew of mythological beings, ballerinas, giant flora, and forest beasts, all teeming within large, immersive canvases. It's up through March 3rd, so do make sure you see it.
I was invited to do a Valentine's Day guest post on the Etsy blog, and it's up now. It was so much fun to write, and a thrill to get to give some more much-deserved attention to some of my favorite artists - many of whom have been featured here before. Thanks so much to Alison, and welcome Etsy readers!
Plenty more where that came from. Full gallery here. If you are interested in purchasing any of the work, do drop me a line at phantasmaphile [at] gmail . com
Also, be sure to save the evening of Saturday, February 18th for Observatory's Lunar-themed 3rd Anniversary Fundraiser Party. More info to come, so watch this space...
The exquisite Bloodmilk posted about Charmaine Olivia's solo show, Ritual, recently, and I was so taken with it I thought it merited another mention. Olivia's been making pictures of witchy women for a while now, and these new dark beauties are a welcome addition to her painted family. I'm especially in love with her artifacts series: tiny magic windows in occult shapes. The show is up now through Feb 4th at SF's Shooting Gallery.
Lynne Naylor's work is like Mary Blair on hallucinogens. Like Blair, Naylor is an animator who's worked on such canonical shows as Ren & Stimpy (as co-creator), Powerpuff Girls, and Clone Wars. But I love that in her more personal pieces, she really lets her fabulist flag fly. Her paintings of witches, goddesses, and their kin would be equally at home in fairyland or Haight-Ashbury. Her show, "Eros" opens alongside Nicoletta Ceccoli's "Girls Don't Cry" at Roq la Rue this Saturday the 14th.
I've written about Museum of Lost Wonder creator, Jeff Hoke, before and was lucky enough to have him come present at Observatory a while back. Glory of glories, Hoke has decided to bring his vision into the material world and build an actual institution. That's right, a real Museum of Lost Wonder for all of us to visit. If you click through the virtual tour on his site, you'll see that actualizing this incredible alchemical-emporium-meets-Wonka-Factory-with-a-nod-to-the-MJT-by-way-of-the-Met will be an incredible feat to pull off. But if anyone can do it, it's Jeff Hoke.
To raise money for this hall of marvels, he now offers some pretty sweet membership packages on his site. Have a look, and then join, why don't you? There are 7 levels of membership, as detailed below:
All museum members will receive a Membership Folio that includes:
*Personalized membership certificate, hand illuminated with your name and membership grade
*Exclusive enameled Brass member's badge.
*Official membership card entitling the bearer to lifetime free admission to the museum when opened.
*A colorful, 16-page monograph showing detailed plans of how the Museum of Lost Wonder would translate into a physical museum. It explains in depth how the museum would be laid out and what experiences visitors could expect.
*Additional Ideal Building Plan monograph, showing the Museum of Lost Wonder in its ideal form.
*Regular notification of special events and museum milestones as they occur.
Mikalojus Povilas Vilutis Illustration from the book "The White-Necked Rabbit" 2005
The ever-mazing A Journey Round My Skull just featured the work of Mikalojus Povilas Vilutis, and it's so spectacular I thought it merited an echo post. A master silkscreener and digital artist from Lithuania, Vilutis illustrates children's books with a decidedly mature point of view. As he puts it,
I create for myself. Not for children and not for adults. When an artist draws what he himself finds beautiful, he tells the truth. You can’t lie to children.
Reminds me of Maurice Sendak's numerous quotes about how fierce and emotionally charged childhood is. I love the idea of creating storybook images that are sophisticated and challenging.
Collage done well makes me weak in the knees. John Clowder's work is lush and wonderfully peculiar. Using elements from "obsolete adverts, morbid medical texts, bone atlases, and zoographic curios," as he puts it, he recreates mythic beasts and fairy tales - and sometimes invents his own. I love the suspended logic he has the viewer play with. Why is there an anatomical head buried in this mermaid grotto, for example? I don't know, and I'm having too much fun looking at it to care.
Madeline von Foerster "Felled Forest Reliquary" 2011
I've been meaning to post about this for weeks. John Zorn, ingenious composer and all around musical mage, has gathered an impressive group of his favorite contemporary artists together for his show, "The Obsessions Collective: Works By Artists of Extreme Interest" up now through Jan 21st at Cavan-Morris. The show includes work by Phantasmaphile pals David Chaim Smith and Madeline von Foerster, amongst many other talents:
John Zorn presents The Obsessions Collective: Works by Artists of Extreme Interest
“Since the beginning of time, special individuals have been compelled to create objects that seemingly have no function or purpose. Whether channeling the spirits, communicating with higher forces, wrestling with demons, defining themselves, appeasing the Gods or working through their own inner thoughts and passions, creation has been their only motivation, the work their only reward.
From this concept, the Obsessions Collective was founded and curated by New York composer John Zorn, himself an eclectic art collector. Zorn has made a second career of befriending and encouraging many young up-and-coming artists around the world. Created in 2010, Obsessions Collective functions as a support system for artists who, with some exceptions, have not yet found gallery representation but who are dedicated to making art, and who are compelled to do what they do. Honest, passionate, imaginative and technically proficient, these artists work independently and around the established art scene, without the support or assistance from patrons or grants. “ - Paraphrased from ObsessionsCollective.com
Cavin-Morris Gallery is pleased to work with John Zorn on exposing the Obsessions Collective… work that goes from introspective to hard-core in range. In reality, it is a collective of individual visions and paths united by the keen interest and eye of John Zorn himself.
Artists represented will be Heung-Heung Chin, Valeria Ghezzi, Beatrice Glow, Scott Irvine, Patrick Jacobs, Kyung Jeon, Bea Kwan Lim, Michael Macioce, Kate Manheim, John McVicker, Zaria Forman, Zena Pesta, Raha Raissnia, David Chaim Smith, Yamataka Eye, and Madeline von Foerster from the Collective and Emery Blagdon, Shane Keena, Lubos Plny, Sandra Sheehy, Avital Sheffer, and Tim Wehrle chosen by John Zorn from Cavin-Morris Gallery.
For further information please contact Shari Cavin, Mimi Kano, or Randall Morris at 212 226 3768, e: info@cavinmorris.com.
I've been a bit of a lunatic lately, in the etymological sense of the word. We've got our moon show, LUNATION: Art on the Moon, opening at Observatory this Saturday, from 7-10pm. Please join us! There will be wine and special lunar cocktails for sale, courtesy of Julianne Zaleta from Herbal Alchemy.
Julianne also created a special, limited edition, moon perfume for the show, called Moonrise:
The Greek goddess, Artemis, who represents the new moon, is portrayed in this fragrance by the addition of wormwood (an artemesia) in the top note, supported by bergamot and petitgrain. Luminous jasmine forms the basis of the heart along with honey and rose, and sandalwood and frankincense form the base chord.
There will be some bottles for sale for the duration of the show. I've already reserved mine. *Swoon*
I'll be selling a magickal ritual tea I created called LUNA VISION, which comes with a huge piece of selenite. Pictures to come, but here's a little taste:
I'm also going to be teaching a class on Moon Magick at Observatory on Sunday, Jan 22nd from 3-5pm. Drop me an email if you'd like to attend:
Moon Magick Ritual Workshop with Pam Grossman
Remedios Varo "To Be Reborn: 1960
Date: Sunday, January 22nd Time: 3-5pm Admission: $20 Presented by Phantasmaphile
***You must RSVP to phantasmaphile [at] gmail.com if you’d like to attend, as space is limited
Ancient cultures from around the world have looked to the moon as a source of deep and potent power. By working with her phases and honoring her myths, one can learn how to manifest personal transformation and glean profound wisdom.
Tonight we’ll ready ourselves for the first new moon of the year with an evening of lunar ritual and contemplation. We’ll explore the spirit of the moon through story, symbol, and spell work, with special focus on Hecate, the goddess of darkness and magick. The evening will include ritual, meditation, and discussion, as well as teachings regarding how to start your own moon magick practice. You’ll learn how to work with the specific energies of each lunar phase, thereby effecting meaningful change in your life.
Please bring a candle and holder, as well as any altar objects you like. Please also bring a cushion, pillow, or fabric, as we will be sitting on the floor (chairs will be available for those who need). Note-taking is welcome. This workshop is open to men and women, novices and advanced practitioners alike.
Pam Grossman is an independent curator and lifelong student of magical practice and history. An initiate in the wise woman tradition, she is currently apprenticing with green witch Robin Rose Bennett. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog which specializes in art and culture with an esoteric or fantastical bent. Her group art shows, Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists, VISION QUEST, and Alchemically Yours have been featured by such outlets as Boing Boing, CREATIVE TIME, Time Out New York, Juxtapoz, Arthur, 20×200, UrbanOutfitters.com, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter. She is a co-founder of Observatory, where her programming aims to explore mysticism via a scholarly yet accessible approach.
Lastly, I leave you with a moon mix to get you in the moon mood:
Remedios Varo "Portrait of Doctor Ignacio Chavez" 1957
This month we have much to celebrate, for there will be two - count 'em TWO - shows opening featuring the work of my patron (matron?) saint, Remedios Varo. Sadly for me, they are both in California, but I'm thrilled nonetheless that this long overlooked phenom is going to be getting more love. The first one opens this weekend at Frey Norris:
The first exhibition of Remedios Varo to ever take place in the western United States, Indelible Fables illuminates the ever-imaginative and prescient world of this surrealist artist. Spanish born Varo certainly died prematurely, by heart-attack in 1963, but in a short career she had acquired a cult-like following among friends in Mexico City, her adopted home. Many of these friends were involved in an informal investigation into esoteric religion and the teachings of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff and his student Peter Ouspensky. As part of this soteriological pursuit, with close friend, the celebrated English artist Leonora Carrington, Varo created some of the most inventive painted scenarios of any of the artists associated with surrealism. Varo would remain something of a marginalized, but popular figure in Latin American art right through the 1990's, when a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC elevated global awareness of her work and in part catalyzed an ever accelerating level of scholarship and market demand. In 2008, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City hosted a comprehensive retrospective exhibition, timed to coincide with an international symposium, with papers delivered by scholars from throughout Latin America, the United States and Europe. A monograph, "The Five Keys to the Secret World of Remedios Varo", was published at this time, with essays by six contributing authors. The Frey Norris exhibition will include a variety of rare oil paintings, drawings, objects and ephemera.
The next show is actually a retrospective on female surrealists in Mexico and the US opening at LACMA, called In Wonderland. Read it and drool:
In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States
Resnick Pavilion
January 29, 2012–May 6, 2012
North America represented a place free from European traditions for women Surrealists from the United States and Mexico, and émigrés fleeing war-torn Europe. While their male counterparts usually cast women as objects for their delectation and imagination, female Surrealists delved into their own subconscious and dreams. The knowledge they derived from such exploration empowered them to create extraordinary visual images, both personal and universal. Their art was primarily about identity: portraits, double portraits, couple portraits, self-portraits, self-referential images, and masquerades that demonstrate in deceptively straightforward as well as ambiguously abstract terms their trials and pleasures.
Arranged thematically, approximately 175 works in a variety of media date from 1931 to 1968. A handful of slightly later examples demonstrate Surrealism's historical overlap and influence on the feminist movement. Iconic figures such as Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Lee Miller, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Remedios Varo are represented, along with lesser known or newly discovered practitioners, including Maya Deren, Helen Lundeberg, María Izquierdo, Jacqueline Lamba, and Janet Sobel.
Happy New Year, Phantasmaphiles! As you may have noticed, I took the holidays off, and tried my best to unplug and recharge. I'm excited to be back, and have some great news and fabulous artists to share with you over the coming days.
First up is Agnes Pelton, an early 20th century artist and founder of the Transcendental Painting Group. Her work is primarily abstract, though stars, flowers, and the occasional swan make appearences. A spiritual painter, her work seems to blend mystic imagery from different traditions alongside her own personal symbols. It feels new age in the best sense - and was created far before that term gained mass acceptance. I love the way it feels celestial, yet grounded in the body, and universal yet distinctly feminine.
I'm delighted to announce Observatory's first collaboratively curated group show. There are a bunch of us who run the space together, so we thought it would be fun if we joined forces to work on one big project, all hands on deck style. Here's what we came up with - I think it's going to be glorious!
LUNATION Art on the Moon
Observatory’s first group-curated show • January 7 – February 26, 2012
Artists and scientists have always been attracted to the moon… Our closest celestial neighbor, the earth’s little sister, the moon creates the tides and illuminates the woods at night. For centuries, humanity believed the moon provided a key into the invisible realm: it called out the beast within us, freeing us to act as wolves, to run, to dance, to chant—and sometimes (as in Duncan Jones’ Moon) to split in two, to find our double, our changeling moon-self.
Is the moon home to life? Today we know it isn’t, but even as of 1830, speculation was rampant that the moon was inhabited by Christianized bat-people who worshiped in great ziggurats. (See The Sun and the Moon by Observatory alumnus Matthew Goodman for details.) Still, life comes to the moon. We know the moon contains frozen water, and we dream of using it as our jumping-off point for visiting even more alien vistas.
Down here, despite all the prowess and nuance of our latest telescopes, earthlings still look up naked-eyed with excitement at the full moon. Lovers and children gaze up at its slowly blinking façade in mute wonder. Artists portray the moon as a source of danger and power, and latter-day sorceresses and men of magic call up to that heavenly lamp, seeking to transcend the ordinary night. For them, the old myths have not changed so much: the moon is still a secret mirror, showing in pale light how the familiar contains always an element of the unexpected…
This month's Juxtapoz has a fantastic interview with megalomaniacal digital collagist, Luis Toledo. His work is wildly visionary, yet still somehow feels grounded thanks to elements of viscera and logos he mashes up alongside his deities and cosmic patterning. The overall effect is one of hysterical beauty. Maximalist and roiling, these are yantras for the modern age, or as Toledo puts it, "...iconography of a new alien religion." Consider me his first disciple.
The trees are bare here in NYC, and the weather is getting colder. How can it be I'm already craving green and growth, when winter has not yet begun? Modern Eden's current grop show, "Woodland" is helping at least. It features dozens of paintings full of beasties frolicking beneath canopies of leaves and light. It's up until January 15th, and work can be purchased online should you care to have a piece of the forest indoors.
Thomas Woodruff "Portrait Variation, Sanguinic" 2011
I'm trying to figure out how best to articulate my excitement for Thomas Woodruff's new show, "The Four Temperament Variations," but words are failing me. He paints some of the most gorgeous and phantasmagoric work in the history of humankind, and I can't wait to see his take on the four humors in person so I can bask in all of their towering, colormad glory -- how bout that? Full info:
Thomas Woodruff The Four Temperament Variations
Full color catalog with an essay by Vincent Desederio
January 5- February 4, 2012 Opening Reception: Thursday, January 5, 6-8pm
P•P•O•W Gallery is "tickled sanguine" to be presenting the latest opus from Thomas Woodruff, master alchemist/imagist painter of the arcane, perverse, and popular. The new group of paintings is called The Four Temperament Variations, and it is his eighth solo exhibition with the gallery since 1989. Woodruff is a conceptual artist who uses traditional figurative painting techniques, archetypal formats and hybrid visual vocabularies from history to create contemporary "structures of contemplation" in the form of elaborative paintings in series. Woodruff's content has explored issues of health, emotion, and personal discovery.
In Thomas Woodruff's latest body of work, he tackles the four temperaments as well as the painterly figurative genres of portrait, still-life, landscape, and wild life in his variations. Using his highly cross-referenced pictorial mash-up of visual motifs, this series is a celebration of the emotional value of color, the storytelling potential of character and costuming, and a contemporary revision of the enigmatic mysteries of our collective past. He creates his own beasts, including the "quadicorn" and the "batterfly" and weaves threads from animae, steampunk, and body modification culture into these grand, fabulist images as well as his encyclopedic knowledge of art and fashion history.
The Four Temperaments Variations were inspired by the theories of Hippocrates, around 400 BC, when wise men believed everyone's body and mind were controlled by four different, mysterious, colored fluids: Sanguinic, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. Imbalance or overabundance of the fluids would cause disease or pre-described behaviors. Treatment would usually involve bleeding, cupping, herbs, and emetics. During the Renaissance this theory was revised to include ideas of temperature. In the Age of Reason, aspects of physiognomy were brought into play, and today many pop psychologists and dating services still find the personality traits useful tools for getting along and finding love.
For many artists, the idea of the humors continues to inspire as models for our emotions and behavior, as a model of the stages of man, and a tidy way of organizing what is ill or well within us all. The Mannerist Jacopo Pontormo used the temperaments to frame his portraits of the evangelists gospel authors. The eccentric engraver Lavater used the characteristics in his visual lexicons on appearances. The Danish composer Carl Nielsen created his Symphony #2 as a meditation on the theme. And of course, there is the modernist masterpiece composed by Paul Hindemith and choreographed by George Balanchine.
Over the years, Woodruff has worked as an artist, illustrator, educator, and curator. He has designed works for theatre, dance, opera, and television, and has worked as a tattooist. He has been a Chair at the School of Visual Arts in New York City for the past 12 years and continues to inspire young artists with his eccentric, visually complex, and visionary paintings. His works have included: The Turning Heads 2008; Freak Parade 2000-2006; All Systems Go 1999; Apple Canon 1997; and The Secret Charts 1995. This is Mr. Woodruff's 31st solo exhibition in his thirty year career. His work is in public and museum collections all over the world.
Already saving my pennies for the catalog, oh yes I am.
Karyn Crisis has been getting lots of bloglove of late, but I still feel compelled to add my post to the fray. Her latest work looks at the major arcana through a contemporary - and at times autobiographical - lens, and the results are vibrant, dark, and majestic. You can buy originals and prints via her Etsy shop here.
Luke Painter works primarily in India ink, and creates sylvan vingettes that are as intricately detailed as they are uncanny. I love his series of tiny leviating people in vast environments, as well as his gorgous architectural renderings that feel part Edward Gorey, part David Macaulay.
‘Europe and the Spirit World or the Fascination with the Occult, 1750-1950’ is a cross-disciplinary exhibition exploring the influence of the occult on artists, thinkers, writers and scholars throughout Europe, at decisive moments in the history of the modern world. The exhibition is organized into three sections: - The creative arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, print-making and photography, the literature of the irrational and unexplained. - The esoteric tradition revisited, with an extensive chronological survey encompassing the movement’s foundational texts and print iconography. - The relationship between occult phenomena and the scientific world, through key scholarly figures and thinkers, and an examination of their experiments and scientific instruments. With some 500 works of art, 150 scientific artefacts, 150 books and 100 documents from a host of European countries, Europe and the Spirit World will be presented in a dedicated 2500-m² space at the the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Strasbourg.
200 years of occult influenced art work under one roof? I can only hope that I can either get to France in time, or that it will travel to the U.S. Wondering if the catalog will be available to purchase online soon...
Narwhal Art Projects has a fantastic three-person show up now called Three Knocks. It features work by one of my very favorite artists, Katy Horan, as well as Adrienne Kammerer and Jamiyla Lowe. All of the pieces are monochromatic, and have otherworldy subject matter that I find impossible to resist. This is perfect artstuff for the gray season, and is viewable through December 4th.
Just a friendly reminder that I'll be giving this lecture tonight at Observatory:
The Occult in Modern Art 101
Leonora Carrington "La maja del tarot" 1965
An illustrated lecture by Pam Grossman Date: Friday, November 18th Time: 8pm Admission: $8 Presented by: Phantasmaphile
Though few history books make mention of it, many of our most lauded artists — Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Duchamp, to name but a few — were deeply influenced by the occult. The imagery and tenets of arcane traditions including alchemy, Spiritualism, Theosophy, and shamanism have infused the work of artists through the ages. Beginning with the Symbolists, then spiraling through such periods as Cubism, Dada, Surrealism (with its wonderfully witchy women), Abstract Expressionism, and the visionary art of today, this evening’s lecture will be a visual primer on the existence of magic in our museums and galleries.
Pam Grossman is an independent curator and lifelong student of magical practice and history. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog which specializes in art and culture with an esoteric or fantastical bent. Her group art shows, Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists, VISION QUEST, and Alchemically Yours have been featured by such outlets as Boing Boing, CREATIVE TIME, Time Out New York, Juxtapoz, Arthur, 20×200, UrbanOutfitters.com, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter. She is a co-founder of Observatory, where her programming aims to explore mysticism via a scholarly yet accessible approach.
will be released as well:
creator, 
. It's a gorgeous book of essays and color plates which compare and explore the work of these four visionary painters. Highly recommended.
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