Phantasmaphile

Kenneth Anger for Missoni

'Nuff said.

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Christopher Ulrich show!

 

Christopher Ulrich  "Infinity"  2010

Christopher Ulrich's new show, "Illuminator: The Royal Wedding" opens at La Luz de Jesus on August 6th.  I would give anything to see this in person.  It's chock full of the alchemical parables and symbols that are so close to my heart.  Plus, I love his rad illustrative style that pays homage to the high masters and the counter culture at once.  It's what I'd call gilded pulp.

Aaron Storck again

Aaron Storck 2010

We New Yorkers have finally had a break in our heatwave, and I'm longing to be outside and enjoy the breeze.  I think it's high time for a summer feast a la Aaron Storck's wizard picnic above.  I am just mad about his depictions of modern magic and excess.  Just looking at this work makes me feel full.

Kim Deakins

Kim Deakins  "The Rainbow Thief"  2010

Kim Deakins is an artist whose work feels really fearless to me.  Such a vivid palette and so much kinesis and magic and mischief.  Happy Friday, all!

Samuli Heimonen monograph

Speaking of monographs, the wonderful Samuli Heimonen was kind enough to send me a copy of his recently published book.  Entitled "Armi kiittää" or Armi Thanks You, it is chock full of Heimonen's darkly emotional paintings of the mysterious connection between animals and humans.  Though the text is written in Finnish, you can read the English translation for free here.

Thank you, Samuli!

Limited Edition Art Monograph by Mon Petit Fantome

The unbelievably prolific and brilliant Chad Merritt of Mon Petit Fantome has just released a limited edition monograph of his work, and you should seriously buy it.  Entitled "Take My Hand and Follow Me," it collects his elegant shadowtale papercut works in one tome.  Those that order the limited edition book will also get a free print of their choice.  I can't wait to receive these treasures in the mail.  Ohhh exquisite anticipation!

Marshall Arisman

Marshall Arisman  "Ayahuasca series 23"

Marshall Arisman's Ayahuasca series is enthralling indeed.  Animals and humans mesh and meld in a stream of visions, presumably from the artist's own experience with altered states.  I especially love the rainbow fragments that appear at the torsos of each painted being.

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Chloe Early

Chloe Early  "Majesty"  2009

Is this the most lusciously languid painting you've seen all month?  Maybe even all year?  Chloe Early has a gift for reverie, and her work completely captivates me.

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Pope Saint Victor

Pope Saint Victor  "Temptress"  2009

I think this fabulous digi-collage by Pope Saint Victor pretty much speaks for itself.  Rrrrrrrowl.

Temple of Blooom show!

Kelie Bowman  2010

OK, this show at the ever-awesome Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn sounds fantastic:

Cinders Gallery Presents:

Temple of Blooom

July 10th – August 8th 2010
Opening Reception Saturday July 10th 7-10pm

Hisham Akira Bharoocha, Kelie Bowman, Sherri Hay, Mark Warren Jacques, John Orth, Hilary Pecis, STO, Jessie Rose Vala

The Temple of Blooom is an installation that combines paintings, drawings, collages, murals and sculpture to create our own type of a sonic-visual sanctuary as envisioned by each artist. Exploring places of worship, rituals, shrines, sacred objects and congregation, this place of spiritual assembly is based not on any religious faith but on the faith of our loose-knit community of artists, performers, experimenters, and musicians.

Each artist brings a different energy to the show from Hisham Bharoocha’s meditative mandala style mural painting to Hilary Pecis’ cavernous and intricate collages; paintings of people made entirely of wondrous flowers by Kelie Bowman and a golden paper mache shrine to the gods of plants by STO. Abstracted portraits recall ethereal masks in John Orth’s works on paper while Mark Warren Jacques explores cosmic patterns and forms in his paintings. Sherri Hay’s small, intimate sculptures of plant people lure you in to their majestic world and Jessie Rose Vala’s haunting black and white pencil drawings explore transformations between humans, animals, and the powers of nature.

During the course of the show, the temple will be a space for sonic and visual explorations by some of our favorite artists, including many from the show. Check our website for updates on these weekly intimate engagements of live music and performance.

CINDERS GALLERY
103 Havemeyer st.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-388-2311
www.cindersgallery.com
Wed-Sun 1-7pm

It's always a treat to see work by Phantasmaphile pal Jessie Rose Vala, and the other artists are stellar as well.  Unmissable.

Rina Banerjee

Rina Banarjee "Fertility and fertilizer folded all people into one egg" 2010

I am completely enamored with the mixed media works of Rina Banarjee.  Her inky demon-gods are at once frightening and exquisitely beautiful.  The paintings feel like parables, made all the more intriguing by their dense, lyrical titles.

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Oren Eliav

Oren Eliav  "Queen"  2009

I am really digging Oren Eliav's beautifully bleary work.  It has a "look again" quality to it which totally draws the viewer in.  As such the paintings feel like terrains to explore, and each emerging detail feels like a revelation.  This piece especially is so secretive, what with the obscured face and ember coloring.  What is the queen hiding I wonder?

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Meredith Dittmar

Meredith Dittmar

I know not how Meredith Dittmar makes her marvelous psychedioramas.  But I do know that they are absolutely gorgeous - whimsical and adult at once.  Love them.

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The Surreal House in London

Grrrrr, England, you have done it again!  Why must you always have the best exhibitions.  WHY?!  The Surreal House and Barbican Art Gallery sounds heavenly:

The Surreal House

10 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
Barbican Art Gallery

Tickets: Standard £8 online / £10 full price
Concs £7 online / £8 full price
Members £6 online / £7 full price

Times: Open daily 11am-8pm (except Tue & Wed until 6pm)
Open late every Thu until 10pm

You are invited to enter The Surreal House, a mysterious dwelling infused with subjectivity and desire.

Step inside a labyrinth of chambers, designed by acclaimed young architects Carmody Groarke, and experience The Surreal House - its haunted rooms, delirious forms, blasted architecture and cinematic dreamscapes - featuring a host of artists, architects and film makers including Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Man Ray, Joseph Cornell and Maya Deren through to more contemporary figures, among them; Rebecca Horn, Edward Kienholz and Rem Koolhaas.

At times enchanting, playful and at others, deeply disquieting, The Surreal House is a dwelling that is essentially everything that the rational, functional Modernist house is not.

Talks, performances and artists’ film in the Gallery every Thursday until 10pm.

A Love Craft exhibition and more at OBSERVATORY!

My friend, fellow Observatory co-founder, Dylan Thuras, has curated an amazing art show for our space on the theme of H.P. Lovecraft.  You must come check it out, it looks incredible:

A LOVE CRAFT: Art Inspired by Monsters, Madness and Mythos
On View: June 11th - July 23rd, 2010

Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays 3-6; Saturdays and Sundays 12-6

The “cosmic horror” of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, all written between 1917 and 1935, has become more popular and seemingly more contemporary with each year. OBSERVATORY and Dylan Thuras are excited to announce “A LOVE CRAFT: ” a group show of art inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and the themes of monsters, madness and mythos. On view from June 11th through July 26th, prepare to look beyond space and time and into vistas of a new reality…

Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal…
- H.P. Lovecraft

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Aeron Alfrey, Esao Andrews, Matt Buck, Paul Carrick, John Coulthart, Melita Curphy, Mike Dubisch, Bob Eggleton, FuFu Frauenwahl, Cyril van der Haegen, Dan Harding, Stephen Hickman, Joshua Hoffine, Kurt Komoda, Meatspider, Dieter Van der Ougstraete, Greg Ruth, Johnny Ryan, Andrew Scott, Allison Sommers, and more!

ABOUT THE CURATOR:

Dylan Thuras is the co-founder of Atlas Obscura, “a compendium of this ages wonders, curiosities and esoterica,” and the co-creator of Curious Expeditions.  Dylan is a passionate Lovecraft fan, and a dedicated Call of Cthulhu player. His passions are forgotten scientists, cosmic horror, lost expeditions, obscure history, the geometry of evil, and travel.

ALSO:  don't forget that TONIGHT I'm hosting an event about natural perfumery at the space.  8pm, only $5 - it will be a feast for the senses:

Herbal Alchemy: Exploring Natural Perfumery with Julianne Zaleta

Date: Thursday, June 17th

Time: 8pm

Admission: $5

Location:  OBSERVATORY

Presented by Phantasmaphile

Tonight’s sensory presentation by Herbal Alchemy Apothecary’s Julianne Zaleta will examine the artisanal art of natural perfumery. Smell is the most neglected of our senses yet it has an instantaneous power to penetrate our consciousness invoking memories and emotion. Odors are ethereal and elusive yet can strongly attract or repel.

As a concerned consumer, you are choosing organic food, seeking out sustainable products and opting for eco-friendly packaging. But what about the fragrance you wear? That signature scent is likely composed of synthetic materials (as most commercial fragrances are), mass-produced, packaged and shipped around the world in the millions of units. Natural perfumery is a much different process that uses only essential oils and precious absolutes that are extracted from plants. Like fine wine, subtle differences can be found from the same plant from year to year depending on soil conditions and climate meaning that it is not an exact science but a creative alchemical process. Come spend an evening re-educating your nose and discovering the beautiful lost art of natural fragrance.

Bio: Growing up in her mother’s garden in the midwest, Julianne Zaleta was always gathering flowers, drying blossoms and conjuring scents. So it’s not surprising that she grew up to become a professional herbalist, aromatherapist, & perfumer. Sole proprieter of her own company, Herbal Alchemy Apothecary, for years she has handcrafted artisanal scents & potions from the purest elements of nature. Julianne trained with Michael Scholes & Jeanne Rose and is a certified aromatherapist as well as a licensed massage therapist and meditation teacher. Her products are handmade in her studio atelier in Brooklyn, NY.

You can get directions to OBSERVATORY by clicking here. You can find out more about OBSERVATORY here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Megan Bogonovich

Megan Bogonovich  "Siren Sailing"

Ceramicists with a surreal sensibility (say that 10 times fast) always leave me giddy.  Megan Bogonovich creates playful sculptures that show people interfacing with ambiguously organic structures.  Her work is utterly strange and magnificent (and I have a feeling one of her beast-headed wedding cake toppers is in my future...)

Shannon Taggart

Shannon Taggart  "Cora"

Shannon Taggart's photographs are both uncanny and anthropological.  Her portraiture takes a cue from the spiritualist movement of yore, and makes use of ghostly elements such as flares, double exposure, and veils of smoke.  Her more editorial style work takes a peek at usually private religious gatherings, such as exorcisms, voodoo rituals, and nuns at play.  Though she is embedded in these situations, she never cuts them down to size or exposes them to the mundane.  Rather, she approaches her subjects with an air of fascination, detachment, and mystery.  Sublime.

(Thanks, Joanna!) 

Wendy Given show!

Wendy Given

Portland folks, how I envy you.  You get to see Wendy Given's new show "How to Explain Magic to a Dead Rabbit," up at Wieden + Kennedy Gallery through June 25th:

Join us this first thursday in our gallery for an exhibition of photography, sculpture and drawing by Wendy Given.
 
Wendy Given produces work that resonate in the deep, dark and unstable ground between consciousness and collective memory. The current project "How to Explain Magic to a Dead Rabbit", consists of various portraits, objects and scenes depicting the subtle locus between metaphor, allegory, fact and fiction. 

The majority of the work was conceived and produced this past February at Caldera and Blue Lake - where invaluable time was spent working at a month long artist residency in idyllic Sisters, Oregon. 

The photographs, sculptures and drawing were constructed to evoke and illustrate an ongoing fascination with myth and magic, to honor the deceased, to reintroduce a contemporary narrative directed by centuries of folklore and legend, and to ultimately depict the fine, delicate line between realism and imagination.

Show runs through June 25

Please go, and let me know how it is!

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Marco Wagner

Marco Wagner  "Bin im Park"  2010

Marco Wagner's paintings of dream-laden landscapes make me want to rush outside and frolic in the forest.  I am just crazy for his muddied pastel color palette as well.  Fanciful, but just dark enough to keep it from being too saccharine.  Delish.

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Chrissie Abbott

Chrissie Abbott  "Channeling"

I'd seen Chrissie Abbott's work before, but never knew the artist behind the irresistible mystical melanges.  Thanks (for the 100th time) to My Love For You Is a Stampede of Horses for highlighting her work recently, and giving her a name!  You can also buy prints of some of her pieces here.

Andrej Dugin

Andrej Dugin  "Hamlet and Ophelia" 

What to say about Andrej Dugin?  I discovered his work in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual issue.  I love it for its inventive mash-up between old world aesthetics and surrealist logic.  Plus it's awfully pretty. 

Judith Schaechter show + lecture!

Judith Schaechter  "Mad Meg"

I have two pieces of fantastic news related to stained glass sorceress and Phantasmaphile pal, Judith Schaechter.

First off, she has a glowing (literally) new show up at Claire Oliver gallery called "Beauty and the Beef."  This work is filed under the "must see in person" category.  It's difficult to describe her colored light boxes in a way that does it justice:  melted candy mazes; church windows on acid; crystallized fictions...  But whatever you decide to call it, be sure to see the show by June 26th.  Unmissable.

Secondly, I'll have the honor of hosting Ms. Schaechter at OBSERVATORY on Saturday, June 5th.  Please come!  It will be such a treat to hear her speak:   

“The Beautiful Experience” with Judith Schaechter 

Date: Saturday, June 5th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $5
Presented by Phantasmaphile

World-renowned stained glass artist, Judith Schaechter, will share her thoughts on Beauty through an image-rich presentation based upon her own research and ruminations.

Her talk is in response to the growing dialogue in the art world started by Dave Hickey 17 years ago, when he first published his book “The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays in Beauty.”

In Ms. Schaechter’s words: “As someone who’s always approached the fine arts from a sort of wonky angle — a female craftsperson from Philadelphia who is adamantly figurative and decorative — I have a personal stake in the notion that beauty is not ALWAYS in the eye of the beholder, but sometimes in the object beheld.”

Judith Schaechter has lived and worked in Philadelphia since graduating in 1983 with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design Glass Program. She has exhibited widely, including in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. She is the recipient of many grants, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Crafts, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, The Joan Mitchell Award, two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts awards, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts and a Leeway Foundation grant. Her work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution and numerous other collections. Judith has taught at The Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, The Penland School of Crafts, Toyama Institute of Glass (Toyama, Japan), Rhode Island School of Design, The Pennsylvania Academy, the New York Academy of Art and at The University of the Arts. Judith’s work was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and she is a 2008 USA Artists Rockefeller Fellow.

She currently has an exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery, “Beauty and the Beef,” up until June 26.

www.judithschaechter.com
http://judithschaechterglass.blogspot.com/
gallery: http://www.claireoliver.com/

You can get directions to OBSERVATORY by clicking here. You can find out more about OBSERVATORY here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Eugene Berman

Eugene Berman  "Medusa's Corner"  1943

Just when I think I've totally tapped Surrealist movement's tree, I find a lesser-known painter from the era to fall in love with.  Eugene Berman's musty, mythological work is new to me, and the muted palette and undulous linework seem a precursor to later fabulist heavyweights like Paula Rego.  There are not very many examples from his oeuvre online, but you can see the painting above in the "Unconscious Unbound: Surrealism in America" show up at Michael Rosenfeld gallery until May 28th.

Nino Japaridze

Nino Japaridze  "La faim pour l'amour (The Hunger for Love)"  2010

The exceptional Gallery of Surrealism is releasing a new publication of Nino Japaridze's remarkable watercolor etchings.  Japaridze seems to be in the same artistic lineage as William Blake, what with her delicate hand and ethereal imagery.  I love the way each component of the picture flows into the next in a sort of dream stream, if you will.  

Melissa Haslam

Melissa Haslam  "Honey Hive"  2009

I am simply crazy about bees and all things bee-related.  So it's no wonder that Melissa Haslam's piece above has set me all abuzz (I'm sorry, couldn't resist).  All of her work is an enchanting blend of nature and the fantastical, and has a sort of fable logic to it.  Lovely.

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