Leonora Carrington "El Nigromante (The Conjuror)" c.1950
Yes, it is the last week to view "Language of the Birds: Occult and Art." The show is up at 80WSE Gallery, at 80 Washington Square Park East, and open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:30am-6pm. Final day is this coming Saturday the 13th.
We have a wonderful event scheduled in the gallery tomorrow evening at 7pm. I'll be moderating a panel discussion with the illustrious Susan L. Aberth, Jesse Bransford, and William Breeze. It is free and open to the public, so please do join us. Full details:
Weds, Feb 10: Art Workings: An Evening of Conversation and Illumination
7pm, free and open to the public
This evening will consist of brief lectures about key artists and works in Language of the Birds from Professor Susan L. Aberth, Jesse Bransford, and William Breeze, followed by a panel discussion moderated by exhibition curator, Pam Grossman. The art and magic-making of Leonora Carrington, Aleister Crowley, Kurt Seligmann, and more will be explored in depth with these leading experts of esoteric art.
Susan L. Aberth is Associate Professor of Art History at Bard College, Annandaleon-Hudson, New York. She teaches modern Latin American art, with a particular interest in Surrealism and religious traditions. Author of Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy, and Art (Lund Humphries, London and in Spanish with Turner, Madrid, 2004); Agustín Fernández: The Metamorphosis of Experience (with Donald Kuspit, Rocio Aranda-Alvarado and Abby McEwen) (5Continents, Milan, 2012); and numerous other articles and catalogue essays. In addition to the art of Latin America, her teaching and research interests are in outsider art, fraternal orders, the occult, religion and popular culture.
Jesse Bransford is a New York-based artist whose work is exhibited internationally at venues including The Carnegie Museum of Art, the UCLA Hammer Museum, PS1 Contemporary Art Center and the CCA Wattis Museum among others. He holds degrees from the New School for Social Research (BA), Parsons School of Design (BFA) and Columbia University (MFA). An associate professor of art at New York University and currently the chair of the Department of Art and Art Professions, Bransford's work has been involved with belief and the visual systems it creates since the 1990s. Early research into color meaning and cultural syncretism led to the occult traditions in general and the work of John Dee and Henry Cornelius Agrippa specifically. He lectures widely on his work and the topics surrounding his work. In 2013 he co-organized The Occult Humanities Conference in New York, of which there will be a sequel in 2016.
William Breeze was a computer manufacturer before cofounding the arts label Mystic Fire Video in 1984. He has managed the Aleister Crowley literary estate and archives since 1985 as executive director of Ordo Templi Orientis International, editing many of Crowley’s works and curating Crowley’s first posthumous solo art show (October Gallery, London 1998). He has advised several major museums and exhibitions on esoteric art, including the Centre Pompidou and Venice Biennale. As an amateur musician, he has played with Angus Maclise, Psychic TV, Coil, Current 9 and Baby Dee.
The Occult Humanities Conference this past weekend was so glorious and inspiring, that I confess I'm going through a bit of withdrawal. Very glad to have tomorrow night's event to look forward to, so that this dialog about art and magick can continue some more.
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