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Canvases of the Subconscious: Psychedelic Art Today

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Canvases of the Subconscious: Psychedelic Art Today Robert Williams' Remedial Title: Papalty Pap Meets the Immaculate Gingerbread Cod on the Way to Communion, 1989, oil on canvas, 30" x 30" JUNE 1 9 9 3 46 pdf created by www.littlegiger.com BY DAVID JAY BROWN Robert Williams' Mathematics Takes a Holiday, 1989, oil on canyas, 30" x 36" sometimes referred to as visionary or surreal art, the ROBERT WILLIAMS truly psychedelic painting is charged with an unmis- Robert Williams became well-known for his contri- takable psychoactive intensity. Sex and death are butions to Zap and other underground comics during common comingling themes. the late '60s, and his collection entitled Zombie Most artists seem to take naturally to the Mystery Paintings has become a cult classic. Williams psychedelic experience. When psychiatric researcher is an architect of grotesque and disturbing night- Oscar Janiger did his famous LSD and creativity mare visions, and a deliberately sleazy, low-life fla- studies in the early '60s, he found that the group vor permeates his work, but there is cartoon cuteness which had the most positive experiences were the about it, and a good deal of hallucinogenic humor artists. Psychedelic art is certainly nothing new, and giggles through. When asked how psychedelics influ- this article is by no means meant to be an overview of enced his work, Williams replied "Tremendously...they this vast subject—that exists in detail elsewhere. opened up a world of color and shape, and put an Rather, what follows is a compilation of short profiles emphasis on things that were really not paid atten- of some of the major psychedelic artists currently on tion to before." Recently his work was shown at the the scene. Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Posters, prints and books by Robert Williams can be ordered through: L. Imagerie, 15030 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403, (818) 995-8488. (A full-color catalog H.R. GIGER is available for $4.) H.R. Giger, creator of the Necronomican collection, is perhaps best known for the creature and the sets he designed (and won an Academy Award for) in the film Alien. But his paintings—which have appeared popularly as posters and on record album covers—are BARBARA MENDES even more extraordinary. Giger, who says he has Barbara Mendes. creator of the Psychedelic Legacy always been fascinated by the combination of "ele- series, covers her canvases with a richly detailed gance and horror," is the master of capturing the tapestry of colorful, celebratory images. Multicultural bad trip. Macabre, metallic creatures erotically slith- archetypes dance through urban and natural set- H.R. Giger's Friedrich Kuhn II, 1973, collotype, 105 x 78 cm er through his dark, decaying landscapes, locked in a tings, and intertwining plantlike structures form gruesome, tormented orgy. If we were able to freeze symbiotic unions with beautiful creatures who drip a moment from Poe or Lovecraft's worst nightmare, with erotic sensuality. The resonance of African and TRANSCEND REALITY AND ENTER INTO THE we would probably have an image that very much Hindu rhythms is present, as is the influence of resembles one of Giger's pieces. His work can be underground comics. Mendes says of her work, "To OTHERWORLDLY REALM OF CONTEMPORARY obtained through: Leslie Barany Communications, me minimal art is a joke, because life isn't minimal, 121 West 27th St., Suite 202, New York, NY 10001, (212) today it's maximal!...My art visualizes and symbol- PSYCHEDELIC ART-FROM THE NIGHTMARISHLY 627-8488, or Morpheus International, 200 N. izes the vast universe within each human brain." For Robertson Blvd., #312, Beverly Hills, CA 90211, information on where to view Mendes' work, or for an GROTESQUE TO THE SUBLIMELY CELESTIAL. (310)859-2557. appointment at her private gallery call (213) 488- 3508 during business hours. Every creative person who has ever taken a psychedelic substance yearns to express the experience. Among other things, psychedelics have a most extraordinary effect on the imagination and the opti- cal cortex of the brain. Visual art that is reminiscent of the halluci- natory visions—intricate, brightly colored, unusual, complex, im- HIG bued with meaning, and often geometrically organized—seen H with closed eyes during this TIME hyperdimensional brain state has been dubbed "psychedelic art." Psychedelic art is often, but not always, inspired by a drug- induced experience. Although S Barbara Mendes' The Revelation of Psyche, 1986, oil, 6' x 16' JUNE 1993 47 Kleefeld's artwork and publications contact: Atoms Mirror Atoms, PO Box 221693, Carmel, CA 93922, (408)626-2924. There are many other brilliant artists worthy of discussion, but space here is limited. The paintings of Mati Klarwein, who calls himself "the most famous unknown painter in the world," are often full of dense, intricate imagery. Alex Grey, a well-known performance artist, paints human figures with transparent skin, revealing the inner workings of the circulatory, skeletal, muscular and nervous systems. Japanese computer graphic artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi designs uncanny animations resembling DMT visions of extraterrestrial marine life. Pablo Amaringo, a Peruvian shaman, paints remarkable ayahuasca visions in Amazon jungle settings. Jorge Sicre paints marvelous surreal dreamscapes that are reminiscent of some of Max Ernst's late work. Suzanne Williams does a form of abstract painting that very closely resembles the brightly contrasting, symmetrical mandalas present in many closed-eye acid visions. More than any other single effect, psychedelics amplify the imagination, and good psychedelic art reflects this. If you would like to find out more about Tadanori Yokoo: pop art from Japan TADANORI YOKOO encoded with cryptic esoteric messages. Brummbaer Tadanori Yokoo is recognized in Japan as one of the says that his philosophy of creativity stems from leaders in the pop art movement that began in the his notion that an artist is a humble window washer; '60s. His most amazing psychedelic work consists of his computer screen is simply a window that allows collages, wherein are assembled many images from us to see through into other worlds. Brummbaer can popular culture interfaced with angels, buddhas and be contacted through: Saturday Afternoon in the other religious images from both Eastern and Universe, 520 Washington Blvd. Suite #114, Marina Western traditions. Yokoo creates a unique celestial del Rey, CA 90292. paradise, beautifully blending together global icons in order to invoke a transcendental realm that expresses the escalation of the human spirit. One of his best collections is simply entitled 100 Posters CAROLYN KLEEFELD of Tadanori Yokoo. His work can be obtained Carolyn Kleefeld is presently completing her sixth through: Tadanori Yokoo Atelier, 4-19-7 Seijo book— The Eye Change: Architecture of the Sixth Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157 Japan, (phone: 81-3-3482-2826). Dimension—and is an award-winning poet. She paints the ecstatic vision, and there is a profoundly joyous quality to her abstract expressionistic work. She creates a higher-dimensional world—blending BRUMMBAER the organic with the astral and alchemically weaving Brummbaer is famous for the magazine Germania, together a paradisical landscape inhabited by S which he published in Germany years ago, and the strangely familiar mythic archetypes, unusual bio- light shows he orchestrated in the late '60s for such logical forms, mysterious nature spirits, and radiant luminaries as Frank Zappa and Tangerine Dream. explosions of erotic energy. "The wilderness of the He stylishly blends the mathematical precision unconscious is lush with the gems of infinity," TIME achievable on a computer with sensuous human Kleefeld says of her inspiration. Because she com- sexuality, and fabricates fantastic cyberdelic uni- bines several media—including iridescent acrylics H verses. His animated alien worlds are composed of and metal leaf—her paintings continuously trans- Escheresquely organized, interlocking tubular net- form when viewed from different angles and under works, and spinning hyperdimensional objects different lights. To find out more about Carolyn HIG 48 JUNE 1993 Carolyn Kleefeld's Dionysian Splendor, 1990, acrylics, gouache, inks, 48" x 72" hallucinogenic art, The Psy- chedelic Solution, a gallery in New York City, carries a large.selection of psyche- delic artwork, including a large collection of blotter designs. They can be con- tacted at: 33 West 8th St., 2nd FL, New York, NY IOOII, (212) 529-2462. (A catalog is available for $4.) David Jay Brown's new book, Maverick's of the Mind is available from Crossing Press. To order call: (800) 777-1048. Brummbaer's Lost Marbles, 1988, computer generated Brummbaer's Spare Time. 1988, computer generated H IG H TIME S 49.
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