Post by Otto Rapp The site for the Visionary Hall of Fame existed for some time already. Integrated with the Visionary Art Gallery where the majority of the pages are currently hosted, it became necessary to migrate those pages to this stand-alone site. At this time, we have tested a new and much more dynamic design. We are currently in progress of migrating more pages to the newly designed site. So far, the following Hall of Fame Artists had been moved : Eventually, we will migrate all the Hall of Fame pages currently hosted on the VAG site. Also in the plans are to make pages for the current external links to artist sites, found under the Home page tab on the Hall of Fame Site. This development was long overdue, considering that this here site, associated with the VAG, has grown exponentially also. Currently, there are over 500 artists represented on the VAG, and the best of their individual works are displayed here under Featured Artwork . Developing a separate site for the Hall of Fame was necessary.
Post by Otto Rapp Here is a video from the BR3 Evening Show (Bavarian Television) about this Exhibition - it is in German: In der Kunst sind wir Frauen ja seit jeher sehr gefragt - siehe die berühmte Mona Lisa, Nofretete oder die Venus von Milo! In einer Ausstellung im niederbayerischen Viechtach dreht sich derzeit auch alles um das weibliche Geschlecht ... Autor: Trixie Ziegler Redaktion: Matthias Keller-May The day before the opening of the Exhibition 70 Stars for PhanArt Viechtach 2015 "Phantastische Venus" with 70 female artists from all over the world! click for album on Flickr ▼ A few photos from the Vernissageon the following day, a group of artists and visitors that attended the vernissage visited the 'Gläserne Scheune' of Rudolf Schmid - a slide show of pictures are found on Otto Rapp's Photo Blog ► Post by Otto Rapp
UPDATE July 25. 2015 The Opening yesterday was a huge success! The exhibition will be open until November 4th Address: Altes Rathaus Viechtach, Stadtplatz 1, 94234 Viechtach/Bayern Opening times: Monday to Friday 8 AM to 5 PM Saturday 10 AM to 1 PM Sunday 10 to 12 AM (until Sept. 27th) Sunday 2 PM to 4 PM on 26.7./09.8/23.8/6.9/13.9/20.9/4.10/18/10 Sunday 1.11 closed Vernissage pictures and News Video Post by Otto Rapp Prominently featured among 114 artists in the Encyclopedia of Fernal Affairs is Visionary Hall of Fame artist Ernst Fuchs. Read more about the Garden of Fernal Delights and the blog subject category Fernal Garden. images courtesy of the Ernst Fuchs Foundation, Vienna The Encyclopedia of Fernal Affairs is a limited edition book - get your copy while still available HERE The colored etching 'Frau Lot' by Ernst Fuchs is currently showing, in conjunction with the exhibition of The Garden of Fernal Delights, at the Bash Gallery in San Francisco (until June 27th 2015).
Post by Otto Rapp Inside Imaginary Realism |
Yes, there once was a great blogging platform, called Posterous. Many of my friends used it. I used it. It was very user friendly.
Many of us lost a lot of content when it got shut down. What happened? Check this Wikipedia article about Posterous. The picture on the left is what comes up when I link to my former user id. But this blog is not about that. It is about a blog post on Posterous in June 2011 that I had copied and posted on Facebook as a note. |
I just copy the entire Facebook note, dead links and all, as it appeared back then.
JUSTIN EHRLICH interviews Visionary Artist ANDY PACIOREK
June 7th, 3:23pm
My interview with fellow visionary tribesman Andy Paciorek
I tend to work more in projects comprised of a number of images on a theme, rather than stand alone single pieces, so a certain amount of time is spent mulling project details, how many pieces, how I will handle them etc. Those ideas may come on the cusp of sleep or out walking or whatever. My rough sketch booking follows that stage and frequently doodle thumbnails done on scraps of paper. This stage is more to ease me into the project than to fully formulate what the actual end pieces will look like. Not all images of a project will be included in this stage. Depending upon a particular project, the final pieces may frequently dictate their own form independent of what I may initially have had in mind, though sometimes I will transfer some visual ideas directly across. Once all the subjects for a project are decided (or if it is a large project, segments of it) then it is pretty much pen to paper. With the projects there's usually a long line of image subjects bustling to get out and they can follow in quite rapid succession if the flow is there; so generally speaking, a fair bit of initial contemplation but then more time executing.
Your artistic output is very high, how do you keep motivated? Do you have a fixed routine? Do you find certain times of day more congenial for working?
There isn't a constant level of output, as with motivation and inspiration, production can come in peaks or troughs. It's very easy to get de-motivated, but the compulsive urge to create tends to override that. Also with my method of art, there is the luxury of being able to work well with other collaborators, either in visual combination as with the Stegorek project or by combining my images with the thoughts and writings of quite a variety of imaginative individuals. This has led to a number of interesting little projects, which has given me excuse to explore different roads and paths, and it keeps the journey intriguing with all the little detours and wanderings. Also should my own idea well ever run dry, there is a reserve of other minds that could help me to dig deeper. With the medium of ink on paper, which at the moment I most frequently use, there is the scope for a higher output than other methods, as it does not require the mixing, fixing, drying and cleaning of some other media. At times when drawing is not flowing or is not possible for whatever reason, I will still end up writing, researching, contemplating possible future projects or adapting older ones for book, internet and sometimes exhibition use, or taking photographs so there is rarely any real dead time. There is no overall fixed routine or work hours, but sometimes it does get late and the pen is still in hand.
What have you been working on today?
Currently I am working on a book project entitled 'Black Earth : A Field-Guide to the Slavic Otherworld'. It is quite epic, so I am interspersing bouts of research, writing, sketchbook roughing and drawing the final pieces.
Given your penchant for folklore, it might be deduced that you are intent on preserving, if not reviving certain traditions. One might even think that you are bargaining with these entities, asking favours of Oak-men in exchange for fame. Is folklore a curiosity for you, or something more?
Well, the Oak-men offer delicious-looking cakes, which are actually glamorized toxic fungi, so that sounds about right.
I do really like curiosities and anomalies in themselves, but for me there is also a deeper aspect to folklore, particularly in respect to apparent encounters with supernatural entities and creatures. It raises questions about the nature of reality, about threshold consciousness and it also sometimes reveals the human habit of trying either to order things beyond their level of knowledge or everyday experience, into a pattern or belief or gives excuse for some others to dismiss anything they don't understand as nonsensical superstition. Folklore, fairy-tales and myths can say a lot about human nature as well as a non-human supernature.
When you treat mythical themes, do you ever feel that art can be a form of spiritual practice?
I think there is an element of that. Even the practice of creation, especially when there is an uncertain material end, could be compared to religious or shamanic ceremonies or ritual. It could possibly date back to the beginning of human civilization.
What caused man to first create art? Of course there is the practical use of diagrammatic pictures to show directions or mark good hunting grounds etc and body-decoration, jewelry and more elaborate clothing may simply have been a human variant of peacock-feathers, i.e. devices for attracting a mate ; but even in the oldest cave-paintings and non-domain structures and sculpting, there are items of mystery and apparent spirituality. To our current knowledge, such things had no practical earthly function and yet in times of hard survival, such artefacts were still created. That would seem suggestive of either a spiritual purpose or something else in the development of the early human mind that provoked and has persisted in provoking some of the species to create art.
Most of your work springs from the imagination, the astral if you prefer. Do you ever feel compelled to get the watercolours out and paint a landscape, a portrait perhaps?
Many of my images do contain landscapes and portraits of a sort. Currently though if I want to capture these subjects from life I prefer to take photos. It may be something I'd perhaps do in future but there are many other ideas to get out of the way first.
Who inspired you to want to become an artist?
It was comics that first got me drawing as a kid, initially the British funny comics particularly the artists Ken Reid and Leo Baxendale, then shortly afterwards 2000AD and Marvel comics. This in conjunction with mythology and fairy-tale books and also movies and TV shows I enjoyed such as Doctor Who, Monkey, Sinbad films etc. The first art exhibition I went to as a child was to see Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion models of monsters, but in the next gallery room was an exhibition of Gustave Dore prints. Both had a lasting effect upon me. I remember also the first art projects that the teacher set us at secondary school when I was eleven - the first was to find a poem and illustrate it, integrating the text into the picture - I chose The Tyger by William Blake. Then we had to go to the library, find a book on an artist whom we'd never heard of but whose work intrigued us, then we had to copy some of the pictures and write about the artist. For that project I chose Gustav Klimt. Again both of those artists have continued to captivate me. Many other artists and art forms have since continued to intrigue me.
What are the most important things to consider when illustrating?
I have never had any formal training as an artist or illustrator, beyond some basics on a multi-discipline foundation course, if I had maybe I would say composition or tonal value or something, but for me personally the most important consideration is the subject matter not the technique.
What are the most valuable qualities for an artist to have, regardless of style, and who has them to the highest degree?
Perhaps too much is said about artists rather than the art, but I believe sincerity is a high quality. By Sincerity I do not mean that all art should be 'deep and meaningful' but simply that it should be honest and genuine to its principal aim. If that aim is simply to be a commercial success, then it should declare itself so. It is irritating when it seems that an artist conjures some ‘deep’ insincere meaning on afterwards. Likewise to express cynicism in a work is fine, it is an emotive response as valid of expression as any other, but when it appears that an artist is being cynical towards their viewers or mocking or exploiting them, then I feel that does the artist and also art in general no favours. It is perhaps unfair for me however to name any that I feel may be guilty of this, because it may simply be just my feeling and it is possible that my perception of the artist or piece could be wrong. Likewise it may also be inappropriate for me to name any artists who possess any 'higher' qualities because again it would just be a judgement based upon my personal perception.
What is your interpretation of visionary art?
The words 'visionary art' mean totally different things to different people. There are considerable variations associating to different cultures and times and I'm not sure it is something that can be neatly defined. I don't describe my own work as being visionary, it does frequently pertain to subject matter of a fantastic and perhaps sometimes a spiritual nature, and it is frequently concerned with the peripheral, interstitial and subconscious, but does that make it visionary? I don't know and I won't lose sleep over whether it is or isn't. I understand that in the art-world there is some need for a certain level of categorization, but labels and boxes I feel are far less important than the contents. Artists are of course free to call their art whatever they think best suits, but I simply wouldn't know how to neatly categorize what I do, even if I wanted to. For the sake of a mission statement, I may refer to the 'beautiful~grotesque' in relation to my work, but this is more about the subject matter and the contrast and intermingling of these concepts across different levels, and not to any specific movement or genre. I don't personally subscribe to any manifestos or artificial walls placed between different media and styles of expression; I just follow a compulsion to express myself through the creation of images and the manner in which this occurs seems for a great part to be beyond my choice.
http://vagallery.com/andy-paciorek.html
http://www.batcow.co.uk/strangelands/
Incredible video projection performance at the Fernal costume ball last night .
Posted by Sandy Yagi on Saturday, May 30, 2015
Wir freuen uns besonders, Ihnen die Gemälde und Grafiken von Michael Maschka in einer Einzelausstellung präsentieren zu dürfen.
Michael Mascka über seine Arbeit: "Ich möchte die geistigen Realitäten, die sich im Mythos manifestieren, zu einem sinnlichen Erlebnis werden lassen.
Dies könnte man als das Credo meiner künstlerischen Arbeit bezeichnen"
http://www.michaelmaschka.de/
Zur Vernissage der Austtellung "Zwischen den Welten" am 06. Juni 2015 um 20.00 Uhr ( Einlass ab 19.30 Uhr) laden wir Sie herzlich ein.
Wir würden uns sehr freuen, mit Ihnen gemeinsam einen schönen Abend verbringen zu dürfen.
Im Anhang befindet sich gesamte Einladung als PDF und die callas-in-site mit weiteren Informationen, falls sie diese weiterleiten möchten.
Bringen Sie zu dieser Ausstellung gern Ihre Freunde mit, Sie sind herzlich willkommen!
Herzliche Grüße - das callas-Team
http://www.callas-bremen.de/
Ausstellung Michael Maschka pdf | Einladung Michael Maschka pdf |
all five episodes can now be seen HERE
Intensive "Free Your Expression" with Amanda Sage
A workshop organized by the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art, concluding with a great party.
The image from the workshop on the left links to the Facebook album of The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art Below is a slide show from the party by Otto Rapp on Flickr, at the conclusion of the workshop on May 8, 2015. |
Created with flickr slideshow.
Wer ist der Künstler HR Giger? Was für ein Mensch steht hinter den furchterregenden, verstörenden, aber auch ästhetischen Gestalten und Wesen? Ein Film mit und über den international verehrten und umstrittenen Maler, Skulpteur, Architekten, Designer, Oscar-Preisträger und Schöpfer der ALIEN Figur. | Who is the artist HR Giger? What is this human being behind the fearsome, disturbing, but also aesthetic forms and beings? A film with and about the internationally revered and controversial painter, sculptor, architect, designer, Oscar winner and creator of the ALIEN figure. |
more info and great links are found here: DARK STAR
visit the page of H.R. GIGER in the VISIONARY ART HALL OF FAME
for additional material
Premiere des Dokumentarfilms über HR Giger in Anwesenheit der Regisseurin Belinda Sallin. April 14th 2015 at 20:15 Filmcasino Margaretenstrasse 78, 1050 Vienna, Austria Kaufkarten reservieren: www.filmcasino.at "Giger's work shows us, all too clearly, where we come from and where we're going". Timothy Leary |
Duration: April 22. to May 21. 2015
Bulgarian Cultural Institute Haus Wittgenstein
1030 Wien, Parkgasse 18 - map
Help Bryan K. Ward
artist, father, friend, musician and visionary!
Bryan recently got into a severe accident. He is rather a solitary person, so many of you might not have heard what happened. While on a boat, he was struck in the head by the boom on a sailboat and sustained several hemorrhagic brain contusions, pneumocephalus, multiple facial fractures, and numerous chipped teeth.
This campaign is set up with the desire to help him pay medical bills and to support the time he will be unemployed. Bryan does have basic health insurance. However, we are unsure how much will be covered and assume most of his dental will not. He is not supposed to work for at least 4-6 weeks or lift anything heavy during his recovery; this excludes working at his current job. Currently, he is home, basically bedridden, and it is unknown if any future medical conditions will be associated with the injuries.
READ MORE - JOIN THE CAMPAIGN
Post by Otto Rapp | Fabrizio Clerici was a complex and eclectic artist and was also architect, costume designer, scenographer and photographer. His works were exhibited in many museums in the United States such as the MoMA or theGuggenheim Museum and in France such as the Centre Pompidou. (from Wikipedia)..............read more Biography (from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection) Fabrizio Clerici was born in Milan on May 15, 1913. In 1920 he moved with his family to Rome and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1937. ..... more |
VISIONARY COMMUNITY BLOG
The Visionary Community Blog is covering everything under the sun having to do with Visionary Art, Surrealism and Fantastic Realism
Otto Rapp
unless otherwise noted on the individual blog entries.
Archives
June 2023
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
September 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
July 2018
June 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
April 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
October 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
Categories
All
Antipodes
Arik Brauer
Art Critic
Art Education
Art Fair
Art History
Artist Of The Month
Art Market
Art Scams
Art Theory
Atelier Z
Bator Art Gallery
Beinart
Bodypainting
Books
Carl Jung
Censorship
Commentary
Contemporary Artists
Copyright
Crowdfunding
Customs
Digital Art
Dom Galerie
Donating
Donation
Drawing
Ecology
Ernst Fuchs
Event
Exhibition
Facebook
Fantastic Realism
Female Artists
Funding
Fundraising
Gallery Bator
Hall Of Fame
Historical Artists
History
HR Giger
Humor
In Memoriam
Interview
Kurt Regschek
Magical Dreams
Magic Realism
Mati Klarwein
Max Ernst
Mixed Media
Mythology
Network
News
Ning
Painting
Paris
Photography
Psychology
Quantum Mechanics
Resources
Rudolf Hausner
Science
Sculpture
Shipping
Statistics
Surrealism
Twitter
UNESCO
VAT
Video
Visionary Art
Visionary Art Gallery
Websites
Wolfgang Harms
Workshop