Art & Soul: 'Psychedelic' leaves a groovy high
by Allison Hersh, m.savannahnow.com
March 10th 2011
When curator of contemporary art David S. Rubin first arrived at the San
Antonio Museum of Art in 2006, he became transfixed by Frank Stella’s painting
“Double Scramble,” a masterpiece of saturated color and minimalist geometry.
“’I said to myself, ‘That’s the most psychedelic Stella I’ve ever seen,’” Rubin
recalled. “It was painted in 1968, at the height of the psychedelic era and in
Day-Glo paints. Who would ever have connected Stella to pop culture in that
way? So, an idea was born.”
That idea eventually evolved into “Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art Since
the 1960s,” a traveling exhibition that recently opened at the Telfair’s Jepson
Center for the Arts. For this innovative, eye-catching exhibit, Rubin assembled
original work by 24 artists, including pioneers in the genre like Frank Stella
and Victor Vasarely.
“This is the first project to document the origins and evolution of a
sensibility of extreme color and kaleidoscopic space,” Rubin said. “The one
common bond is a shared aesthetic sensibility. Beyond that, there are many
different issues that are addressed, ranging from pure painting ideals to
celebrations of pop culture.”
>From Susie Rosmarin’s experimentation with retina-jamming patterns to
>Vasarely’s Pop Art abstraction, “Psychedelic” focuses on issues relating to
>perception, transcendence and spirituality, offering a vivid glimpse of the
>world through a bold, experimental lens.
In “Ripple Trees,” Fred Tomaselli uses pills, capsules and hemp leaves to craft
an elaborately detailed, LSD-inspired landscape that attempts to map the
underlying matrix beneath our everyday reality. “Trinity,” Philip Taaffe’s
artfully constructed geometric silkscreen collage, offers the illusion of
bending shapes and planes, suggesting spiritual elevation.
“’Psychedelic’ features work ranging from the 1960s to the present that
exhibits a psychedelic sensibility, whether through the adoption of a
fluorescent palette, the exploration of perceptual and multi-sensory effects,
or the pursuit of themes that address consciousness or unconventional states of
being,” said Holly Koons McCullough, director of collections and exhibitions at
the Telfair Museum of Art. “It marks the first time that the topic of the
psychedelic influence upon art has been addressed at the Telfair.”
In addition to paintings, “Psychedelic” also includes digital animation by
Jeremy Blake, Ray Rapp and Sterling Ruby. San Antonio experimental artist
Richie Budd exhibits an installation providing viewers with a multisensory
experience, complete with a disco ball and flashing lights.
One of the highlights of “Psychedelic” is Alex Grey’s cosmic triptych titled
“Journey of the Wounded Healer.” In remarkable anatomical detail, Grey depicts
human forms wrapped in helix-like structures spiraling across the universe in
the painting’s first panel. In the central panel, the body is literally ripped
apart as bones shatter, eyeballs pop and body parts are sliced and skewered. In
the final image, the human form assumes a dazzling spiritual form, ascending to
a higher form of transcendence.
“After you’ve seen this exhibition, you will feel very uplifted,” Rubin said.
“In a sense, you can get your high from the art, as opposed to any illegal or
potentially harmful substance. And you will never look at color the same way
again.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art Since the 1960s”
Where: Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 W. York St.
When: Through May 29
Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Thursday; noon – 5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission: Free to Telfair members; $20 for adults; $18 for AAA and seniors;
Free for children under 5
Original Page:
http://m.savannahnow.com/accent/2011-03-10/art-soul-psychedelic-leaves-groovy-high
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