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PROGRESS ON THE FIRST PAINTING

FOR THE APOCRYPHON CHAPEL

       I spent the summer months away from my Burgundy Studio ~ running The 2023 Summer Seminar at Torri Superiore Italy in July, then visiting Vienna in August. But with the Fall, I'm back in my studio and working on The Upper Aeons ~ the first large painting for The Apocryphon Chapel. Here's where I'm at now...

SOLO EXHIBITION IN VIENNA

       On October 27th, 2023, I'll be having a Solo Exhibition at the Avaloka Mystic Dance Experience in the legenary Sargfabric (Coffin Factory) in Vienna, with dance, live and electronic music. 

Check out the Sargfabrik

EXHIBITION IN NATIONAL MUSEUM IN PARIS

       Along with several of my colleagues, I'll have original works hanging at The Musée Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris. 

       From November 14th 2023 to May 24th 2024, this Ethnological Museum will hold the exhibition VISIONS CHAMANIQUES ~ ART DE L'AYAHUASCA EN AMAZONIE PERUVIENNE (Shamanic Visions - Ayahuasca Art in the Peruvian Amazon). The exhibition will mostly feature Amazonian artists inspired by Pablo Amaringo. But the final rooms will offer Visionary works 'from the Western Counter-culture,' including the art of my colleagues Martina Hoffmann, Amanda Sage and Daniel Mirante. My painting The Vine of the Dead will be on exhibition.

       Here's a brief description:

       Many cultures place hallucinogenic substances at the heart of their social life. Ayahuasca, a hallucinogen of plant origin, occupies a central place in the life of Western Amazonion societies, particularly among the Shipibos, who use its effects for aesthetic purposes. From the emergence of visionary art from the Peruvian Amazon to Western countercultures, the exhibition will show the "visionary museum of globalized shamanism", where psychotropic drugs become not only vectors of artistic inspiration, but also of political emancipation, personal development, alternative therapies or new forms of religiosity.

NEW PODCAST ABOUT PSYCHEDELIC GNOSIS

       The Center for the Study of World Religions at The Harvard Divinity School has been doing some great work in the area of Psychedelics and Religion through its Transcendence and Transformation Initiative. 

       One example is the Pop Apocalypse Podcast hosted by Matthew J. Dillon. Over the course of an hour, we go deep into dreams, visions, the afterlife and my Apocryphon Chapel project. Give it a listen...

NEW PH. D. THESIS ON VISIONARY ART

       I'm pleased to see more academic research into Visionary Art. My work ~ particularly my First Manifesto of Visionary Art ~ was seriously reviewed for her Ph. D. thesis. 

       A year ago, Lisa Hester interviewed me for her research, and we developed such a good rapport that I was invited to give an online lecture at her university. Then Lisa and her 10-year old daughter joined us for The 2023 Summer Seminar at Torri Superiore Italy.

       Her thesis makes a very interesting comparison between three branches of Visionary Art ~ Outsider Art, Jungian-style Symbolist Art and the Counter-Cultural Visionary Art of Psychedelic Trance Festivals ~ attempting to draw forth a clearer definition of the term.

       I read an advance copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. This is definitely worth a read once it is published.