I hesitate to return to this but there are intriguing new developments in the TED saga so I hope you will bear with me as I outline them here.
In brief it looks like TED Curator Chris Anderson opened Pandora’s Box — further details below — when he authorised the removal of talks by myself and Rupert Sheldrake from the TEDx Youtube channel. Rupert’s talk was entitled “The Science Delusion”, my talk was entitled “The War on Consciousness”, and both can be viewed, in context — scroll down — on this TED blog page http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/.
The reason the talks are still on the TED website at all (even if sequestrated to the blog) is because of the internet furore that erupted following the removal of the talks from the TEDx Youtube channel. Let me put on record here how deeply grateful I am for the solidarity and intelligent, well thought-out intervention of many members my online community. Without this I believe TED would have been able to sweep the whole matter under the carpet. And I note how dismissive and insulting TED were: “Graham Hancock put out an immediate alert that he was about to be ‘censored’ [and] his army of passionate supporters deluged us with outraged messages”. See here: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/18/graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake-a-fresh-take/. There’s a lot to be learnt about TED’s attitude towards the general public from that short phrase, which does not recognise the intelligence, integrity and independent thought of the thousands who wrote to them but instead lumps all together as an “army of passionate supporters”. I for my part feel honoured to have been given that support but I recognise that it was never about me; rather it was about the ideas and principles that are at stake. Even so, TED demonstrated its contempt by refusing to answer the appeals that I and Rupert Sheldrake made for an open, live debate on the core issues (see here: http://goo.gl/XIuBv and here: http://goo.gl/aH9VH) and by ignoring all the thousands of posts put on their blog by members of the general public (SEE HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17190/the_debate_about_graham_hancoc.html AND HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17189/the_debate_about_rupert_sheldr.html AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/ AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/18/graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake-a-fresh-take/)
Perhaps by turning a deaf ear to criticism TED hoped they would get away with it. But it is clear now that they are not going to be allowed to do so.
(1) On 18 April an open letter to TED deeply critical of TED’s decision to remove talks by myself and Rupert Sheldrake from the TEDx Youtube channel was published in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/dear-ted-is-it-bad-scienc_b_3104049.html. The letter was written by Deepak Chopra, MD, Stuart Hameroff, MD (Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, Director of Consciousness Studies, at the University of Arizona), Menas C. Kafatos, Ph.D (Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor in Computational Physics, Director, Center of Excellence, Chapman University), Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D (Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and Director of the Genetics and Ageing Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital), and Neil Theise, MD (Professor, Pathology and Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center — Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York).
All in all it is becoming obvious that there is a BIG story here. I’d like to emphasise that it is NOT AT ALL a story about me and Rupert Sheldrake. It is instead a story of what has been triggered, exposed and catalysed by TED’s treatment of our talks. The controversy has brought to light a fundamental fault-line that is emerging in the science of consciousness between the OLD PARADIGM of materialist reductionism (represented by people like Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and others) and a NEW PARADIGM of non-local conscious. The new paradigm, represented by all the major scientific figures who wrote to the Huffington post on 19 April (the URL again — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/reply-to-chris-anderson-t_b_3119890.html) is open to the revolutionary possibility at the centre of both my talk and Rupert’s talk, namely that consciousness may not be generated by the brain but rather “transceived” by the brain (I address this specifically in my talk between 10:18 and 10:42) — i.e. that consciousness may be a fundamental “non-local” property of all dimensions of the universe and that rather than being an “epiphenomenon of brain activity” it may instead be that the brain acts as an interface that allows consciousness to manifest “locally” on the material plane.
If the NEW PARADIGM proves to be correct, and it is intriguing to see these powerful voices raising that possibility, then the issue is by no means limited to consciousness but calls into question many of the fundamental assumptions on which Western science has been built for the past 400 years. It is a revolution in the making, spearheaded by quantum physics and consciousness studies, with implications for our understanding of reality that are likely to be at least as profound as the implications of the dismantling of the Ptolemaic model by the Copernican revolution from the 16th century onwards. In this respect it’s worth remembering how militantly the proponents of the Ptolemaic model held on to their positions — even burning their Copernican opponents at the stake — and how well the Ptolemaic model did seem to explain the apparent movements of the celestial bodies for so long, with additional “epicycles” etc being postulated to explain away anomalous observations, until finally the weight of the new observations overwhelmed the Ptolemaic model completely and swept it aside ushering in a new age of science. I suggest the same is happening in the early 21st century around the question of consciousness, that the eminent scientists who have written to the Huffington Post today recognise this, and that what TED has inadvertently revealed by its censorship of the talks by Rupert Sheldrake and myself has all the signs of a stunning scientific revolution in the making.
My part in this is small. I am no scientist, just a writer. But I am encouraged, after facing years of relentless scientific attacks on my work, to have been identified as one of the “divergent ants” by Neil Theise, Professor of Pathology and Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who writes in his statement to the Huffington Post today: “Sheldrake and Hancock may be wrong in their ideas, but we do not yet know. Even if they are, the creativity of their work and their insistence on looking at aberrations and exceptions is certainly of value, at least to point the way to the kinds of creative explorations TED hopes to foster. They are ideas worth spreading precisely because of their bravery, creativity and care.” Likewise I was touched by the words of Christopher Holvenstot who wrote: “Experiential approaches, including Graham Hancock’s exploration of alternative states, represent an important aspect of our subject matter, and therefore our research. We are saddened to see his brave and very personal contribution disparaged as ‘pseudo-science’.”
Even more encouraging than the statements by Theise, Holvenstot and others, however, has been the vigorous defence of the freedom of ideas mounted by this online internet community. I will never forget it.
Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images.
- Gospel of Pihlip
Humanity is one strand in the web of life, inextricably of the flora and fauna of Gaia. Humans present something unique to the biosphere. We live not only within a world of elements, objects, trees, creatures, sky and earth, but of symbols and meanings. It is the manipulation of the symbolic that is strongly definitive of our species. Whilst our senses open outward to a tangible world of elements, we also live within a psychic world, the nature of which is imaginal, symbolic, metaphorical and mythical, and constitutes the invisible landscape of our human pilgrimage.
Art and literature bring this usually invisible landscape into focus. Myths, symbols, narratives, are the means through which we frame relationships within our lives. And throughout the various epochs, it is the devotees, the craft guilds, the goldsmiths, the secretive temple building societies, the alchemists, who have worked as the magical manipulators of symbols, functioning as the prose-poets of the grammar of human symbols and aesthetics, combining, transforming, refining and subliming the syntax of spirit and culture.
Is there a fundamental ‘prime’ or ‘seed form’ to art – an innate species-universal blueprint within aesthetics? Very early petro-glyphs, tribal body art, ceramics and textile motifs across all the worlds peoples demonstrate repeatedly motifs of ‘seed forms’ – dot-work, spirals, sun and moon symbols, rhizomatic network designs. There are surprising similarities of aesthetics between various indigenous groups separated from each other by vast distances. It has been hypothesised that these cross cultural seed forms repeat across separate cultures because their roots exist in human biology – “entoptic patterns”, abstract optical pattern formations that appear to people in certain circumstances – before sleep, in meditation, making music, and other forms of trance. Entoptic patterns have their origin, anywhere within the optic system between and including the eye itself and the cortex where signals from the optic nerve are interpreted.
Entoptic patterns are a particular attribute of certain altered states of consciousness, which is perhaps why, as aesthetic motifs, such patters are confered significance by many tribal cultures. Perhaps the particular patterns, their color and behavior were of some kind of informational value. Perhaps such patterns were given significance as a kind of magical boundary veil or threshold to samadhi or out-of-body experiences. Even though we associate such aesthetics with ‘tribal art’, these ‘form-constants’ are alive and well in modern humans :
” … geometric patterns, angular not circular in richest colours, such as might adorn textiles or carpets. Then the patterns grew into architectural structures with colonnades and architraves, patios of regal splendor, the stone work all in brilliant colours, gold and onyx and ebony, all most harmoniously and ingeniously contrived, in richest magnificence extending beyond the reach of sight, in vistas measureless to man … They seemed to belong… to the imaginary architecture described by the visionaries of the Bible” (Riedlinger 1996 30)
The significance humans confer to these ecstasies, their liberatory and transcendent function, explains why art is often formed from entoptic patterns and other motifs, metaphors and representations of peak experiences. It is truly a matter of ‘So on Earth as in Heaven’. And as Aldous Huxley observed, the relationships between the gems and minerals so treasured by humans may be that they represent to us visions of sacred realms and the virtues of Heavenly realms and beings. This connection between lustrous and transparent or patterned crystals and rocks explains why totemism employs gold, pyrite, quartz, lapiz and other precious substances, along with pigments and flowers and patterned weaving, to adorn wooden and stone statues of deities. The valued halls and domes of temples encrusted with sparkling pattern-work also make testament to these esoteric realms of human experience.
An important lineage holder of contemporary sacred art, the Viennese artist Ernst Fuchs, speaks of “a secret art whose traces I have discovered with almost all people and cultures, but also in nature itself, there where the primeval world appears.” The nucleus of this secret art is a shared grammar, ‘ein verschollener Stil’, a primordial style rings a fundamental tone, through all the treasures, temples, sanctums and icons that have been wrought from the hands of man. Throughout such a diversity, such a wide array of varying cultures and cosmologies, we find a ‘hidden prime’, a secret grammar expressing itself through the icons of the divine, through the houses we have built for the divine, the geometries through which we have represented the divine. This is ‘sacred art’. This is the phenotypic expression of the species.
Vishnu-Christ Avatar by Laurence Caruana
The relative mastery over the physical world through the advancements of techne in European and eastern civilization, and the accumulations of myths and wisdom traditions, lead to fascinating expansions to the tribal lexicon of sacred aesthetics. Sacred art developed a strong formal relationship to sacred texts, word and metaphor. In many early Flemish altarpieces, for instance, we find a dizzying array of symbology to represent the divine realms, including fountains, mighty trees, dragons, doves, celestial wheels, halos, mandaloras, grails, astral beings with the wings of birds, and ‘royal’ metaphors of holy warriors, virgins, thrones, power-objects such as grails, crowns, orbs, swords. These are images of regality of spirit, nobility, active agency, beauty, virtue and purity, higher ideals and initiatory goals of personal development.
In the book ‘Architectural Caelestis’, Fuchs traces the sacred grammar through modern history, finding its image in painting, architecture, sculpture. It is clear that the ‘prime of styles’ is a different order of things than a rapidly cycling feed of stylistic trends within the ‘art-world’ as it currently stands, entrenched in myriad factors of novelty, shock-tactics, commodity-value, and intellectual intrigue. Sacred art emerges from a hieratic impulse, not a purely humanistic one, not as a commentary, either, on the culture, lest of all the self defining commercial ‘art-world’ and academic dialectics.
So, has the ‘prime of styles’ reached its terminus ? Is ‘sacred art’ now a relic, like the hollowed out and unattended churches of northern Europe? Is it a provincial artifact of a bygone stage of cultural evolution, curious and irrelevant to our modern, educated, rational psyches? The rational psyche reads Genesis and scoffs, comparing and disputing mythic narratives with scientific theories – as if one replaces the other – because it has lost the means to receive symbols on the metaphorical level. So contemporary thought makes the pretense of a victory over a straw man of its own making.
Such a prevailing attitude ignores that myths not only confound our rational measurement of the world, but are intended to, are intended to buoy the hyletic human mind toward more sublime levels where the concern with the density, predictability and control of matter is temporarily abated, and the potential for experiences of awe and transcendence from the shells of limiting personal identifications is increased. The same holds true for direct visual symbols of the divine, deities, mandalas and sacred narratives occurring outside of secular time.
Maria Divina by Carey Thompson
The neurological and paradigmatic scaffolding for ‘religious thought’, the patterns of thought that are conducive to seeing beyond the limited provincial pastures, is not a ‘lost art’. It is still innate to our human nature, but it requires rekindling in this contemporary climate of desecration (de-sacralisation). Through the play of creativity, if one is so motivated, one may gain access to something like an archaic cultural memory, where spontaneously we can reveal and revive the ancient lexicon of the symbolic. Even if one is not involved in raising ziggurats to the heavens, or hewing forth deities from fiery pools of molten gold, artistic activity serves to catalyst a higher developmental form of consciousness.
As a mission of art, the representation of the sacred seems to be finding resonances amongst many people who feel art has more of an involving role in our personal and species evolution, and that the post-modern dialectic of art, whilst intellectually valid and edifying, may also be myopic in scope. There appears to be the first glimmers of a change in the spirit of the times, where visionary or sacred art’s momentum now moves beyond the suppressive web of institutionalized rhetoric that, for the past 100 years or so, has exiled sacred art into the hinterlands of naive, fantasy or outsider culture. The sacred grammar has been developing with strength across the west coast of the United States and within certain points elsewhere amongst Europe. But significantly, the cultural climate is now so that the first ‘Academy of Visionary Art’ can raise its banner, within the center of the cultured, art-loving renaissance city of Vienna.
Co-founded by the internationally renowned artist Ernst Fuchs and a circle of ten artists, The Vienna Academy has been formed of ten of Professor Fuchs’ former apprentices, basing their curriculum on a time-honored system of the Guild, with the aim of reviving a higher form of art – an Ars Sacrum that idealizes the human form, while actually transfiguring humanity through visions of oneness. The simple act of picture making can be overlooked in its symbolic potency – in its high expression it is an alchemy, playing a role in bringing together the disparate revolutions of consciousness that we experience in this age through rapid technological advancements and cross-cultural intercourse.
Will the ‘art establishment’ recognise this transformation of art culture, in these guilds of temple builders, scribes of icons and illuminated manuscripts, and innovators of sacred theater and new forms of prayer-formance, forging the development of new ritual contexts, and exploring new expressions within traditional forms of painting, super-powered by the resonances of the unique and powerful times we live within?
Sacred art connects and integrates wisdom lines and knowledge traditions across space and time. It performs this through a traditionalism, an honoring of its antecedents, its elders, its generational progression, the creative gnostic flame passed from master to apprentice : sometimes directly, sometimes through distant strands of inter-connectivity. Visionary art harkens to a sense of lineage, an ancient unbroken chain – the religious and esoteric art of past ages, its lineages parse and branch through symbolism, surrealism, fantastic realism, psychedelic art, and the work of outsider artists and art produced in psycho-therapeutic contexts.
Visionary artists integrate the different symbols and threads of mythology and religion and elucidate their meanings from across cultures, illuminating and renewing these potent archaic archetypal structures of understanding our existence. Such art serves as a means to begin to integrate the implications and worldviews of ancient cultures, to reflect upon our cultural egregores and illuminating the subtle beliefs that we have inherited, and play out through us via rituals that so often have become unconscious enactments.
Detail from Chanting Down Babylon by Daniel Mirante
Within the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art, students study with the artists of the faculty, each of whom have light to shed upon the techniques of the old masters and their own empirical understandings, and attempt to revive the learning of the past, to become empowered with the wisdom of the ages in order to illuminate the depth of symbolic resonance and the precision of the craft. This is at odds with a contemporary art scene that confuses dangerously the expressive or clever with a lazy lack of technical craft and disregard for the simple, species-universal motivation of the True, Good and Beautiful. The sense of participation in lineage is rare and more precious in an era obsessed with the mislead concept of ‘novelty’. The emergence of a mystery school, a visionary academy, to act as a coordinating center for this to manifest, exemplifies and presences the importance of transmission and initiation within the great lineage of art once more.
What could be the consequences of a sacred mission of art becoming more evident within the contemporary art world? Is the notion of ‘art of the sacred’, that pertains to icon making, altarpieces, shrine-building, and visions of hitherto unknown cultural possibilities compatible with the vagaries of the commercially driven art world? How will such an increasing body of work be viewed by a secular and materialist mainstream media, with its scientifically orientated arbiters of truth? How long must an evolutionary pressure gain energy underneath the surface before it bursts forth? And to what degree will a very sincere message be appropriated to commercial interests? The psychedelic revolution, to some degree, put ever more powerful tools in the hands of advertising and mainstream media. Will visionary art fare the same?
What visionary and sacred art typifies is a clarion call toward perceptual diversity. This is why visionary art has so far developed very little ‘self-commentary’ or analysis that allows it to partake of the post-post-post-modern academic art culture. Its unwillingness and lack of motivation to ‘join in the debate’ is partly symptomatic of exclusion, but also based on its development from a completely different set of axioms.
“…. anything and everything that one could see or imagine was only an innate, natural component of a synchronous pattern within an intrinsically perfect, objective whole. French existentialism had just taken its place within this fabric as a pompously amusing irrelevance…” – Jim DeKorne, The Cracking Tower
Visionary art is rapidly generating a subculture based upon the integration of indigenous shamanistic techniques of ecstasy and eastern insight and mindfulness practices, and moreover, this art culture is socially inclusive, presences a creative and active ‘culture-making’ practice for each individual, and opens up potentials for a rich cross-cultural communication and the development of valid, valuable perspectives on ourselves and our relationship with Earth and the cosmos. Hewing the new forms forth, contemporary sacred art includes within its iconography reference to deep ecology, and further, to planetary awareness, and spiritual oneness. These motifs repeat as heraldry for the first generations of globally interconnected humanity.
Visionary Art and Culture month is being initiated and promoted by CAVA: Colorado Alliance of Visionary Artists.
While widely discussed and debated, the concepts of “Visionary Art” and “Visionary Culture” remain somewhat open to interpretation.
In the context of the upcoming Boulder events series “Art Spirit Now”, the terms are generally accepted to describe art and ideas that impel the advancement of humanity toward a full-scale cultural renaissance. Presentations by cultural evolutionaries, international and local artists will highlight the main events, along with a gallery exhibition and live art.
The newly formed Vienna Academy of Visionary Art will be presented for the first time in the U.S. This international bridge is being built throughout the month, culminating on the last weekend of May in Boulder. www.artspiritnow.org
This invitation to donate is dedicated in support of our beloved sister, artist and wise-woman Yvonne, as she bravely embarks on her healing journey after having a serious car accident in Scotland.
Yvonne McGillivray, wise woman, visionary artist, and friend to many, has suffered serious injuries from a car accident — multiple fractures and in a coma for five days. She needs emotional and — importantly– financial support in her journey back to health. You can donate here or help by buying some of her beautiful art works (below donate button).
Donate £30 and get a print by Yvonne
Make a donation to the fund of £30 and you will receive an art print (prints cost £25 with £5 to cover packing and postage). You can choose from one of three of Yvonne’s latest magical paintings.
Choose which painting you prefer by choosing its name in the dropdown next to the ‘add to cart’ button. You can buy more than one.
rainbow jaguar medicine
green gaia goddess
beija flor
If you do not have a paypal account you can donate by card – look for this link once you ‘add to cart’
The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art has just launched into being. This new establishment will offer courses, full academy training, exhibitions, publications and more. It is very significant in that it establishes a permanent center of operation for the re-emergence of sacred and visionary art into Western culture.
The child of a collaborative weaving of dreams and visions, and brought into manifestation by Laurence Caruana (www.visionaryrevue.com) and Florence Ménard, the academy opens its doors to students in September 2013. The curriculum includes life drawing, old master studies, modeling, but also visionary seeing, exploration of myths, allegories and symbols, and the sacred arts and motifs of east and west.
Opening its doors in September of 2013, The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art offers a two-year and three-yearDiploma programme with courses in historical painting techniques, old masters studies and life drawing, as well as visionary seeing and the exploration of myths, symbols and styles from East to West. It is an international teaching institution with English as the primary language of instruction.
Located in the historic Palais Palffy – home of Ernst Fuchs’ Studio, The Phantasten Museum, and the Galerie Palffy – the Academy was co-founded by Professor Ernst Fuchs and The Visionary Guild – a circle of ten artists who, having assisted Fuchs in the past, now share studio space in the Palais Palffy and teach the Academy’s core courses.
From London, Paris and Vienna to Melbourne Australia and the West Coast of America, these ten artists – five men and five women – transmit their love of craft while sharing insights into the artist’s vocation. Their names are already well-known in the Visionary Art world – Kuba Ambrose, Laurence Caruana, A. Andrew Gonzalez, David Heskin, Maura Holden, Daniel Mirante, Amanda Sage, Timea Tallian, Emma Watkinson and Aloria Weaver. Collectively and individually, they have taught hundreds of students, from all quarters of the globe, particularly through The Visions in the Mischtechnik Seminar in Italy.
At the heart of the programme is the individual artist’s quest for beauty, spirit and vision. The curriculum, developed by the Faculty as a whole, encourages both technical mastery and the creative expression of genius.
Yesterday, June 11, 2012, the first day of the trial, Nerdrum presented a 100 page book to the court detailing the history of some 35 paintings which were painted using a medium which proved unstable and the duplicate paintings that Nerdrum created to replace them when collectors complained.
ATTENTION! This is more or less a Google translation form the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, June 12, 2012, concerning the appeal case of Odd Nerdrum. I have corrected some of the translation as I saw fit, to help clarify, and have left Google’s translation in many places as I myself found it confusing. I have added comments denoted by ( ).
I do hope this helps.
-Brandon Kralik
Oslo, Norway, Dagbladet, June 12, 2012
Odd Nerdrum’s wife, Turid Spildo, was called as witness in the Court of Appeal today in the case of The State of Norway against the painter Odd Nerdrum.
Bank Box
Nerdrum has been indicted for aggravated tax fraud and was sentenced last year (Aug. 2011) to 2 years imprisonment (without the opportunity to paint) and to pay costs of
10,000 NKR. ( $ 1, 664 )
Today was the second day of the Appeal and the prosecuting lawyer, Asbjørg Lykkjen, among other things, asked about the much-talked-deposit box in Austria.
When asked why the deposit box was created Spildo replied that it was created because Nerdrum and his collaborator, Forum Gallery in New York feared claims against them and Nerdrum as a result of paintings whose structure had proved unstable.
- Worked at night
Nerdrum was concerned that the damaged paintings would ruin him and his reputation, and that he painted all the ruined images again to offer them to the owners as compensation. Today he told me that he was awake for a period at night to paint the old pictures again. ( Some had accepted the replacement paintngs, some had asked for money back, as I understand it, thus bringing about the need for the deposit box.)
- ”I worked a lot more than what is allowed by law. There you could probably also charge me”, said Odd Nerdrum slightly ironic to court today.
Giving Away Pictures
Spildo also informed the court that Nerdrum has a tendency to give away pictures as gifts.
- This is probably a little out of this matter, but I want to say that it has always been between men when Odd has sold pictures. He has a slight tendency to give away pictures, and I have intervened so that he will not give away too many, said Spildo in court.
Odd Nerdrums lawyer, Paul Berg, asked Spildo if she knew of the damaged the paintings, the potential compensation claim for the pictures and how experienced she was to take over the contact with accountants and lawyers from her husband at the beginning of the 2000s.
Misunderstandings
Spildo said she initially did not have a full overview of the problems of damaged paintings, the potential compensation claim and deposits in a bank box, and they therefore may have been some misunderstandings.
*A key part of the prosecution’s arguments are contradictory and details keep changing in the explanations given since the IRS began its audits of Nerdrum in 2004. (There are accounts that take this date back several years, at least until 2002, even 2001.)
- Impaired credibility
Dagbladet said the prosecutor Lykkjen that after the prosecution’s view this time is conflicting information in their testimony that weakens instigated Odd Nerdrum credibility. This is particularly the return of deposits totaling 900,000 dollars in bank box.
Prosecutors claim this is revenue from Odd Nerdrums paintings paid by Forum Gallery that Nerdrum should have paid tax on when the contributions were made in the form of five checks on 100 000 to 300 000 dollars from november 1998 to april 2001.
Complicated case
The trial in the Court of Appeal has so far been characterized by technical details related to a number of transfers and dates and bank accounts.
Odd Nerdrum’s defender, Paul Berg, told Dagbladet that he is worried that the jury will not be able to familiarize themselves with the very complicated matter in such a short time.
- I feel we have the essence of the matter, but it is difficult to present our evidence in an educational way, Berg told Dagbladet.
- There should have been judges
- Nerdrums lawyer, Berg, believes it is problematic that there is not appointed judges on the jury. This was applied for in advance of the appeal, but denied by the Supreme Court. ( I do not understand this paragraph and ask for clarification from the Norwegian sector…
- Only a jury, No judges?!?!)
- There should absolutely have been judges in this matter, but we’ll look at it like that if the jury is uncertain and it will be accused as a whole. (?)
- Will you appeal if Nerdrum is convicted again?
- So far we have not thought of that yet, but I trust that he will be acquitted, says Berg told Dagbladet.
From the forges of the far western wing of the Elvish Nation in Canadia, comes an innovative new incarnation of the galactik trading card oracle complex. This global arts initiative celebrates the potentials of the present moment and explores creative approaches to integrating planetary consciousness with cosmic perspectives. In the light of Lila, this visionary culture community building initiative includes artists and designers from all continents of the world, coming together to reflect a mosaic of magic.
The new set features Lila artists like Ernst Fuchs, Daniel Mirante, Oleg Korolev, Martina Hoffmann, Roberto Venosa, Yvonne McGillivray, Amanda Sage and Pablo Amaringo. Its a colorful exploration of many different painting techniques and traditions, sharing a spectrum of sacred artworks.
Due for release at Summer Solstice, this entirely non-profit project is seeking support to cover its core costs by pre-selling subscriptions at a special low price. For only $100 including free international shipping you will get 50 cards mailed out each month over a 25 month period. Support this grassroots global arts initiative by subscribing to this unique and innovative art card oracle deck. Contact delvin@cosm.org for more details or visit www.elvism.net
In a dramatic turn of events, the internationally renowned painter Odd Nerdrum has been granted a new trial in the Norwegian appeals court. His two year prison sentence has been overturned amid growing allegations of faulty evidence and infractions of the legal process during the trial.
Because his prison sentence was less than six years, the probability of being granted an appeal in Norway is incredibly low. Thus, the choice to overturn the sentence requires serious concerns about the district court’s verdict. The appeals court stated that it specifically wanted to review questions over a sum of $300,000 taxed in Iceland in 2003, as well as to re-consider Nerdrum’s explanation that this fiasco began due to some 40 paintings that had melted due to experimental techniques.
The date of the new trial has not yet been set.
To all those who have supported Odd Nerdrum during this trying time, thank you! Our efforts have been successful! Thank you to Michael Gormley and Allison Mallafronte for publishing The Nerdrum Affair in American Artist Magazine! I truly believe you have played an influential role in securing a fair trial for Odd Nerdrum. Thank you to Brandon Kralik, Alexey Steele, and Otto Rapp for your great efforts to make this case visible. And last, but not least, thank you Bork and Ode Nerdrum for doing such a great job with freeoddnerdrum.com!
Curator and painter Santiago Ribeiro, in collaboration with painter Liba Ws have organized an international exhibit at Dorothy’s gallery in the center of Paris.
Heritages Surrealistes
Artists from France, Portugal, Russia, United States, Czech Republic, Vietnam and Latvia are as following:
Andrei Nekrasov, Anne Ethuin, Benjamin Marques, Daniel Hanequand, Evgeny Denisov, Gregory Potosky, Isabel Meyrelles, Liba WS, Paula Rosa, Santiago Ribeiro, Serge Sunne, Shahla Rosa, Victor Lages, Vu Huyen Thuong, Yuri Shpakovsky And Yuri Tsvetaev.
During the course of the exhibit, the show will also present French surrealist painter and poet Bernard Ascal who will read poetry from his bestselling book on Aimé Césaire.
This show is testimony to the ever growing International movement of surrealists and visionary artists who express their universe through symbols both personal and sacred.
“Surrealism, which was born after the first world war, is characterized by its opposition to all social conventions, moral and logic. It is a movement immersed in dreams, instinct, desire, rebellion, and the liberty of life. It is also perhaps the movement most tied to imagination, a movement fully alive in the artistic and literary worlds. In Portugal, it is perhaps the link which ties these two worlds together. Prof. Perfecto Cuadrado said so aptly in one of his conferences: “The history of Surrealism, meaning anthologies, studies, catalogues (and exhibits) devoted to the so called International surrealism, needs to be divulged – the price, sometimes, in a simplified fight against other forms of simplification, when it is not against a total silence due to sectarianism, or ignorance whether French, Portuguese or International.” Surrealism through words, painting and sculpture continues, like life to be: insistent, concrete, daily and real. This exhibition in Paris, the birthplace of the movement, is proof that “International Surrealism” is still alive.”
Maria Fernanda Pinto
Paris, 06/01/2012
Practical Information:
Opening: Friday 30th March 2012, 6pm
Duration: 30th March – 15th April 2012
Opening Hours:
Wednesday to Saturday, 1pm – 7pm
Tuesday and Sunday, 4pm – 7pm
Dorothy’s Gallery
American Center for the Arts
27, rue Keller
Paris, 11e
France
Techniques to evoke the inner world:
Channelling drawings
Grisaille
and Mischtechnik oil painting
House of Many Mansions by Kuba
For these two consecutive weekends we will dive deep into our creative wellsprings and retrieve visions from our deep inner life with two experienced and recognized artists specializing in contemporary sacred art. We will learn to make egg tempera, render oil glazes, and will learn more about the lineage and methods of the great visionary masters. Learning to render with indian ink, egg tempera and oil paint.
$260 for one weekend, ‘grisaille’ drawing and monochromatic painting
$480 for both weekends where there will be the option to create new work or
develop the monochromatic painting into full-color work.
Space is limited to 10 participants.
To reserve your place requires a 50% downpayment (non-refundable if cancelling
less than 10 days before workshop commencement). Deposit can be paypalled to dan@lila.info
First weekend 10th and 11th March
Second weekend 17th and 18th March
To book or make enquiries please contact melbournemind@gmail.com or dan@lila.info
Elixir of Life was a hallmark visionary showcase for the UK
Elixir of Life, New Years Eve, was a hallmark visionary showcase for the UK and introduced many for the first time to a kind of art that they could appreciate.
Including work by Basia Wiacek, Timea Tallian, Daniel Mirante, Mark Lee, Amanda Sage, Luke Brown, Andrew Jones and Emma Watkinson, the gallery ‘Emanations’ gave new years eve party-goers a contemplative and inspiring environment where they could explore art of sacred dimensions.
Daniel Mirante - Song of Vajra
The feedback on the event indicates that finally the United Kingdom is warming up to visionary art, and the exhibition looks to move to a South Africa venue next..
The art was well attended and well received.
With kind thanks to the organizers and Emma Watkinson for her curatorship.
The Sensorium Project is a fusion of art and science.
The Sensorium is a community-based mobile arts project, a multidisciplinary collaborative gallery, created to exhibit interactive media, visionary art and sculpture. It is an independent self-contained multi-media installation fusing entertainment and education and is set to tour festivals, expositions and events around Australia.
It is a collective project utilising the latest interactive technologies to provide greater insight into the creative process and show how art has the ability to influence reality.
Featuring artwork from visionary artists around the globe and incorporating some of the latest cutting edge devices in motion sensor and biofeedback technology the project is really set to dissolve some boundaries.
Surrounding a raised 11m geodesic dome is an architectural exhibition structure displaying a large array of visionary art and illuminated sculptures. Inside is an expansive space with six video projectors covering the entire inner surface. Combined with surround sound and motion sensor technology this will produce a completely immersive environment.
The Sensorium can accommodate a 100 person audience and can be utilised as a cyber gallery of visionary art, cinema screenings, workshops, lectures, VJ performances and motion-sound-visual experiments.
The Sensorium Project aims to become an iconic and innovative multi-media platform – providing a unique exhibition space for many professional and emerging artists, developers and international special guests.
Crowd Funding Explained – You make it happen!
Obtaining funding through arts bodies to initiate such projects like the Sensorium is almost impossible, crowd funding is really the only option for creative ventures like ours to get off the ground. It offers each of us the opportunity to decide what projects get supported and its certainly looking to be the way of the future. The power to create bigger and better projects will be in the hands of the community and not the government.
Although it is a public platform and anyone can donate, it primarily appeals to those who know the people behind each project, friends, family, networks, community and tribe.
Attendee Information:
We will be initiating 4 paintings in 2 days, on a journey through the vast possibilities available through our clear connection to the creative impulse, consulting inner wisdom as we come into harmony with the sacred act of art-making.
Unifying left- and right-brain capacities, we synthesize our awareness and arrive in tune with our artistic intentions. The class provides a nurturing and supportive atmosphere where inspiration and manifestation intertwine to produce unlimited creative possibilities.
Healing Modalities to Liberate the Creative Force
TAT – Tapas Acupressure Technique
EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique
These tools allow us all to open ourselves the the abundant force of creation and are so simple that children can learn, use and teach these effective methods of transformation. We will gain an introductory awareness of what these technniques can provide in regards to art, though their effectiveness may help in crossing threshholds in all areas of our lives.
Studying Masterworks to Identify Their Magical Properties
Through visual presentations and books, we can better understand and recognize a common thread of traditionally recognized sacred art forms in painting. We will specifically focus on art and artists, from antiquity up through the modern day, whose messages speak to us from beyond the image, diving into the mythic, magical alchemy that is woven into the process of creating art.
Hands-On Painting
Aligning spontaneous expression with calculated analysis, the brain functions synthesize and we become deeply present with our creative focus through visualisation, meditation and dedication.
Students will receive guidance on each step of exploration, building the foundation for each painting to fulfill the potential of its own Divine inspiration. We will utilize brushes, pencils, hands and other tools while sketching, drawing, painting and allowing for unexpected surprises.
Instructors will provide 2 panels (12″x12″each) and 2 canvases (24″x24″ each) as the foundation for painting explorations, taking notice of the unique strengths each surface presents. Atop these surfaces, the depth of our art can flourish. Through the implementation of multiple “combination techniques” a greater spectrum of artistic flexibility can be wielded as our intentions are focused through the brush and into reality.
*Bring a sketch or photo, some kind of visual representation you would like to work with as a point of departure.
Please use a familiar source of inspiration for your subject matter in your classroom paintings. This should ideally be something relatively simplistic, and something you feel comfortable with.
We will have the opportunity to explore this visual focus of your artistic concentration in various painting techniques to truly understand the differences and strengths of each one, while highlighting the benefits of expanding through acrylics into oil paint.
We will be exploring the following combined techniques through visual presentations, demonstrations and hands-on application:
Materials
Tuition for the intensive includes the following materials:
Prepared Panels & Canvases
Paint (oil, acrylic & tempera)
Some Brushes will be available if needed
Pencils
Drawing Boards
Brush Washing & Cleaning Supplies
Gloves (for those sensitive to paint on the skin)
etc..
What To Bring
Students are encouraged to bring their own brushes and paint if desired, as a further opportunity to create bridges from our current abilities to our desired outcomes.
Please bring an easel or any other studio equipment which will aid you in being comfortable.
(We will make arrangements to ensure everyone has what they need to get in the creative flow.)
Students are also encouraged to bring a painting or prints of their artwork to share with the class. Original works could either be a finished piece or a work-in-progress that may be propelled toward completion through this exploration of new ways to paint.
Students may bring a camera to document the layers of their artwork if desired.
Date & Venue: To Be Announced
Class will be held for 8 hours each day, with an additional hour for lunch, when we will have the chance to watch slideshow presentations on the historical and modern Sacred Art movements, leading us into ongoing conversation regarding our own integration with Divine inspiration!
Class begins at 10AM and continues until approximately 7PM.
Visionary Art, Permaculture and Sacred Plants constitute important pillars to the temples of the new era – an era of medicine culture that will carry our species forward in its pilgrimage to a new cultural awakening.
As a manifestation of this emerging culture, an Alpine eco-village in Italy became the backdrop to the 4th annual gathering of Visionary artists, creating a space in which artists collaborate, share visions and techniques of the sacred, and re-vision the global matrix.
The idea is the dream-child of visionaries Laurence Caurana and Amanda Sage, who’s art and vision have continually manifested the journey towards unity and creative confluence. Both Caruana and Sage have apprenticed with Ernst Fuchs, arguably the founding inspiration for Visionary art as it stands. Fuchs, a technical and thematic innovator of supreme mastery, has influenced artists as diverse as HR Giger and Alex Grey.
Their founding intention was to hold space in which the techne and psyche of this visionary lineage can be transmitted, as well as providing sanctuary in which artists can weave a new level of wonder from collaboration – all within the mountains and grottoes of Torri Superiore, a once-abandoned but now regenerating labyrinthine village of spiralling stairs and narrow passages built from the local limestone in 1300. Nestled in foot-Alps, the inhabitants of this small community (half Italian, half German) live in harmony with their environment, practicing permaculture and sustainable living.
Artists of all visionary inclinations assembled for the summit. Andrew Gonzalez taught his special airbrush technique, through which he manifested mind-blowing visions of angels, dakinis and sophianic figures. Gonzalez crossed paths with Caruana and Sage ten years ago when all three of them worked with ‘the Godfather’ of Visionary Art, Professor Ernst Fuchs, on his life’s crowning achievement: The Apocalypse Chapel in Southern Austria.
The Madonna by Basia Wiacek and Andrew Gonzalez, one of the art treasures to have manifested at the seminar
Maura Holden, who’s incredible paintings defy categorisation, loaded with attention to detail, unique explorations of colour harmonics, also taught drawing, sacred geometry and visualizations (taking full advantage of Torri’s natural surroundings). Through intuition & visual thinking, Maura & her students practiced ‘drawing from within’ ~ exploring creative drawings that may encompass sacred geometry, multiple perspectives & sources of light.
More than a dozen emerging artists gathered with these more experienced guides to pursue their visions in paint and map out the new dimensions of time, hyperspace and ahistorical awakening. Just as yoga or meditation may aid the psychonaut on a medicine journey, so does painting become a discipline which not only centers us in the sacred, but allows the divine to work through us in the all-creative flow from the source. Through free-form creation and mindful collaboration, the artists hope to chart, in a unified but dynamic way, the subtle energies, images and forms that may ultimately heal a planet in distress.
Laurence Caruana is an important figure in the Visionary art movement. A ‘secret chief’, his erudite writings have delineated the ‘state of the art’, and his own personal art practice delves into Hindu, Aztec, Buddhist and Byzantine icons, variously crossing their myths and combining their styles – making him one of the more daring explorers of ancient mythologies. After authoring the cult classic A Manifesto of Visionary Art, he recently released Enter Through the Image, a book which RS contributor Erik Davis has recently praised on his Expanding Mind radio show.
Co-teacher Amanda Sage has made an important contribution to the visioncraft. Bouncing back and forth between Bali, Vienna and Los Angeles, she’s created canvases that vibrate with energy: a dynamic interweaving of lines afire with form and color. “Through my work I aim to help break apart the illusion of separation,” she says, “and create portals that open to the infinite possibilities of being.” In Vienna, Sage helped administrate the Werkstätten-und Kulturhaus, better known as the WUK – a one-time squat in a former train factory that is now recognized as an autonomous cultural hub. In Los Angeles, Sage’s studio served as mid-wife to the birth of The Temple of Visions Gallery, now a major gathering place for Visionary art and happenings.
“With such a well-timed combination of creative spirits,” Caruana says, “I’m stoked to see these figures of the imagination flowing forth. Most of all, I feel support and co-creation from the group that’s forming. Our creativity and talents always need a little nurturing, and I think each of us will feel comforted and encouraged by the others.”
Sharing my personal reflections, I was indeed struck by the level of intimacy, trust and intensity built up quickly within the group, reaching a pitch of creative focus and inspiration that unfolded day to day like a flowering celebration. There were many meaningful and heartfelt affirmations and personal journeys of initiation shared within the group, including a baptismal ceremony, lead by Laurence, within the pure waters of the river. Such a ritual allowed for a circle of energy and prayer to be deeply laid down, to further hone and refine intention.
Within the pristine setting of Torri Superiori, the richness of experience was powerful and significant. New friendships formed and older allegiances deepened. On dimensions of healing, artistic development, and the strengthening of creative community, this was a journey, a pilgrimage of potency, life changing. A deeply evolving congruence of beautiful hearts and minds.
I am flaking. Small scraps of skin are falling off around my mouth and down my neck. What could it be this time. The last time my skin flaked, there were some economic advisors that scared me. They just made me more confused, gave bad advice and sent the bill afterwards. This was a few years ago. We were buying a house in a foreign land we did not know. We are still struggling with the complicated system the economic advisors devised. After large bills and some random small bills we rid ourselves of the leeches and my skin stopped flaking.
Now I am flaking again!
Could it be that I am shedding skin like the snake? I am in the midst of my forties, in the so-called menopause. Changes are, apparently, to be expected. In addition it is the middle of March. Menopause and March. Two big changes.
Last evening I took a glass of wine in the bar and looked at the papers. Then I went to the room for a rather early night. I lie half-awake and look around, and I register that I am not at home.
The phone rings.
My husband has listened to the morning news in old Norway. The radio says that 14 million kroner (2.6 million US dollars) and 50 øre (10 cents) have disappeared. The tax authorities cannot find the money. Trial in 4 months.
I am glad the music recording last week was not disturbed by such shocks. Now I am meeting with the accountant. My thoughts are about numbers. Then, afterwards, it is homeward on a plane.
Back home again, we will, together with the lawyer, find out of this. We knew beforehand that the deposit was fine. (The district attorney’s fantasies about the repayment came as a surprise during the trial).
But no.
They don’t want conversation.
They want performance.
If a society has too much bread, and bullfighting and cockfights have been outlawed, well then society demands a performance with humans in the arena. The individualist should be hunted down psychologically. Now it is time for middle-aged men. Okay.
But back to the remaining 14 million. We ask the lawyer. He prattles. We try to understand the thick manuscript from the police, but give up. We look at the last pages and try again to understand, but no. It is not possible. Two lawyers work for us. One of them and I, go to Iceland together. Hunting.
We have a meeting with an accountant who promises to send the papers within 10 days. It is just 5 weeks until the trial. The Accused has given me the task of finding out where in the account books the missing amount is, or should have been.
In hindsight we have understood that our lawyer believed more in the prosecuting authorities than in us. Maybe he thought that the Taxpayer put the millions in his pocket and went to a nightclub while I sat at home with 4 little children. The lawyer will of course spare me from this knowledge as long as possible. I am the Virgin Mary who is married to Death. Thinks the lawyer. Virgins must be saved. I can get no information out of him.
Ten days pass. Most Icelanders saddle on one day and ride the next. That is if they don’t have the devil at their heels. And they don’t. We do! We are in a panic and we are practically phone-terrorizing the lawyers. We want to know now!
Then it arrives.
Several checks were cashed in a Norwegian bank, but they have not been reported for taxation.
“When?” we ask.
The lawyer needs some time to investigate this.
Is this possible? Even as late as the 90’ one did not withdraw such large amounts of cash in a Norwegian bank. My husband is wondering if he has been a Mr. Hyde without knowing. But he is certain that everything was deposited in the account.
The same evening Taxpayer steps on the dog as he crosses the kitchen floor. The dog had come between the robe and the feet in the hopes that a piece of food might fall to the floor. Cosette screams. I scream because the dog screams. We all stand there, fear struck and staring at each other.
The next morning we go to New York. It is June and the first year without a bonfire on St. Hans (Midsummer’s Eve). Our 14 yearlong tradition is broken. The yearly workshop in New York the day before Midsummer makes it impossible to return home in time. The youngest of the children is certain that we will never celebrate St. Hans again.
Two travel-days and two workshop-days in the city above all cities. The whole time 14 millions float like butterflies in front of the eyes of us both. Back home again we receive news of the dates when the checks were registered. We go to our papers and find the amounts on our bank statements. Everything is there. We then send this to both our lawyers, with the message that all the money that goes into a Norwegian bank is automatically reported and registered as income by both an accountant and tax authorities.
Boom!
The missing amounts are found.
Found??
They have never been missing!
Why did the tax authorities and the police add to these amounts?
We live in a time where everything is open. Any one can write what he or she wants. Blog or homepage. It is even free. But it is difficult to get articles published in newspapers. The young know nothing of this, because in their lifetime it has always been this way. But someone in the middle of their forties or more, has experienced that it was once easy to get an article in print in a major newspaper, as long as it was written intelligently. Books are almost impossible to get published now, unless they are about crime or food.
But the word is free…
I can blog…
Then my blog can be shut down. The homepage too.
And the Facebook profile…
Then I don’t exist any more.
Maybe you will not find my blog the next time you try…
The trial is set to August 2. The court is still on vacation as are most people at that time. Oslo and Norway were attacked 10 days before the trial began. It was a political attack that killed about 80 people. The country is in an uproar. The highest authorities give orders about democracy and openness. But many know that now is the time to keep quiet. It is silent on the streets this morning. But the journalists need new material and they are ready at the courthouse.
The Accused should state his full name and his income for last year.
The Prosecutor and the Defense Attorney grill the Accused, each in their own turn.
The same speeches over and over, like a carousel. 450 000 dollars sit upon a horse while 325 000 dollars are pushed around by the dolphin. The carousel turns all day. Witnesses come in and go out. The judge wants a break, the carousel stops for a moment. The Prosecutor, with her piercing in her left eyebrow, allows herself to be interviewed and photographed in the lunch break.
Then it begins again.
The journalists are sitting front row on the pillow-covered benches with their PCs in their laps. They write an article, which is published immediately. The next day it is quiet on the steps up to the courthouse. The dogs have been fed.
I sit down at the back of the room on the hard church bench (without pillows) together with our sons. The Accused is sketching. Several good ideas are noted and drawn while the carousel goes round and round.
At the time when the first news arrived of a destroyed painting, Taxpayer was distressed, the kind of distress you feel when you hear the burglar on the ground floor is on his way up the stairs. But when news arrived of the second and third painting, he laid prostrate and stayed in his bed for three whole days. He lay there and realized that 10 year’s production would be lost, slowly but surely. He lay there and understood why. The mastic that he and his students had experimented with was not good. Later, he realized that the mastic probably was from young trees and not from old trees like it always had been before… Because of this the resin triggers a meltdown …
When the Accused rose on the third day, he had decided to re-paint all the paintings from this decade. Without the mastic of course. I imagine he threw all the mastic in the trash that night. I remember a student a few years later who was curious about this oil mix. Odd paled and told him that he should never ask about that again nor should he ever think about it again.
The tax department’s interest in us was based on the fact that there were 2 editions of some paintings. This authority, an authority that is supposed to help the citizens, thought that Odd had painted the pictures a second time in order to make money. They thought he was a crook.
We return to the carousel.
The horse passes with his numbers, sometimes in dollars, sometimes in kroner. Then the dolphin comes with the number 325 000 dollars on his back. The Prosecutor thinks that this amount has been far down in Europe on its travels, in an illegal bank. The dolphin is ashamed.
The Dolphin’s visit to Luxemburg was an illegal visit, claims the Prosecutor. The judge’s remark that the bank was Icelandic the prosecutor must accept. Still the Prosecutor dragged up Luxemburg again and again. Luxemburg is now on the carousel and sits on a pig that is round and merry.
And then we have the bank box. The bank box, the bank box.
The carousel goes round and round. The bank box sits on the lap of a pirate who is grinning.
Then a dry little human from the tax office appears. She tells of questions that were sent to the Taxpayer years, and years ago. They received a reply, but they still sent more questions. This might bring to mind the king who wanted to give away the princess and half the kingdom to the one who managed to get water at the world’s end. But as soon as the boy managed his task, the king came up with more tasks.
Then a special auditor arrives. He has probably used half a work year to examine the Accused’s activities in spooky foreign lands. He seems like he is impressed by the speeches presented by the carousel. Maybe he is a lover of painting. Maybe he buys paintings on the sly.
…
He talks for a long time. But when he finally says that no irregularities were found, the prosecutor interrupts and wants a brake.
Witnesses arrive and tell of paintings, from a 10-year period, which dissolved and were destroyed. Owners demanded recompense either in the form of pictures or money. In a small country with poor systems for that kind of problem, an employer from a bigger country must step in.
A deposit is the solution.
The prosecutor delivers her long closing statement and suggests 2 years imprisonment.
We go 4 months back in time:
The week after the 14 million and 50 øre were on the morning news in old Norway, our children were met with peering eyes and direct questions.
One of our children said to his classmate:
“No, that’s not right. It is they who owe us money.”
In December last year a large bill arrived from the tax authorities and it had to be paid within 10 days. If we did not pay they would take collateral in property and in addition a 9% interest.
Then it turned out that the millions were “found” and reported to the tax authorities and the tax was paid.
In other words it is the government that owes us money…
We have paid double tax, that is, we have paid 100% for a very large amount…
If the Prosecutor has it her way, the Accused can never go to the USA to teach and have workshops. Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)…The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)…New York Academy of Art…The USA denies entry to all prior convicts.
So there might by a St. Hans celebration next year after all. But it will never be the same.
The Norwegian artist, Odd Nerdrum, was sentenced to two years in prison without bail on Wednesday August 17th, when a local court in Oslo found him guilty of tax evasion. He will not be allowed to paint in prison. Critics claim that Nerdrum’s sentence was surprisingly more severe than the punishment recently imposed in a similar case in China concerning the artist Ai Weiwei, who was given a fine and released on house arrest after three months of detainment.
Odd Nerdrum - The savior of the painting
Nerdrum has pled not guilty and will file an appeal.
Famous for his Old master-like paintings, the 67 year old artist was accused of failing to pay the full amount of taxes on $2.6 million (1.8 million euros) of taxable income from sales between 1998-2002, just before he became an Icelandic citizen.
Hearing the verdict, Nerdrum‘s lawyer Tor Erling Staff told the NTB news agency “I have rarely read such a verdict that allows so little room for doubt. The essential elements [of the case] were not taken into account and we are really not happy. We will appeal.”
Nerdrum stated that he had already paid the taxes years ago, telling the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, “ I paid 50% of the $2.5 million in 1998. And then I paid another 50% on that sum in 2002, adding up to 100% of the $2.5 million. Hasn’t the goal been reached by the Norwegian government yet?”
“Nerdrum has been found guilty of aggravated fiscal fraud,” ruled the Oslo district court, defining the crime as aggravated because the artist “put significant work into hiding his assets, especially by placing a large quantity of money in a safety deposit box.”
In response to this accusation Nerdrum produced in court, a contract with a U.S gallery, explaining why the money was placed in the safety deposit box. The contract describes the money as a safety fund for some 36 paintings that he created in the 80’s using an experimental medium which collectors complained began to melt when exposed to heat. Nerdrum repainted each of these compositions between 1989-2002, and offered to exchange them, yet many collectors preferred a refund. Nerdrum established the fund as a safety measure against future claims.
Nerdrum, who has the neurological disease tourettes syndrome, stated at the beginning of the case that the charges were “rubbish” and that he was “not good with numbers”. This is why he left the accounting to his tax accountant. He said that the 9 year tax investigation and trial were intended to drive him toward suicide.
Odd Nerdrum is an International treasure, some even say a savior of the art world. He is a man of integrity and a stand against what many see as the essential emptiness of modern art and life. Too put a man of his age – especially a benevolent genius such as Odd – away in a prison cell for some dubious tax claims is unjust and unfair and a crime in itself. Odd Nerdrum is more than an artist, he is a symbol of pure individualism and that, in itself, is the highest hope for art and man.
My mentor, Odd Nerdrum has been sentenced to two years in prison. He is a man who has dedicated his life’s work to defending human dignity, a man who has given his profound knowledge freely to thousands of students over the years without charging a single penny, a man who generously opened his home and family to my wife and I when we lost our jobs in New York City in the midst of the financial crisis and were quite literally homeless…
This man has been sentenced to two years in jail for tax evasion for $1.5 million USD in taxable income. At his age (67), a jail sentence could actually kill him.
It is with deep sadness that I write this to you today but also with
gratitude, for a magical and special life completed.
My beloved husband, Robert Venosa, grand master of visionary art, transitioned gracefully and peacefully yesterday at 6:56PM in Boulder, Colorado surrounded by his favorite Goddesses.
He was 75 years old.
More information in regards to a a showing and memorial service for him will be announced.
10th August, 2011 it was announced that Robert Venosa has made his passage. He was 75 years of age.
Much love to Bob and his family.
Much love, Robert. You have had a big and positive influence upon the life of many through your art and being. Spread those wings and fly.
Buddhasphinx
“My wish for the coming age is that humanity becomes once again conscious of our spiritual union with the divine works of art – inspired creations by masters such as Robert Venosa.” – Dr. Albert Hofmann
1978 – Robert Venosa: Manas Manna (Big “O” Publishing) ISBN 0905664027
1991 – Robert Venosa: Noospheres (Pomegranate Communications Inc,US) ISBN 0876548176
1999 – Robert Venosa: Illuminatus (with Terence McKenna, Ernst Fuchs, H. R. Giger, and Mati Klarwein) (Craftsman House) ISBN 90-5703-272-4
2006 – True Visions (Erik Davis and Pablo Echaurren) (Betty Books) ISBN 88-902372-0-1
2007 – Metamorphosis (beinArt) ISBN 978-0-9803231-0-8
Four original oil-on-canvas paintings by Luke Brown, the fruits of many years work, are unaccounted for at the close of the 2011 Alchemeyez visionary art congress.
If you have any info regarding their whereabouts please contact Jen Ingram @ 707.391.6729
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