One of the most interesting Tarot decks I got last year was the Hexen 2.0 by artist Suzanne Treister.
It’s a conspiracy laden, politically radical, cybernetic, psychedelic, utopian/dystopian, science- and history-minded set of cards that surprisingly enough, gives really good readings.
I wouldn’t recommend it for romantic questions, but it offers some very astute observations when asked about politics, society and western culture in general.
This year, I’m happy to report (via Phantasmaphile), that they’ve made their way to North America and are on display until February 23rd at P.P.O.W. in New York City.
I don’t think I’ll be able to make the show, but I’d certainly be there if I were in the NYC area. It looks fascinating. I wish it would come to Toronto.
My French isn’t very good, but it was good enough for me to notice this song by Simpol called Comme un jeu de Tarot, which roughly translates into Like a Game of Tarot.
It’s a song about how a man’s life parallels the cards in the Tarot deck, a sentiment I understand well.
Hannah Manocchio is a fourth year art student at Elmhurst College in Illinois who’s decided to make Tarot’s Major Arcana her Senior Art Capstone Project.
Manocchio is making 22 colour reduction woodcuts of all the Major Arcana cards, and the ones she’s done so far are great.
You can see them at her Kickstarter Page, where you can also read a little more about her and her project.
I wish she was willing to deliver her pledge gifts to Canada. I’d love to have a t-shirt with one of her card images on it.
And if she ever makes a full deck, I’d certainly be interested in getting one.
If you’re a Tarot enthusiast in the Los Angeles area with a particular fondness for the Star card, get down to the Anat Ebgi Gallery some time between now and January 26th.
Artist Jen DeNike is presenting her multi-media art show The Star Card, inspired by Tarot’s card #17.
It’s a mix of photography, sculpture, collage and a video of the Star goddess herself acting out the process of renewal and reflection.
If I were in LA, I’d definitely take a look. The Star card, after all, is one of my very favourites. She’s just so sweet.
Cao has created his own Tarot deck of forty cards in which he actively melds the past with the present, and future.
Thirty-two of the cards feature contemporary images of late greats Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, and Kurt Cobain fused with historical portraits by European Masters.
The remaining eight cards show symbols inspired by art of the renaissance and baroque periods.
Not only are paintings of the cards to be displayed at Cao’s show in New York City (and later in Rovereto, Italy), he’ll be doing private one-on-one readings with visitors who might want to connect with the stars.
You can get both a reading for yourself, as well as the opportunity to ‘contact the spirit of your idols and help them to find the enlightened path to eternal rest.’
How great is that!? An art show, a Tarot reading, and a chance to help the departed.
The video below is not about Tarot, but it is loosely connected with fortune telling.
The Shape of Time, Reconsidered is an except from a slightly longer film by Annie MacDonell. It features a conservator restoring a resin hand from an old fortune telling machine.
MacDonell’s purpose in the piece is to highlight questions surrounding consumption, authenticity, and originality, and to reflect on our perception of time.
While restoring the old fortune teller’s hand she shows us that time can heal as well as decay, and that honouring what has already been created is at least as valuable an enterprise as making something new just to throw it away.
Using the fortune teller’s hand is perfect. The whole story was in her palm.
For those of you lucky enough to be in the area of Perth, Western Australia, specifically the City of Fremantle, you might want to stop by the Buratti Fine Arts gallery.
As I discovered while visiting one of my favourite occult art blogs, Phantasmaphile, the Windows to the Sacred show will be opening this coming Friday, July 13th.
The exhibition is showcasing esoteric art from various traditions including work derived through automatic drawing, digital technology, printmaking, sculpture, and painting.
Works of contemporary Australian artists will be hanging alongside those of international and historical artists, including two pieces by occult master and creator of the Thoth Tarot, Aleister Crowley.
For Crowley’s paintings alone I’d take a look. One is an auto-portrait he did in 1922 titled ‘The Sun,’ while the other is called ‘The Moon (Study for Tarot Card)’, also from 1922.
The show runs until August 22nd. If you’re in the area, get down to see it!!
