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Alegorical

Return of the Salvador Dalí Tarot

Last Modified December 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

When most people think about Salvador Dalí, the first thing that comes to mind is likely his mind-bending work as one of the vanguards of surrealism—melting clocks, spindly-limbed monsters, bizarre tableaus that tread the line between dreamscape and nightmare… either that or his trademark mustache. 

However, Dalí’s oeuvre is not simply limited to oil paintings; throughout his career, he dabbled in a wide variety of eccentric and surprising formats. He made sculptures, cookbooks, wine guides, designed sets for plays and operas, and even collaborated on an animated film with Walt Disney. One of the most unique undertakings of his career though is undoubtedly the infamous Dalí tarot deck, which has been a highly-sought and hard to find collector’s item since its original release in the mid-80s. Well, good news: the Dalí tarot deck is back, and it’s better than ever.

Return of the Dali Tarot Deck

Taschen, the publisher behind a number of high-end hardcover volumes of Dalí’s work, has recently re-released the Dalí tarot deck as a beautiful 78-card box set. Included with the deck itself is an insightful companion book by author and tarot scholar Johannes Fiebig, which delves into Dalí’s life and process while completing his tarot series. The book also provides detailed information on the history of tarot, explanations of what the individual cards mean, and instructions on how to perform your own readings with the deck. The addition of Fiebig’s book elevates the previous version of the deck by making it one of those rare art objects that are not only inspiring to behold, but also functional to use.

Although it’s easy to imagine Dalí deciding to delve into tarot cards on a psychedelic whim, his original impetus for creating the deck is perhaps even stranger than the fact that he made one at all. The deck was commissioned by famed film producer Albert Broccoli as a prop for the classic 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore and Jane Seymour. In the film, Seymour plays a psychic medium called Solitaire who uses tarot cards to track the legendary MI6 spy James Bond. Legend has it that after Dalí began working on the deck it became clear that his fees would be too high for the production to afford, so Broccoli decided to scrap the idea and the tarot deck prop was cut from the film.

Thankfully, Dalí’s wife Gala encouraged his interest in mysticism and the occult, and he became so enamored with the process of creating the tarot deck that he continued to work on it for more than a decade. 

Many of the cards themselves feature Dalí’s interpretations of classic works of art, such as Vincenzo Camuccini’s The Death of Julius Caesar, which stands in for the Ten of Swords. As a tribute to Gala, he included her likeness in the deck as the figure of the Empress, which is quite an appropriate choice, since the Empress represents the creation of life, romance, and art. Dalí also included himself in the deck as the figure of the Magician, which represents self-confidence and signifies success in upcoming ventures. When he finally completed the tarot deck in 1984, the original limited edition was lauded by tarot readers and Dalí fans alike and quickly sold out, so it seems that his casting of himself as the magician was indeed a prophetic choice… fated by the cards, perhaps?

For a particularly surreal tarot experience, and as a supplement to Fiebig’s guide, try combining the Dalí tarot deck with surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s series of instructional tarot YouTube videos, in which he provides in-depth lessons on the history and practice of tarot reading, as well as personalized readings for followers of his channel. Jodorowsky and Dalí were contemporaries, and Dalí was even slated to appear in Jodorowsky’s ill-fated attempt to make a big-budget version of the sci-fi classic Dune. Although there’s no evidence that the two surrealist visionaries ever discussed their mutual interest in tarot, at least not on record, it’s fun to imagine what that conversation would have been like; one has to assume it would have been either extremely profound or completely incomprehensible.

Until the new Taschen edition, which was released this past November, original copies of the deck were extremely hard to come by, selling for upwards of $500 on online auction websites like eBay. The 2019 version of the deck is much more affordable, retailing on Taschen’s website for $60 USD. It makes a perfect gift for any lover of Dalí’s artwork, or just tarot cards in general. So if you want to take a surreal glimpse into your future, or just have some fun with your open-minded, art-loving friends, there’s no better way to do so than with a tarot deck designed by the inimitable Salvador Dalí.

Surrealism meets Symbolism in Salvador Dalí’s tarot deck

Combining the occult with his own unmistakable sensibility, Dalí’s tarot is a pastiche of old-world art, surrealism, kitsch, Christian iconography and Greek and Roman sculpture.

— openculture.com

Deck of 78 tarot cards with booklet in a box, 7.4 x 13 in., 184 pages

Pre-Order Dali’s Tarot Deck.

Further Reading:

Salvador Dalí’s Tarot Cards Will Tell Your Surreal Future
Salvador Dalí’s Surreal Tarot Card Designs from the 1970’s to be Released as a Complete Deck
Salvador Dalí’s surreal tarot cards from the ’70s and ’80s being reissued

Filed Under: Book Tagged With: Alegorical, Conceptual, Figurative, Illustration, Juxtaposition, Mysticism, Painterly, Psychological

Genres: Mystical and Occult, Surrealism

Albane Simon

Last Modified October 24, 2019 Leave a Comment

About Albane Simon

Imagine a world where linear time has lost all relevance. A place where past memories and future visions dance in a familiar present gone awry, this is where nightmares collide with lucid clarity. Touching on topics diverse as ecology, science, architecture, and spirituality.

All is loneliness - Albane Simon
Chaos Machine - Albane Simon
Crimireality TV - Albane Simon
Divine messenger - Albane Simon
Flooding Brain - Albane Simon
Gaspard Born Card - Albane Simon
Gourmandise - Albane Simon
Guide du Whisky-Flammarion éditions - Albane Simon
Happy Valentine's day! - Albane Simon
Illusion Et Réalité (2010) - Albane Simon
Le Monde Perdu on canvas - Albane Simon
Low end theory flyer - Albane Simon
Luxure - Albane Simon
Meditation - Albane Simon
Plagues of Egypt - Albane Simon
Schizophrenia - Albane Simon
Seek & Find - Children’s book project - Albane Simon
Sheep under control - Albane Simon
Somewhere in Outer Space - Albane Simon
Waterland - Albane Simon

instagram.com/albanesurrealcollagist/

Filed Under: Collage Tagged With: Alegorical, Cinema, Conceptual, Disintegration, Nostalgia, Psychological, Recursive, Religion, Sci-fi, Whimsical

Genres: Visionary Art

James McCarthy

Last Modified October 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

James McCarthy is a surrealistic landscape painter. McCarthy’s psychedelic/cosmic mindscapes wrestle with the concepts of space-time and the afterlife.

Across the Event Horizon - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Along the Frozen Lake - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Cosmic Petunias - Oil on canvas. 20x30
Dawn in the Garden of Creation - Oil on canvas. 22x28
Death - Oil on canvas. 20x30
KODAK Digital Still Camera
KODAK Digital Still Camera
Echoes - Oil on canvas. 15x30
Halloween - Oil on canvas. 18x24
In the Court of the Crimson King - Oil on canvas. 20x30
Luminous Energy Harvesters II - Oil on canvas. 22x28
Nursery - Oil on canvas. 20x24
Shadow Box and Surroundings - Oil on canvas. 18x24
Stars and Snow - Oil on canvas. 15x30
Sunshower - Oil on canvas. 22x30
The Garden in the Valley of the Stars - Oil on canvas. 22x30
The Tower on the Edge of Infinity - Oil on canvas. 18x24
We Are Stardust - Oil on canvas. 22x28

Artist’s Statement

I’m a surrealist but I also consider myself a landscape painter.

I like to paint biomorphic forms but I’m also interested in capturing the moods of various landscapes.

I like to depict the weather and the seasons – the seasons especially because seasons note the passing of time.

Winter has a special meaning for me as well. It represents solitude and wonder.

Much of my work is inspired by ‘mindscape’ music such as New Age, psychedelic, certain classical pieces, prog rock and medieval music.

As I grow older I’ve become increasingly more intrigued by what life’s Final Door has in store for us. Is it a doorway to eternity or oblivion?

James McCarthy on DeviantArt
James McCarthy on Facebook

Filed Under: Painting Tagged With: Alegorical, Juxtaposition, Landscape, Lyrical, Mysticism, Nature, Psychological, Space, Time

Genres: Psychedelic Art, Visionary Art

Konan Lim

Last Modified October 6, 2019 Leave a Comment

Painting by Konan Lim

About Konan Lim

Konan Lim is a Dubai-based Filipino artist. Lim was born and raised in the Philippines and discovered his passion for art at a young age. During his childhood, Lim won numerous art competitions. In 2005 he received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.

In 2007 he moved to Dubai to work as an Architect while still pursuing painting. From 2012 he participated in several local exhibitions to international shows. He has been commissioned in mural art events & collaborated with several artists.

Lim whimsically portrays childhood nostalgia through his representational paintings. The works play on the boundaries of playfulness and cuteness-overload but with something strange ominous permeating the atmosphere. Each work is exquisitely rendered and painterly: Lim’s craftmanship is surpassed only by his own strange imagination.

Lim’s images juxtapose conflicting emotions into a unified narrative: suggesting something strangely distorted and through-the-looking-glass about childhood memory in his compelling, surrealistic images.

konanlim.com

Filed Under: Painting Tagged With: Alegorical, Animals, Anxiety, Figurative, Juxtaposition, Painterly, Psychological, Victorian, Whimsical

Genres: Lowbrow Art (Pop Surrealism)

Stephen Gibb

Last Modified August 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

Caught - by Stephen Gibb
Contemplation - by Stephen Gibb
Diamonds - by Stephen Gibb
Dopamine - by Stephen Gibb
Hollow Man - by Stephen Gibb
Lost - by Stephen Gibb
Marshmallow - by Stephen Gibb
Out of your mind - by Stephen Gibb
Take - by Stephen Gibb
Time Idioms - by Stephen Gibb
Uncanny Valley - By Stephen Gibb

Artist Statement

I imagine a world where the visually rich language of fairy tales and nursery rhymes extends into adulthood. The traditional nature of this kind storytelling is best presented with visual aids; simple, straightforward text accompanied by fantastic illustrations. In our culture, this is a conventional part of our collective upbringing and experience. These stories often convey lessons, which are coded in familiar, symbolic language, and are likely where we first encounter metaphor and allegory.

We carry these symbolic codes into adulthood—like wolf equals bad, pig equals good. The narratives I deliver in my paintings utilize this common trove of visual references; however with more mature and timely messages.

The intertwined relationship between language and image has always guided me in constructing my artwork—using visual puns, symbolic themes and literal translations from words into paintings. Often the compositions and assemblies of characters seem to clash in a surreal incongruence, but on some level, they relate by a verbal association or some idiomatic commonality. My aim is to exploit these visual conventions and present something visually arousing with dynamic color and compelling content.

The level of “payoff” sophistication that the viewer “gets” from the paintings is relative to their own personal experience and history. There may be universal themes revealed, and there may be idiosyncratic dead ends. There is no correct reading of the images other than what the viewer extracts on their own. Even my opinion and the depth of what they mean to me may change from day to day.

Biography

Stephen Gibb lives and works in the small town of Amherstburg, in southern Ontario, Canada and maintains a second studio in Windsor. He earned a B.F.A. in visual arts from the University of Windsor and is currently represented by the St. Germain gallery in Toronto. Among the cities he has exhibited in are San Diego, Sacramento, and Hollywood— the hotbed of California’s Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism community. His work is collected around the globe and has gained widening interest since working on the album art for hip hop artist Trippie Redd.

Links:

facebook.com/bubblegumsurrealism/
instagram.com/stephengibbart/
stephengibb.com/gallery/

Filed Under: Painting Tagged With: Alegorical, Figurative, Painterly, Pop Culture, Psychological, Whimsical

Genres: Low Brow and Pop Surrealism

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