Visionary art

Psalm 69 – Egg tempera and oil on wood by Ernst Fuchs.

Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences.

Both trained and self-taught (or outsider) artists have, and continue to create visionary works. Many visionary artists are actively engaged in spiritual practices, and some have drawn inspiration from psychedelic drug experiences.

Walter Schurian, professor at the University of Munster, is quick to point out the difficulties in describing visionary art as if it were a discrete genre, since "it is difficult to know where to start and where to stop. Recognized trends have all had their fantastic component, so demarcation is apt to be fuzzy."

Contemporary visionary artists count Hieronymous Bosch, William Blake, and Gustave Moreau amongst their antecedents. Symbolism, Surrealism and Psychedelic art are also direct precursors to contemporary visionary art.

The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, which includes Ernst Fuchs and Arik Brauer, is also to be considered an important technical and philosophical catalyst in its strong influence upon the contemporary visionary culture.

*Annunciation* by Mati Klarwein from the Santana *Abraxas* album cover.

Important networks and organisations

On the internet, the Society for the Art of Imagination, founded by Brigid Marlin serves as an important portal for visionary art events.

Laurence Caruana's Paris-based The Visionary Revue brings attention to lesser-known visionary artists and analyses aspects of visionary art from an erudite scholarly perspective.

Lila : Journal of Cosmic Play, established in 1999 by Daniel Mirante features a new interview bimonthly with well known visionary artists. The Surreal Visionary Art Forum, established by Australian Jon Beinart also provides a very useful networking tool for those interested in the contemporary movement. Jon also founded the beinArt International Surreal Art Collective which exhibits visionary artists in context of the movement.

More recently, a new wave of visionary artists collaborate under the umbrella of Elfintome, Tribe 13 and Lila, which function as modern cooperatives involved in self-publishing and promotion of visionary artists through the internet and via festivals such as Burning Man and BOOM, and exhibition /ritual spaces such as Synergenesis and the Interdimensional Art Movement.

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Creation of The Birds by Remedios Varo