“Mundus Imaginalis” solo exhibition of Russell Stephenson at Art Legacy
Russell Stephenson
Art Legacy
Feb 2, 2016 – March 3, 2017
Exhibition Review Written by: Gabriel Diego Delgado
“Mundus Imaginalis”,
a solo exhibition of new artworks by San Antonio artist, Russell Stephenson at
the recently established Art Legacy Gallery, which opens on Feb. 2, 2017 –
March 3, 2017, showcases a world beyond our own, a metaphysical one – of
infinite depth and detail. Although there are approximately three distinct
groupings of artwork on display, all explore aspects of a certain visual
aesthetics. Familiar aspects of
recognizable realism are combined with unacquainted alien-scapes, and three
dimensional illusions of floating carved and gouged abstractions.
This Latin title loosely translates to: “Imaginary World” or
‘World of the Imaginary’, a signature term that was coined by and is derived
from theologian, philosopher and scholar, Henry Corbin (1903-1978).
The Hermetic Library states, “Corbin’s life was devoted to the struggle to free the religious
imagination from fundamentalisms of every kind. His work marks a watershed in
our understanding of the religions of the West and makes a profound
contribution to the study of the place of the imagination in human life…
Imaginative Consciousness, Cognitive Imagination.”
Corbin was heavily influenced by the writings of Suhrawardi,
the 12th century Persian mystic and philosopher and his views on
Zoroastrianism, one of the earliest religions that influenced Judaism,
Christianity and Islam.
This is where we must begin folks…in this coded language of
abstract thought that goes beyond our current understandings of religion,
meditative practice and spirituality.
Stephenson transports us to the ‘conceptual’ mindscapes that
linger somewhere in the 5th, 6th or 7th dimension.
In the abyss, these ephemeral and heavenly bodies, decreed by elements of
abstract realism images exist… somewhere… out there… beyond the limits of day
to day mundanity, toward a new understanding of spiritual healing and a
definitive releasement of mental anguish.
Similar in color palette and technique, the new paintings
are progressions from his previous bodies of artwork from 2014 / 2015, where he
drew inspirations from actual geographic locations within the Southern United
States. However, “Mundus Imaginalis”
delivers a certain calmness which can only be found in the theoretical practice
of meditation.
Stop!!!
And now …Silence…
SHHHHH…
Here is where I must rest for a moment, collect my composure
and assert my endearing journey into the unknown.
I look toward the familiar art refence jargon I often use, I
must anchor my thoughts somewhere to continue the discussion of these
paintings. I feel I must move beyond the
rhetoric of academic explanations.
Yes, I can say that I see reflections, mountains and
craters…. elements my brain tries to recognize for me to understand what I am
looking at. But for a moment, give your
subconscious freedom to digest what it can comprehend beyond the realisms of
this artistic practice. We must step deep into Pre-Christianity and Pre-Islam
contemplations, ready to circumnavigate the monotheistic approaches of
contemporary religion.
There, beyond the comprehension of taught religious
academia, and of historically preached divination lies the origins of something
else. Stephenson gives visual birth to these ancient origins. Floating in the ‘imaginary mind’, the
‘cognitive imagination’ unrestricted by the ‘Holy Trinity’, Muhammed, ALLAH, Abraham
and others we are delivered to a virgin-scape of the unschooled approach.
Are we seeing what is in ourselves as we become aware of the
navigatory senses of the imagination, the ‘land’ that goes beyond conception.
What if these images are not intended to be interpreted by
what we see and understand but are visual meditative evidences to where the
mind’s eye needs to go; a place judged not by the allocates of daily living at
the holy gates or the rejected principles for clean living, but to an undefined
‘nirvana-like bliss’; or as Henry Corbin describes as the “Land of no-where.”
In “Mundus Imaginalis”,
Stephenson starts us at his depictions of the ‘cosmic mountain’, but quickly
elevates us to the ‘psychocosmic
mountain’. The paintings act as a sort of visual guide, starting us out at the
physical cosmos and an illuminated path that transcends us to a new level in
the spiritual universe.
“The paintings act as
this manifestation of pure thought…transformation of the mediums into something
precious, or valuable, into the physical representations of the ephemeral or
transient. The paintings act as mediums, or links, to this contemplative
meditational state in which the work is ultimately made. Both as a
transportational device, and as evidence-based reliquaries of that alternative
reality,” says Stephenson.
“New Dawn Rising”,
a 48” x 54”, mixed media on panel painting seems to set the standard high for
the rest of the selections in the exhibition. Again, my mind perceives the
painting as a mountain range reflected in a body of water, but alas, nothing in
this world is that easy. Closer analysis reveals so much more. Atmospheric
radiance is achieved through layers of paint, underpainting, and glazes gouged,
scrapped and pulled. Art History shows us this technique can be achieved
through alchemic processes using gold leaf, however, Stephenson uses none. That is what reflects his craft – his
ability to create these auras of illumination through meditative art process-painting.
“Paintings like
'Ancient of Days', manifests both the Apocalyptic, and the Ascension of the
Almighty Creator as he transforms his state from the Spiritual, to the
physical, in the form of Christ. Avoiding 'graven-images', I focus more
on the transient, the light, the energy, and the minute spaces in-between that
science is starting to discover as the almost physical fabric that binds the
two worlds together and acts as a link between the two,” Stephenson states.
“Odysius”, an 18”
x 20” mixed media on panel painting shows us the abstract theory of the
wrathful god. An alternative spelling of the famous Greek Mythological leader
in the Trojan War, Stephenson executes a painting that captures emotion,
motion, conflict, dread, assertiveness and abstract sense of leadership. A
dominate central entity of cosmic force shows us the demanding demeanor of its
power. How does this abstract form does this? I do not know, but I step back as
if pushed away as it sizes me up. I see “it” has a protective side and a
vengeful side. The good and evil of the creation.
“Odysseus is
commentary on the overall narrative of the explorer, and the exploration of this
journey…. the paintings for me become the very objects that fuel the
contemplation of these ideas, and the narrative of the creation of the work is
engrained throughout the process, to reveal the revelation,” he adds.
Although the painting is small in physical space, this
manifestation of raw energy is beyond the limits of the composition. YES!! Lead
us to the eternal afterworld of interplanetary voids, we will follow you
Odysius! There must be something beyond the madness of today’s political
landscape.
As we experience regression and stalled passage back to
reality, Stephenson really does capture a visual element of Zoroastrianism: "be among those who renew the
world...to make the world progress towards perfection.” Stephenson might not be renewing the
world in which we live, but he is doing so much more in this new body of
artwork, he is making the ‘imaginary world’ of our collective cognitive
consciousness a perfect place to meditate on spiritual level void of the
theistic limitations of religion; to arrive at these celestial divinations of
alternate realities.
I will go there any time to rest and rejuvenate.
See you there!
For more information, call (210) 444-2289, or go to : www.artlegacytx.com/
Art Legacy Showroom is located at 1175 W. Bitters Rd.
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