Opening August 23, more info HERE.
People Places & Plants - Denver
Wandawega book sighting
Our friends and Wisconsin neighbors over at Camp Wandawega just launched a nice bedding collection and I was excited to see my recent book pop up in one of the photos. Check out the photo below and you can check out more about the collection HERE.
Plein Air Archive with Leslie Baum
Hung out with Leslie Baum last Sunday and did some watercolor paintings as part of her plein air archives project. You can read more about it and see photos HERE.
some info on the project from artist Leslie Baum….
This website, the Plein Air Archives, is—like the project—an invitation to explore. Click around and visit my shared painting encounters, or “dates” as I like to call them. Each date has its own page that documents the experience of painting outdoors in nature with a companion. The content varies from page to page, but most include some of the following: who I painted with, when we painted, where we painted, images of our paintings, a portrait of my painting companion, documentation of our shared view, and a brief reflection on the experience from the perspective of my painting companion.
Christmas in July
ANDREW RAFACZ is thrilled to announce Christmas in July, a jolly holiday special curated by Santa enthusiast Wells Chandler, at the NADA Exhibition Space at 311 East Broadway in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Decking the halls with over sixty artists, this sprawling exhibition and online holiday market explores the pagan, gender queer and psychedelic roots of the archetype of Santa via Siberian shamanism and the mushroom sacrament Amanita muscaria. The exhibition opens Wednesday, July 10th and continues through Thursday, August 1st, 2024.
Amanita muscaria, commonly known as fly-agaric or fly-muscaria, is undeniably the most recognizable toadstool in popular culture. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland points to its transformative potency. A hookah smoking caterpillar sits upon a mushroom throne. After metamorphosing into a butterfly, he imparts to Alice, “One side will make you grow taller …And the other side will make you grow shorter.” The video game Super Mario furthers this shape-shifting narrative. Scoring the fungus allows a player to ‘power up.’ Fly-agaric is consumed ceremonially by the Tungus people who are indigenous to Siberia. The iconic red and white psychoactive mushroom is also utilized by the Nordic reindeer herding, Laplander indigenous group the Sámi. In the mycophilic bible, Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, R. Gordon Wasson proposes that Amanita muscaria is the numinous ingredient in Soma. The Vedic Indo-Aryan libation to access the divine is repeatedly mentioned throughout the RgVeda. Through anagrams, cross cultural comparisons of Sumerian and Indo-European etymologies and unorthodox interpretations of Judeo-Christian scripture, John Allegro argues that Christianity was a fertility and mushroom cult and Jesus Christ was in fact a magic mushroom namely Amanita muscaria in his 1970’s controversial book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.
Siberia is the birthplace of shamanism. The term shaman is derived from the Tungus word šaman. The noun is formed from the verb ša -‘to know.’ A šaman literally translates as ‘one who knows.’
What does any of this have to do with Santa? Mythologically Santa is a harlequinian patchwork of rich and disparate narratives. Santa has worn many a Mithras stylized cap as Thor, Odin and Apollo to name a few. The enigma of the inherited Coca-Cola image of Santa fashioned in a red crushed velvet suit with white fur trim and the imprint of the current Christmas holiday both point to Amanita muscaria and its ceremonial usage by the Tungus and Sámi. Fly-agaric is the primordial image and the origin of the interconnected mycelium network of the archetype of Santa and her various fruiting bodies. This should come as no surprise. For after all, mushrooms are the gender queer guardians of timeless form.
Like Amanita muscaria, Santa Claus’ colors are red and white. Santa lives at the North Pole, a symbol for the axis-mundi. The axis-mundi reoccurs cross culturally. It is the bridge that shamans travel between the heavens and earth. Santa partakes in shamanic flight and is a master of reindeer. The Tungus and Sámi both have an animal husbandry relationship with reindeer. Amanita muscaria is psychoactive for reindeer, hence their ability to fly. Rudolph’s red nose guides Santa’s sleigh. Plain as the nose on your face! Rudolph’s misfit anatomy literally represents an Amanita muscaria mushroom stuck to the snout of an altered animal achieving inner illumination. Shamans who eat Amanita muscaria end up looking splotchy like the mushroom. Female shamans in the Tungus don gray beards and dress in red and white polka-dotted outfits. In the dead of winter, they arrive at homes on a reindeer drawn sled. Unable to access the main entrance of the snowbound yurt, the shaman slides down the chimney. Instead of physical gifts, they bring healing and problem solving, which is rewarded with offerings of food. This is not dissimilar to the contemporary tradition of chimney portals and cookies as strange attractors at the end of time. Through drumming and the help of mushrooms, the shaman enters a trance state to access information from alternate realms to help the host.
Wasson suggests that Soma in the RgVeda is mushroom laced urine. Amanita muscaria is extremely toxic but less so when a body has processed it. There are several anthropological accounts of the Tungus and Sámi people imbibing the urine of both shamans and reindeer to consume a less poisonous version. Amanita muscaria have a mycorrhizal relationship to both spruce and pine. The gifts below the tree point to this union. Archetypal images and traditions are so packed within themselves that nobody ever takes the time to ask what they really do mean. Defying space and the temporal, Santa is the ultimate time traveler and the world’s most ancient shaman.
An amateur comparative religious studies scholar, Chandler has extensively researched the way entheogenic plants have impacted visual culture and the ecstatic religious experience. Featuring painting, sculpture, drawing, fiber, photography, video, print, wearables, crafts, books and hohohomo-home goods, Christmas in July is Chandler’s largest mounted exhibition exploring the role of Santa as the world’s most famous shamanic figure. An accompanying exhibition catalog with texts by Wells Chandler and Jennifer Coates will be released August 1st, with a poetry reading by Candystore and a somatic demon trapping ceremony lead by Tamar Ettun. Dress in ritual holiday attire, as your favorite elfin avatar or come as yourself! Raise a glass of reindeer piss or libation of your choice. Get in the holiday spirit and join us at NADA East Broadway on July 10th 5-8pm to celebrate Santa in all her cosmogonic glory. Ho, ho, ho!
- Wells Chandler
Participating artists include: Manal Abu-Shaheen, Baenk, Devin Balara, Abril Barajas, Hannah Barrett, Elizabeth Bonaventura, Katherine Bradford, Colin Brant, Farrell Brickhouse, Rick Briggs, Jibz Cameron, Candystore, Soso Capaldi, Carol, Wells Chandler, Kari Cholnoky, Jennifer Coates, Tony Coleman, Gaby Collins-Fernandez, Pearl Cowan, Carl D'Alvia, Steve DiBenedetto, Angela Dufresne, Florencia Escudero, Tamar Ettun, Travis Fairclough, Lauren Francescone, Theadora Frost, Glenn Goldberg, Tamara Gonzales, Adam Green, EJ Hauser, Kate Hawes, Clarity Haynes, Dove Hornbuckle, Cody Hudson, David Humphrey, Anthony Iacono, Anna Ialeggio, Mala Iqbal, G Imaginations, Valesca Lafrance, Dante Lentz, David X Levine, Madison Lewis, Michael Mahalchick, Jake Manning, Chris Martin, Shari Mendelson, Soumya Netrabile, Nick Payne, Erika Ranee, Amy Giovanna Rinaldi + Intimate Revolution, mosie romney, Tom Rubnitz, CJ Saft, Adrian Schachter, Rachel Schmidhofer, Michelle Segre, Randi Shandroski, Michael Sims, Hrvoje Slovenc, Laurel Sparks, Julie Torres, Brandi Twilley, Jonathan Twillley, Katie Vida, Zeynab Izadyar + VVORK VVORK VVORK and Charles Yuen.
Comfort Station T Shirt
New T-Shirt design to raise money for @comfort_station in Chicago.
Comfort Station activates a historic building with public, community-driven programs that foster vibrant connections at the intersection of art and life.
Since 2011, Comfort Station has operated out of a 1920s city-owned building in Logan Square that was once intended to be a space for travelers to stay warm while waiting for public transportation. That legacy fuels their mission to act as a porous and public gathering space for a variety of creative communities.
Check out comfortstationlogansquare.org for more info and to order a shirt.
Fun stuff with Yardbird
Glass House auction now live!
Glass House Summer Party
NADA NY
see you in NY May 2-5. for more info contact info@andrewrafacz.com
High on Earth Day
High on Earth Day collection with @dangle_supply out now- Milk-glass mug, embroidered crewneck, 2 hats, sticker pack and some lightweight, unbreakable, titanium goods for your highest recreational needs. Available now at https://danglesupply.com 🌎💨
Dallas Art Fair
New paintings and sculptures with Andrew Rafacz Gallery and David B. Smith Gallery at the Dallas Art Fair.
To Build A Home at Mini Galerie
Now open at Mini Galerie’s new location in Almere Oosterwold
More info HERE.
Photography: Jordi Huisman
Refueled The One Series with Lyndon french
I met Chris Brown when he was doing an artist residency at Camp Wandawega in WI. We get some friends together and hit up the Duck Inn supper club for some drinks and walleye cheeks and talked for a few hours. Chris is an artist, publisher and all around interesting character so I was excited when he later asked me if I would want to be a part of his Refueled Magazine One Series. The One Series is a smaller scale publication that focuses on one single subject, photographer, craftsman or artist per issue. Past issues have included good folks like Evan Hecox, Jason lee, Stewart Easton and more.
Since I had another book of more formal photos of finished work being published when we first talked, we thought it would be nice to make this one more about behind the scenes and work in progress photos. Friend / photographer Lyndon French had been shooting with me a lot in the past few years so seemed like a perfect opportunity to collaborate with him and make a book of his photos shot between my studios in Chicago and Wisconsin. This 6x9 publication is 110 pages of those photos with some thoughts from Chris and a few notes from me. Available now HERE.
Book signing at the MCA March 5...
Book signing at the MCA March 5...
More info soon…
Selected Universal Playists for Varyer
Made two “studio” playlists 🔊🔊for @varyer to go with the special edition of my Selected Universal Portals 🌎 book (published by Hat & Beard). Spotify graphics done by Becca Christman at Varyer ✨.
Side A is meant for morning studio listening 🌿 (or possibly late night depending what zone you are in 🌒) and includes mellow musics by Julianna Barwick, Gia Margaret, Sam Prekop, Group Listening, Bitchin Bajas, Arushi Jain, and Harmonia to name a few. Clocks in at 1hr 28 minutes and is meant to be played from start to finish (no shuffle).
Side B is for slightly later in the day, preferably after lunch or a mid day walk ☀️. Includes more guitar and singing based musics 💨 with some highlights by Steph Green, Tim Hill, Bnny, 90 Day Men, The Radio Dept., Glyders, Color Green, Vincent Neil Emerson, Colter Wall and more. This one coming in at 1hr 29 minutes (no shuffle please).
You can check them out on the Varyer site
or HERE and HERE
Listen and enjoy friends ☮️
Varyer Conversations
Talked with Izzy Fradin at @varyer about cutting shapes out of paper, listening to music and where the selected universal portals can take you. You can read check it out HERE.
Photos by Lyndon French
Varyer Local Edition
Teamed up with the friends at @varyer for a special edition of my recent book - Selected Universal Portals (published by Hat & Beard Press). This Varyer local edition comes with a broadsheet newsprint poster (with one side by me and one side designed by Becca Christman at Varyer) and a bookmark. Available HERE.
new gear for Public Land
Worked on some new gear for my favorite plant store and gallery in Sacramento. You can check out the full collection HERE.
