“In mythology and literature, the ‘language of the birds’ is a magical language which only the initiated can speak, revealing secret truths and causing transformations,” explain the organizers of the exhibit “Language of the Birds: Occult and Art,” which was on view at the 80WSE Gallery at the New York University Steinhardt from Jan. 12 to Feb. 13, 2016.
“The artists in ‘Language of the Birds’ can be considered magicians when seen through a mythopoetic lens,” curator Pam Grossman said in a prepared statement. “They offer up a visual vocabulary, so that we all might be initiated into their imaginal mystery cults and dialog with the ineffable. They speak to us in secret tongues, cast spells, and employ pictures for the purpose of activating profound change in both themselves and in us. By going within, then drawing streams of imagery forth through their creations, each of these artists seeks to render the invisible visible, to materialize the immaterial, and to tell us that we, too, can enter numinous realms.”
All the images here are from the exhibit and courtesy of 80WSE Gallery, except for Ron Rege Jr.’s drawings, which are in the show and here curtesy of him.