Stephen Romano: NY’s Champion of Esoteric Art

BLAM BROOKLYN is pleased to announce the exhibition “MATERIA PRIMA“, curated by Stephen Romano. The exhibition is a mixture of leading contemporary artists, folk art, vernacular photography, esoteric ephemera, outsider art and unexpected images and objects.

“MATERIA PRIMA” is based on the theme of diverse magical practices, challenging the notion that all magic is necessarily dark in nature.

Curator Stephen Romano says,

“The exhibition is an articulation of the esoteric nature of the artist as shaman, a producer of art works that serve as social healing devices, to make well again our collective consciousness.

To re-inject the forces of hope, optimism and belief of magic into our declining culture. The true artist…the art they make, is a primary experience in and of itself.

The creation is an act of magic, a conjuring or a protective spell. It is where the artist makes a stand: socially, politically and spiritually.

Exerts from Interview with Curator Stephen Romano by Artist Charolette Rogers

‘The art of the true warrior is to balance the terror of being alive, with the wonder of being alive’ Carlos Castaneda

I’ve come across reference to Stephen Romano’s Gallery and the artists exhibited there on various occasions. Although there was an eclecticism in the work shown, there was also a continuing thread of power and spirituality in all the work displayed…..

So what did these major people teach you?

Presentation is everything.
Know your facts all the way down the line.
Life is once, show up for it.
Always have the artist’s integrity at the forefront.
Don’t try to sell your friendship, sell the work.
Only present works you would want for yourself

OK…
So what is the purpose?

Well in my experience and that’s all I’m talking about anyway, what sustains me out of that angst is the need for self-actualisation, the perpetuation of the spiritual, contact with the higher order.

I relate!
And that to me is achieved through culture, specifically the visual arts. I consider the visual arts to be the jewel in the crown of our cultural achievements, I mean you don’t go to The Met to go shopping, you go for self-enrichment.

The true artist…the work they make, is in itself not a representation of secondary experience. That art doesn’t interest me, it is primary experience in and of itself. An act of magic; the artist takes a strand, socially, politically and spiritually.

To reintroduce and re inject the sense of magic, THAT is the true artist to me, not the showman.

Agreed but in my mind to also guide through the hopes and fears and taboos.
The ones who want fame and money and to be irreverent, again I don’t hate those guys I just don’t take them seriously.

The true artist, they are the ones who will perpetuate a culture of good will, who will unlock our greater potential those are the artists that I love.

You’re walking a fine line here between the worlds. Visible/Invisible, corporate/counter-culture

 

Read full interview here: Lexicon Magazine

visit: The Stephen Romano Gallery

 

BLAM Gallery

56 Bogart Street

Brooklyn, NY 11206

www.blamprojects.com

brooklyn@blamgallery.com

find out more here about: Blam! projects

MATERIA PRIMA – ART EXHIBITION

November 4, 2016 – November 27, 2016

Opening Reception November 4, 2016 (5-9pm)

Alexis Karl, Sarah Zar, Hanna Jaeun, Nyahzul Blanco, Barry William Hale, Delarosa De La Cruz, Allessandro Siclordr, Linnea Strid, Colin Christian, Lena Viddo, Gigi Chen, Erin O’Shea, Steven Bradshaw, Samuel Gliner, Damien Michaels, Cendrine Ravoni, Ken Weaver, Jel Ena, Teiji Hayama, John D. Monteith, Ray Robinson, P54, Jaya Suberg, Erna KD, Charlotte Rodgers, Steven Baines, Lukasz Grochocki, Orryelle Defenestrate, Inge Vandormael, Cecilia Avendaño Bobillier, Marko Velk, Travis Lawrence, Judith Vergara García, William Blayney, AW Sommers., Brian Sparrow, William Mortensen, Francesca Lith Nardi, A. Fiorello, Lori Field, Charles Dellschau, Jacob Bohme, Darcilio Lima…