A new exhibition at the National Arts Club explores how artists use ritual as a catalyst for social change and personal transformation. The exhibition titled Everyday Magic: Artistic/Gnostic Impulses organized by Jenny Mushkin Goldman and Rebecca Goyette is now on view at the National Arts Club through April 27th. The show’s organizers state, “Everyday Magic encounters a global pandemic and a multitude of crises that have exacerbated social and economic inequities. Through forging artistic bonds, sharing expression, and ritual, we move from isolation to community, seeking safer ways to come together. This exhibition provides an opportunity for the viewer to engage with various interactive rituals on one’s own, creating an individual cathartic experience within a communal dialogue.”
The exhibition pays tribute to the trailblazing legacy of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Lady Jayne. They identified as a single pandrogynous being taking on the single name Breyer P-Orridge. The pair underwent extensive body modification so that they could more closely resemble each other. Believing that “there is no greater alchemy than to love so profoundly, to transmorph, to swap features, become each other, and in doing so, become one.” The show features a sculpture by Beyer P-Orridge, consisting of a blown glass orb that holds hair and nail clippings from the pair, much like a religious reliquary or the Victorian tradition of making art with the hair of a loved one to commemorate the living or dead beloved.
The exhibition looks at the use of magic and ritual from a multitude of perspectives and cultural backgrounds. It explores how artists integrate magic into their artmaking as a process for self-reflection and healing.
The exhibition includes work by Jaishri Abichandani, Courtney Alexander, Clarina Bezzola, Jesse Bransford, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Rebecca Goyette, Alejandro Guzmán, Clarity Haynes, Elizabeth Insogna, Aaron Johnson, Alexis Karl, Staver Klitgaard, Tamara Kostianovsky, L., Qinza Najm, Lina Puerta, Sahana Ramakrishnan, Kenya (Robinson), João Salomão, Trish Tillman, and Kay Turner.
On April 12th, the National Arts Club will be hosting a special event with discussion and performances related to the exhibition titled “Intuitives and Intention Setters.” “The event will include a conversation with Everyday Magic’s artists involving themes such as their personal, idiosyncratic approaches to art and ritual. Organized by Jane Ursula Harris, friends of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge will read excerpts from P-Orridge’s writings, including Thee Psychick Bible. With shamanic grace, Alexis Karl’s performance group LEX and the Cult of Spirits will perform “Dreaming Eternal,” a spell-weaving dance contemplating the possibility of immortality. Clarina Bezolla will present “Is There Anyone Home?” an operatic performance transgressing the loss and isolation of pandemic lockdown to embody the outbreak of the magnificent inner dragon.”
For inquiries about the event or the show, contact Jenny at jenny@kingold.art or Rebecca at rebogallery@gmail.com
Everyday Magic: Artistic/Gnostic Impulses, March 2nd – April 27th, at
The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York City
top Image | courtesy of the National Arts Club
