In the DUMBO arts area of Brooklyn at 111 Front Street you will find The Stephen Romano Gallery spaces. Romano is passionate about art that comes from a dark perspective, pieces often originating from magical thinking with elements that embody diabolical, grotesque and horrific modes of expression. Currently he has three artists in his main space. First are the exquisite, one-of-a-kind prints by William Mortensen. His pieces are small in size and meticulously wrought with imagery that sweeps from the romantic to the ghastly. Viewing them in person one can contemplate the subtle, painterly aspects of these remarkable prints. Romano […]
William Mortensen
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When Magus LaVey said, “Satanism demands study—NOT worship,” he defined the Satanic standard that Magus Gilmore has termed “the Magic of Mastery.” The very idea of study has long been so closely associated with witchcraft that the witchy word “glamour” is derived from the same word as “grammar.” The Latin term “grammatica,” meaning learning or scholarship, often had occult implications during the Middle Ages. The same word also gives us “grimoire,” weaving a web that supports the principle of eclectic studies as the foundation of all magic. So whatever your speciality (to channel Minnie Castevet), remember the magic that dwells […]
The Command to Look was one of photographer William Mortensen’s most influential and sought-after books, and has been out of print for fifty years. Battered copies have been purchased by collectors for hundreds of dollars. Now reproduced here in full, this affordable volume includes an essential and deeply insightful essay by Michael Moynihan on how its aesthetic principles influenced the philosophy and magical thinking of the Church of Satan’s founder, Anton Szandor LaVey. Fifty-five images of Mortensen’s best work are reproduced along with text by this wittiest and most biting writer on photography of his time. You will want this in […]
Essential aesthetic viewing: William Mortensen: American Grotesque and The Command To Look. (Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)