Robert Venosa, Visionary Artist, Dead At 75

A great loss to the art world, Robert Venosa passed. He had great vision and talent and was well respected and admired in the art world. His ability to convey light, surrealism and visionary techniques combined to a style all his own. I had the pleasure of seeing some of his works at a gallery and they left me in awe. They invited me into an abyss of metaphysical transience, ethereal and pyschedelic, and one of a kind.
















His wife Matina Hoffman was another similar artist Martina's Works, Info.
She and Robert's family wrote this about his passing:

ROBERT VENOSA
January 21, 1936 to August 9, 2011

Dear Friends and Community,

A great soul has completed his earthly journey and graduated to the next level.

The great Venosa left his body on Tuesday August 9, 2011 at 6:56 PM.

His transition was graceful and accomplished in the same composed and calm manner that he exuded throughout his life.

I feel honored to have been able to accompany him to the gate, having walked 30 beautiful years together in this life.

Robert had a long and brave healing journey with cancer and showed incredible strength on this path as well as tremendous courage in facing this great dragon.

He believed in the natural healing ability of the human body and proved the doctors wrong time and again, who only gave him a few month’s to live upon his diagnosis over eight years ago.

He was a powerful human being. Together he and I, held the piece of his physical struggle safely tucked away from the eyes of the world like a precious pearl.

It is with great sadness that I’m sharing this news today but also with
deep gratitude, for his magical and special life; fully lived.

Even in death he gave those surrounding him a powerful initiation into the scared mysteries of the unknown.

We will carry him in our hearts forever, remembering the light he shone on so many. He so appreciated the light that others shone upon him.

In loving memory of my great love, compañero, best friend and artistic accomplice.

Martina Hoffmann and family.

Here is some biographical information, and wow, the musicians he worked with! The album covers he did stood out and pleased the recording artists(Hendrix, Miles Davis) much, complimenting their extravagant works as well.
He was a neighbor and friend with Salvador Dali too! I can see his influence on Robert.

The Fantastic Realism art of Robert Venosa has been exhibited worldwide and is represented in major collections, including those of noted museums, rock stars and European aristocracy. In addition to painting, sculpting and film design (pre-sketches and conceptual design for the movie Dune, and Fire in the Sky for Paramount Pictures, and the upcoming Race for Atlantis for IMAX), he has recently added computer art to his creative menu. His work has been the subject of three books, as well as being featured in numerous publications - most notably OMNI magazine - and on a number of CD covers, including those of Santana and Kitaro.
New York City born, Venosa was transported into the world of fine art in the late 60's after having experimented with psychedelics and having seen the work of the Fantastic Realists - Ernst Fuchs and Mati Klarwein in particular - both of whom he eventually met and studied under. Of his apprenticeship with Klarwein, Venosa says, "What a time (Autumn, 1970) that turned out to be! Not only did I get started in proper technique, but at various times I had Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jackie Kennedy and the good doctor Tim Leary himself peering over my shoulder to see what I was up to.

Venosa moved to Europe in the early 70's settling in the celebrated Mediterranean village of Cadaques in Spain, where he enjoyed the honorable and mighty pleasure of getting to know and hang with neighbor Salvador Dali, as well as the numerous notables in the world of art and literature who gravitated to that magic locale. Much of Venosa's work and attendant exploits have been published in his book, Noospheres (Pomegranate Artbooks). In it Venosa talks of the attitudinal complications of his returning to the U.S. after years of living in Europe: "In 1982 - due to a number of commissions, commercial allurements and a burgeoning recognition of my work afforded through extensive exposure in OMNI magazine and on record album covers - I started traveling to the U.S., dividing my time there between New York and Boulder, Colorado.
Enjoying the clear, clean mountain air and relatively sane consciousness of its populace, I settled on Boulder as my base in the States. Compared to the raucous, colorful activity of Cadaques, Boulder appeared somewhat anorexic. But the siren of success, along with the Muse of Mammon, wailed a seductive tune, irresistible in its promise but demanding in the changes deemed necessary if I were to sing along: The Merry Mediterranean mirage would have to give way to the Aggressive American Kindergarten for a season or two. There would be exhibits to arrange, press releases to disseminate, collectors to romance, critics to confuse and an entirely new sense of art to cultivate. My idea of art, as previously understood, would require major surgery if I were to immerse myself in the American standards and expectations of what that word represented.

The admiration and aristocratic respect given the artist in Europe is stripped clean upon arrival in the U.S. as these architects of culture are transmogrified into novelty items and entertaining curiosities. The centuries-old tradition of dedication and perfection while working in the solitude of a tranquil studio at the limited speed allowed by brush and paint is left at the gates of the rapid-fire, nonstop, instant-sensual-gratification American sitcom culture. Trying to compete in the fast lane of the high-velocity illusions and banal delusions of movies and TV poses a problem for the painter and his two-dimensional immobile images. Nevertheless, the challenge, then as now, of affecting the consciousness with more eternal value cannot be denied, and so, combining the historical deep roots of European culture with the dynamic of America's youthful energy, an attempt is constantly made".

www.venosa.com...

Blessings to his family and friends, RIP Robert.

Peace,
spec

How beautiful! A wondrous thing to see after a sleepless night.

Excellent. Enlightening. A true artist who transports you to other realms.

reply to post by antoinemarionette

Too true antoinemarionette, check out his wife's works too in the links above. I can see Salvador Dali's impression on him, musta been great and fascinating having a friend and neighbor like Dali. Thank you for the reply.

spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Salvador Dali was his neighbor! I've been to the Salvador Dali museum in northern Spain and I was so delighted and fascinated, that I was angry when I had to leave!

That part of Spain is a fount of inspiration and vision to many artists.

reply to post by antoinemarionette

Yes, and Spain and it's gallery/museums are on my bucketlist for sure.


spec

Wow, amazing paintings.
I am a horrible artist myself,
but I've especially admired the ability to convey things that are transparent or translucent.

reply to post by spacedoubt

I am grateful that he left us with such a timeless gift of his most personal and deep expressions. Visionary to the max, and I am sure Salvador and he are somewhere commencing their ambitions in another realm.

peace,
spec