| Cave Art Now |
| Permanent exhibition at Ca’ Bon Gallery in Motovun, Istria |
| Artist’s Statement: | I am interested in the links
between geometric patterns that appeared in Paleolithic cave paintings
about thirty-thousand years ago and the roots of modern painting,
and especially its pure or abstract wing. According to the recent
research into altered states of consciousness, geometric patterns
found in caves appear in the inner eye in first stages of trance.
They are known as entoptic forms and are most likely related to shamanistic
practices. As the brain of Homo sapiens sapiens has not changed for
about hundred-thousand years, these forms can be experienced today
by inducing trance. Virtually identical forms appear first in the
work of the Symbolists, and then in the work of Mondrian, Malevich,
and Kandinsky. My boards are based on cave art, my own experiments
with trance, and the work of my modernist precursors. I am concerned
with continuity rather than originality. |
| Medium: | Pine boards 30 by 43 cm painted on both sides in acrylic
and displayed on 6 cm-wide pine battens to cover walls, rooms, or
buildings of any size |
| Price: | Two or more boards at €5,000 per board |
| Book: | Cave Art Now: Shamanism and Geometric Art (2003), which contains some 50,000 words
linking cave art and contemporary art, is currently available in
electronic form
(click here for a PDF file) |
Writings about cave art and its relevance today can be found in Ranko Bon’s Residua on World Wide Web (www.residua.org) — the site is searchable |
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| Visits by appointment only:
Ranko Bon |