~ANTONE KONST . . ‘LOVE & FEAR’ / NICOLE EISENMAN . . ‘NINETEEN NINETIES’ / TILTON GALLERY / OPENING PIX

re: Fables
re: Runes, Spells, Hexcraft & Charms / early Norwegian/Germanic settlers of Pennsylvania, etc. etc. etc. / Magic

“The Northern Runes, and Other Magical Alphabets . . .
Among the Norse and Germanic people there developed a system of writing known as runes. Developed in the early Middle Ages, this system of writing is returning to popularity today (2002), and is especially used in magical workings.There are now many people who do divination with these runes.”
~’HEX & SPELLWORK’ – ‘The Magical Practices of the Pennsylvania Dutch ‘/ written by KARL HERR, Hexenmeister.
Published 2002 / Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC / York Beach, Maine / with offices in Boston, MASS. Printed in Canada (!!)

‘ANTONE KONST: LOVE & FEAR’ . . . ‘NICOLE EISENMAN: NINETEEN NINETIES’
OPENED WED SEPT 11th / aka . . 9/11 / the WTC take-down / the 18th anniversary, so yeah . . already a . . ‘loaded’ situation.

the show runs thru . . . OCT 26, 2019
TILTON GALLERY, 8 EAST 76th STREET / UP-TOWN / NYC 10021

PIX FROM THE OPENING / WED SEPT 11, 2019


ANTONE KONST, and JOHN ANGLES . . at the opening.


ANTONE KONST, ‘Bird Song (black)’, 2019.
Plaster, burlap, hydrocal, polystyrene, pigment, flashe, shellac, polyester, resin, cotton string, paper pulp, steel, plywood, polymer clay, foam-coat, acrylic, Black Oil Sunflower Seed / 65 x 84 x 37 in.
more Hansel & Gretel, than . . . Hobbit ?


detail, ‘Bird Song (black)’.
magical, yes. witchcraft / maybe ?
but still . . more protection charm / bird song than . . say, Arabian Nights.


ANTONE KONST, ‘Frog in the Fog’ 2019
oil on canvas / 67 x 37 in.
More ‘Frog and Toad’, than . . GOT / Game of Thrones.
still, gentle is only . . as gentle does.
there’s also greater unknown / fate / in the mystery of life and a new-found vulnerability in birthing . . a human child. that’s why we have Fairy Tales, Cautions & nursery rhymes.


JERRY BLACKMAN, in front of . . .
ANTONE KONST, ‘Juggler’, 2019.
acrylic, styrofoam, screws, on canvas / 78 x 48 x 5.25 in.


‘Juggler’ . . had real / ‘balls’ . . attached to it’s surface.


bottom, left-hand corner.


bottom border / trolls, or . . . brooding Buddha feet ?


always, keep one eye – open / just as the birds sing, the garden still grows dark . . at night.


RICHARD TUTTLE and . . CONNIE TILTON.
behind them, NICOLE EISENMAN’S co-exhibit . . across the hall /
‘NICOLE EISENMAN: Nineteen Nineties’.


NICOLE EISENMAN . . .
damn, she’s fierce.


NICOLE EISEMAN, ‘Self Portrait with Pirate’, 1996.
oil on wood panel / 64 x 48 in.
cowboy / pirate . . myths & fables.


MARTHA TUTTLE and JAMES MILLER . .
NICOLE EISENMAN painting – behind them.


ANTONE KONST, large neon sculpture – in the garden behind the gallery, at night.
ANTONE KONST, ‘Praying Woman’, 2018.
neon mounted on panel / 44 x 34 in.


CHIS WATTS, and JAENA KWON . . in the garden / after-party.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

see: RUNES – Wikipedia


A Younger Futhark inscription on the 12th C. Vaksala Runestone in Sweden
source: Vaksalastenen Runes – Wiki


an inscription, (note the: 3 x 1 in. letter / word block format),
using cipher runes, the Elder Futhark and the Younger Futhark, on the 9th C. Rok Runestone in Sweden.
source: Rokstenen – WiKi


a ‘bracteate, from approx AD 400, which features the ‘charm’ word: ‘ALU’, with a depiction of a horse & a man’s head, & a swastika. apparently the exact meaning of the word ‘Alu’ . . is under some dispute, but it is generally agreed upon to ‘represent’ . . ‘an instance of historical runic magic’. it is the most common of the early runic .. ‘charms’.
source: Alu – wikwi
maybe . . .
it’s a ‘mind-set’ / an empowerment / a spell / a protection ?
the swastika was originally, and in many cultures . . across the globe, a symbol of prosperity & good fortune / well-being esp in the home.

painting – is a mind-set, for sure . . anyways.
usually. . having magic, being magical, or referencing.
this particular night . . shook me up.
it was very much . . a kind of ‘loaded’ ghost-ship of a night, across the spectrum.