Robert Venosa

On time spent with Dali

Cadaques, Spain, has been home and/or playground to probably every artist of note of the past century, including Picasso, Max Ernst, Marcel DuChamp, Luis Bunuel, John Cage, Garcia Lorca, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, Rene Magritte, Juan Miro, Man Ray, Walt Disney, and even Albert Einstein, who went there on holiday to play his violin.

Adding to its many attractions at the time of Venosa's arrival was the presence of the great Maestro himself, Salvador Dali, with whom Venosa was fortunate to spend many interesting moments from his first visit in July, 1972 until Dali's departure from Cadaques in 1980. As Venosa writes in Noospheres, "Contrary to expectations, Dali was quite accessible. All you had to do was get him on the telephone - which was easy enough as he was listed in the local directory - and answer his first question which was always, 'Are you beautiful?' If your reply was a confident 'Yes!' you would be invited to show up at his Port Lligat home at 7:00 p.m. to sit beside his phallic-shaped swimming pool and drink pink champagne with aristocrats, vagabonds and some of the most interesting people you'd ever hope to meet. This was Dali's ever-changing nightly court, which, of course, always included entertainment: Gypsy flamenco dances and singers; a group of lithe and lovely ballerinas, who, at Dali's suggestion, would disrobe and dance in the nude; jugglers, magicians and ranting prophets; and always the itinerant troubadour inspired to peak performance by the presence of the great Dali.

Afterward, an elite group of ten or twelve would be selected to accompany the Maestro to his large table at El Barroco restaurant, where the fiesta would continue deep into the night over racks of lamb, Crema Catalana and an endless fountain of Perelada wine and champagne. These were memorable evenings indeed."

Autobiographical

From http://www.venosa.com/

  Abdul Mati Klarwein, Salvadore Dali, H.R. Giger, and Martina Hoffmann’s works are all featured.  In the www.skeptically.org site there are articles by Dr.Albert Hofmann and a couple of photos of blotter acid celebrating the man, who had his 100^th birthday on 06.  The cover of a book by Timothy Leary and a cartoon are also to be found there   

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.

That loft was the energy center in New York, and I reveled in it. And somehow, miraculously, in the midst of all the nonstop pandemonium taking place every day I learned to lay the paint down properly. Even though it was ever put to the test , discipline was one of the more important necessities that Mati emphasized and - through his own adherence - strongly impressed on me: I could only join in the festivities after my work was done and all brushes were washed. Mati taught well the techniques of painting and, even more relevant, of quality living. I'm honored to have been one of the fortunate few to have studied with him."

Presently Venosa maintains studios in both Boulder, Colorado, and Cadaques. He also devotes a few weeks each year giving workshops at such institutes as Naropa in Boulder, Skyros Institute on the island of Skyros in Greece, and Esalen at Big Sur, California.

http://www.mati-klarwein.com/

http://www.martinahoffmann.com/websites.html

http://www.venosa.com/