That Old Black Magic

The Tarot deck is many things:  revered diviner of knowledge, feared revealer of hidden secrets, and critiqued promoter of quackish myth.  Regardless of one’s take on Tarot card reading, it is certain that the history and imagery of these mysterious cards is ripe territory for contemporary artists to come up with their own interpretations of the 78 personas that make up the standard Tarot deck. And that is exactly what my divine colleague Stacy Engman set about doing as she assembled a group of some of today’s most dynamic artists and asked them to submit a new work based on a tarot card personally assigned by her.

The resulting images are just as whimsical as the readings that emerge from an actual reading of the cards.  The amazing group of artists included in the project created cards in a range of media (photography, painting and collage) and each infused an additional sense of allure and magic into this already heavily charged lam of mystery. Not only may viewers enjoy the actual works in the exhibition of the original cards, but they may also take them home in this unique catalogue in the form of a deck of Tarot cards in and of itself!

Contemproary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project is curated by Stacy Engman. This exhibition is made possible by the KLÜP Foundation.