Spellbound is a group exhibition of international artists whose work gazes into the understanding, experience and influences of the world through magic, the mysterious art of altering realities either by supernatural forces or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to mainstream science. The incantation of language through image brings to this viewing space a conjuring of perceptions. It offers the magical doctrine of cosmic sympathy between things visible and things invisible; each rendering is a glimpse into the now and the tomorrows of illusions of both the present and the future.
Practised since ancient times, yet often viewed with suspicion and disbelief, magic is frequently exercised in isolation and secrecy, veiled in symbols and allegory. It holds within it the echoes of the belief that while it is fascinating, the more in-depth the study, the darker and more dangerous it is perceived to be.
Then again – regardless of its mystery – to many, magic is the only source of spiritual guidance and hope, especially in times of crisis, difficulty and distress. It proffers the double image, where inner reality and outer reality come together in a unique meeting point, where single-image perception has, up to then, left humans vulnerable. They suffer, hurt and ache. In their “desidaimonia” (fear of supernatural powers and magic), being spellbound becomes the only explanation for the unknown.
