Art and the Occult: A Spiritism Collection

"One third of the Czech Republic is forest," the guide said while walking through the Municipal Museum in Nova Paka, a small town an hour outside of Prague, "and the national sport is mushroom picking." Nova Paka, however, is known for more than rustic pursuits: it is the Czech epicenter of Spiritism, a mystical movement guided by the belief that its adherents can communicate with the dead through a medium. Brought into being at the turn of the 20th century by the French theorist Allan Kardec, the Spiritists were also naturalists, and they took of the sweeping countryside surrounding Nova Paka as the backdrop for their occult experiments.

Displaying a collection of precious stones on the first floor, the Municipal Museum also houses a series of 300 drawings created between the World Wars by the Spiritists—odd, nightmarish, and ethereal drawings that transmit the group's beliefs. As the guide explains, "The mysterious regions of nature can be found downstairs, and the unknown regions of human soul can be found upstairs."

Executed both in bright colors and in black-and-white, with pencil or charcoal, the faded drawings sometimes depict spirals, shell-like circles, or abstract sea animals. Others show creatures that are strange, yet familiar: one looks like a combination of a forest animal and a devil, with horns, heavy hair around its body and face, and a long, wild tail. Distorted birds, insects, and amphibians also appear—grotesque but at the same time eerily lovely in their childlike expression.

The works in this collection on Artspace are not by Spiritists themselves, of course, but by artists whose work is similarly inspired by nature, the unconscious, and the unknown. For artist Tricia Cline, "to reconnect with our own animal perception is to clarify and heighten our perception of who and what we are," a belief reflected in her sculptures representing those who migrate from the human to the animal world. Chuck Webster's Untitled work in colored pencil and watercolor, meanwhile, is a simple yet elegant abstraction, reminiscent of tribal symbols. From a disconcerted baby floating atop bright flowers to faceless portraits to depictions of animals that are intended to spread disgust, love, or simply a question, these works echo the mysterious power of the Spiritist's arcane art.

CURATOR BIO

Lauren Wallach is a recent graduate of the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the recipient of the Best Amateur Experimental Film Award from the Canadian International Film Festival and her work has appeared in The Collagist.