New York City born, Robert 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 (see post here) in particular – both of whom he eventually met and studied under.
Both are proponents of the Mischtechnik (also known as the Master’s Technique) discovered by the seventeenth-century Flemish masters Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, which utilizes the system of painting in tempera and oil glazes. This technique is perfect for painting the crystalline worlds that Venosa envisions: Light goes through the surface oil glazes, bounces off the white tempera underpainting and comes back out hitting the eye with the illusion of transparent depth.
If the most exciting art-making one can hope to encounter is an exploration of the furthest realities of the imagination, then Robert Venosa must surely rank among the luminaries of our era. His unique approach to Visionary art is nothing less than a fascinating scrutinization of the mysterious realms of being. Venosa’s imagery enfolds us with its magical power – truly a mythology for our times.Nevill Drury
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- Portrait of Venosa by his wife Martina Hoffmann
