“In a dense phosphorescent fog, I have been searching for things which can never be found: the journals of Adam and Eve; a photographic record of the cities of the interior; a map charting the soul’s disasters and renewals; the keys to locked dimensions; the point at the centre of everything …”

“My paintings are a residue of this effort. But they are only shells, fossil imprints around the things I truly meant to give existence to – those lost moments when my identity fell to the ground like a torn dress, and I moved through non-human spheres with X-ray vision and a compound mind, seeing and being all of those impossible things.”

“Venosa submerges into the cosmic mysteries and brings back fantastic visions dressed in the perfect and classic technique of a painter who completely masters his art.” – Jean ‘Moebius’ Girard

 

Robert Venosa (January 21, 1936 – August 9, 2011) was an American artist residing in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He studied with what are termed the New Masters. His artworks reside in collections around the world.

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 Kitarō and progressive metal band Cynic. He is a member of the Society for the Art of Imagination, Surreal Art Collective, and the Labyrinthe group.

He first studied under Mati Klarwein in New York. Venosa then went on to study with Ernst Fuchs in Vienna. In the early 1970s he moved to Cadaques, Spain. Here he met and befriended Salvador Dalí.[citation needed] He later introduced H. R. Giger to Dalí.

Venosa traveled the globe with his partner Martina Hoffmann, teaching their painting technique. The technique is a derivative of what Venosa learned from his teachers. His technique differs in the material used for the underpainting (caesin versus egg tempera) but largely follows the same processes.

Martina Hoffmann works as a painter and sculptress. Her painting style can be described as Transpersonal Realism and her imagery offer the viewer a detailed glimpse into her inner landscapes – imagery that has been inspired by expanded states of consciousness: the realms of the imagination, meditation, shamanic journeys and the dream state.

Today she is considered one of the foremost contemporary female visionary artists.

In addition to exhibiting her art internationally, Martina has spoken on behalf of visionary art and culture at events such as The International Conference on Expanded States of Conscioussness in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Convergence and The Amazonian Shamanism Conference in Iquitos Peru, the AllChemical Conference in Kona, Hawaii, MindStates Conference in Berkeley, The Prophets Conference in Santa Fe, as well as Burning Man and the Boom Festival in Portugal.

She also teaches painting workshops worldwide together with her partner Robert Venosa.

Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally as well as having been published in books such as ‘The Visionary World of Hansruedi Giger’ by Stanislav Grof, , ‘Be The Change’ by Ed and Deb Shapiro (Sterlibg Publishing), ‘Inner Paths To Outer Space’ (Park Street Press 2008), ‘Metamorphosis’ (BeinArt Publishing 2007), ‘True Visions’ (Betty Books 2006), ‘Drinking Lightning’ (Fine Arts Press 2001), ‘Illuminatus’, (Fine Arts Press1999), ‘One Source, Sacred Journeys’ (Markowitz Publishers 1997), ‘The Return Of The Great Goddess’ (Shambhala Publishing 2001, ‘Noospheres’ (Pomegranate 1991), and in magazines and publications such as such as ‘Juxtapoz’, ‘Inscape’, Magical Blend, Shaman’s Drum and Nexus, etc.

“The visionary artist makes visible the more subtle and intuitive states of our existence and creates maps and symbols reflecting consciousness. My work is an attempt to show spirit as the one universal force beyond the confines of cultural and religious differences. By embracing our oneness as a global human family and the concepts of our universal interconnectedness as well as the interdependency of all life, we have a chance to heal and transform the planet’s general state of woundedness. In using art as a tool for transformation, we have the opportunity to create a reality as beautiful, healthy and strong as our imagination permits.”