Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art Since the 1960s

by David S. Rubin (Editor/Contributor), Robert C. Morgan (Contributor), Daniel Pinchbeck (Contributor)

This eye-popping book offers a visual history of the psychedelic sensibility. In pop culture, that sensibility is associated with lava lamps, album covers, and "teashades," but it first manifested itself in the extreme colors and kaleidoscopic compositions of 1960s Op Artists. The psychedelic sensibility didn't die at the end of the 1960s; Psychedelic traces it through the day-glo colors of painters Peter Saul, Alex Grey, and Kenny Scharf, the pill and hemp leaf paintings of Fred Tomaselli, the intensified palettes of Douglas Bourgeois and Sharon Ellis, and mixed-media and new media works by younger artists in the new millennium.

Although the term "psychedelic" was coined to describe hallucinatory experiences produced by drugs used psychotherapeutically, the story these images tell is about the influence of psychedelic culture on the art world—not necessarily the influence of drugs. As contemporary art evolved into a diverse and pluralistic discipline, the psychedelic evolved into a language of color and light. In Psychedelic, more than seventy-five vivid color images chart this development, exploring the art chronologically, from early Op Art through recent work using digital technology. The book, which accompanies an exhibition organized by the San Antonio Museum of Art, includes three essays that set the works in historical and cultural context.

Artists include: Isaac Abrams, Albert Alvarez, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Chio Aoshima, Kamrooz Aram, Jeremy Blake, Richie Budd, Gordon Cheung, Judy Chicago, George Cisneros, James Cobb, Steve DiBenedetto, Carole Feuerman, Jack Goldstein, Alex Grey, Peter Halley, Al Held, Mark Hogensen, Constance Lowe, Erik Parker, Ed Paschke, Lari Pittman, Ray Rapp, Deborah Remington, Bridget Riley, Susie Rosmarin, Alex Rubio, Sterling Ruby, Julian Stanczak, Jennifer Steinkamp, Frank Stella, Philip Taaffe, Barbara Takenaga, Fred Tomaselli, Victor Vasarely, Michael Velliquette, Andy Warhol, Robert Williams

Essays by: David S. Rubin, Robert C. Morgan, Daniel Pinchbeck

Copublished with the San Antonio Museum of Art

Genres: Art

140 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

David Stuart Rubin is an American curator, art critic, and artist. As a contemporary art curator, he is recognized for thematic exhibitions such as "Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art," "It's Only Rock and Roll: Rock and Roll Currents in Contemporary Art," and "Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art since the 1960s."

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David S.^Rubin

Reviews

[Servabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bold visual expressions marked by intense color and hypnotic light, the stimuli for a new millennium seeking a profound sense of intensified euphoria, or perhaps despair. This book allows you to enter the world of psychedelic consciousness and imagined aesthetic sensibility without the chemical component. Nonetheless with the baggage that the term "psychedelic" carries with it, the psychedelic era is a historical time zone exemplary of "low" art.

[Tiffany Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the essays and love the selection of art, but like others have mentioned, they should have printed the art pieces larger. Still a fun book to look at though. :)

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alas, one of the more boring collections of psychedelic art that I've yet read, in terms of the artwork selected and the exploratory essays alike. There were some gems, to be sure, but most of them are available elsewhere.

[Khanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful!!!!!

[Heatherevans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't quite finished reading it yet, but it is incredibly informative and beautiful! I love the selected artworks, they exemplify the topic exceptionally.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stretch.

[LaLa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed by how small the art is printed in this book. Psychedelic experiences should be BIG.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love looking at this. Such a lush and colorful book.