The Garden of Fernal Delights is a sublime and paradisiacal place where all the delights of the natural world from the sexual to the surreal, the visionary to the instinctive, are celebrated as fundamental joys of being alive. The Garden is a multi-dimensional place where all is conscious and divinely intelligent from the animal to mineral to vegetable to the etheric. All can communicate, co-create, cooperate. This Garden of Delights knows no violence, no notion of original sin, no hierarchy, no fixed temporal system. Rather it is a place of magic, of play and playfulness. It resides in the Garden of the heart and has no limit to its creativity.
The Fernal concept was conceived by artist Gromyko Semper as an antithesis to Infernal. His developing universe evoked the image of a contemporary ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ (by the 16th century Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch). As Gromyko revealed his concept, we both came to realize how many of our contemporaries were already Fernal. Whether lowbrow, visionary, surrealist, outsider, fantastic, or magic realists, the Fernal universe was already being expressed through fantastic landscapes and botany, surreal species and architecture, magically divine symbolism. It was so rich that I proposed to catalogue this co-created Fernal universe in an Encyclopædia. Thus the birth of this book, its exhibits and events.
Bruce Rimell rapidly found his way into the core of our Fernal fantasy. We became three to brainstorm, invent stories together and develop a foundation for the Garden. He helped me write parts and he developed a language for the Garden. It is a functioning language called Fernalese which is described in the last chapter of the Encyclopedia: W for Words. The Encyclopedia is bilingual Fernalese-English.
The book catalogues a co-created “Boschian” style universe with its own fantastical creatures, botany, architecture, rituals, its own created language and much more.
The writing and art includes artists Ernst Fuchs, Agostino Arrivabene, Martin Wittfooth, Beksinski, Alex Grey, Mu Pan, Madeline Von Foerster, Amanda Sage, Martina Hoffmann, Robert Venosa & an eclectic community of Internationally acclaimed artists from genres including: low brow, visionary, pop surrealism, fantastic & magic realism.
I designed and conceptualised the Encyclopædia. It is divided into alphabetical chapters eg: A for Architecture, B for Botany, C for Culture, D for Dreams, E for Erotica etc. Twenty-one different artists did the illuminated letters, Gromyko Semper created the borders throughout the book and Michael Hutter did the illustrations for the cover. The color image is by Hannah Faith Yata. Delvin Solkinson did a large part of the proofing and polishing.
Here are a few pages:
To see more pictures and a list of artists, Otto Rapp’s (
https://www.visionaryartexhibition.com/garden-of-fernal-delights.html
“The paradox of Fernal Delights is the equinox of the moment we understand and comprehend the failing and beautiful life forms around us. This grand compendium allows us to linger while our small minds catch up with the gush of liquid ideas caught for a moment on canvas. A powerful presentation.»
Ronald Edward Turner –Publisher/Editor in Chief at Last Gasp Publications
On May 29th, an International crowd of Fernalians gathered to launch the Garden of Fernal Delights.
Mission Control - Holofonic Sounds hosted the Costume Ball which included an outrageously Fernal performance by Featherpistol and Friends, spirit moving flute from Linda Michelle Hardy, booty moving belly dancers from the troupe: The Foxglove Sweethearts, live painting, titillating video projections from Ben Stokes, video loop from Ben Ridgway and groovin music from DJ Mophono.
The performer Three did a wonderful interpretation of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds which is partially captured by Sandy Yagi's phone. The video is good fun, don't be fooled by the still
To see the album of pictures:
https://www.visionaryartexhibition.com/dreams--divinities-blog/launching-the-garden-of-fernal-delights-album-13-the-costume-ball
The next day the show was launched!
Here is the album of the show: the paintings and the opening: http://www.dreamsanddivinities.com/2015/06/launching-the-encyclopaedia-of-fernal-affairs-its-travelling-show/
We also had conferences from Carrie Ann Baade, Bruce Rimell and Mark Henson.
Don’t miss the Fernalese Creation myth told by Bruce Rimmel in fernalese! (with English subtitles)
We have since done events and book signings in France. One of my faves was at the Naia museum in Brittany. Seen here is the group of Fernal artists who came out for the events.
You can read about that one , on my blog on the VA:
https://www.visionaryartexhibition.com/dreams--divinities-blog/fernal-book-signing-and-events-at-the-naia-museum
I also have a blog on my site. I confess it hasn't been updated lately but it has lots of fernal information...
http://www.dreamsanddivinities.com/
For more pictures on the book as well as a listing of where to get it:
http://www.dreamsanddivinities.com/the-book/
thanks for reading!