In this episode with visual artist, art historian, and writer Alessandro Keegan, we have magical dialogue around esoterica, alchemy, and spiritual practices in relation to visual art. We learn about Alessandro’s thought process and approach to his magical paintings.  We talk about the emergence of this genre of artwork into the mainstream and what that could mean about the deeply transformative times we are living in.   --------------------- Alessandro Keegan (b. 1980) is a visual artist, writer and art history professor with an MFA in painting and drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a MA in art history from Brooklyn College. Keegan, who has training as a gemologist, worked at the Gemological Institute of America in New York until 2012, while completing his education. He currently lives and works in the Hudson Valley town of Walden, New York. Keegan’s paintings have been exhibited in New York, Chicago, London, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Macau, The Hague, and many other cities around the world. His art can be found in the permanent collection of the College of Psychic Studies, in London, alongside historical artists of the occult. In 2023, Keegan had his first solo exhibition in New York City at Waterhouse and Dodd Gallery. His most recent exhibition was at the Macau Museum of Art, as part of the Macau International Art Biennale, on view from July 28th-October 29th, 2023. Writings about his work have appeared in Artsy, ArtMaze Magazine, Artforum, Cultured Magazine, Elephant Magazine, and Masthead Magazine as well as journals such as Helvete (Punctum Books, Brooklyn) and J’ai Froid (Castillo/ Corrales, Paris). Keegan’s art practice and ideas are the subject of a short documentary film called “The Matter of Mind”, released in 2020 by Full Moon Films. Keegan is also a writer, and will have a forthcoming essay in "Enchanted Pedagogies: Archetypes, Magic, and Knowledge", an anthology edited by Kari Adelaide Razdow, published by Brill publishers. website: https://www.alessandrokeegan.com/ Substack: https://alessandrokeegan.substack.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alessandro_keegan/ Gallery: https://www.waterhousedodd.com/ Matter of Mind (documentary): https://vimeo.com/482193743 See More from Martin Benson *To stay up on releases and content surrounding the show check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *To contribute to the creation of this show, along with access to other exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (Link above) Credits: Big Thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the podcast theme music!   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support