Photo courtesy of Horsky Projects
"Can We Talk With Spirit Friends?" zines
"Can We Talk With Spirit Friends?" zines
“An amalgam of paranormal ponderings and discreet directives rendered in print” describes Neil Horsky’s solo exhibition “Can We Talk With Spirit Friends?” opening Friday, March 7 at Grove Gallery, 832 S. Fifth St. Consisting of 48 posters and 43 zines, the show features surreal collage compositions made up of photographs, drawings and captions sourced from various publications from the 19th century to the present, each assembled to illustrate an interpretive poem or narrative.
A “spirit friend,” according to Horsky, is not singularly defined. He contends that these ephemeral “characters” aid us in contemplating the complexity of human nature, both the good and bad, as well as in celebrating our limitless potential.
Horsky elaborates, “The “spirit” part makes me think about our relationship to some divine source of truth, knowledge and wisdom, and how our innate understanding, our unconscious mind and our intuition connect to this. We might encounter the Divine fleetingly, but we are left inspired with new vision and direction.”
He continues, “The “friend” part tells me there’s benevolence, loving familiarity and support in this relationship. It could be nearly anything; a tree, for example, or the wind.”
Cohesive Poetic Narrative
Inspired by Dadaism and surrealism, the Boston-raised artist has been working on this body of work since 2020. As he made each poster and zine, perusing through old books and magazines, Horsky tried to find enough compatible interplay between sources and sequences so that a cohesive, poetic narrative could be constructed.
“It gets complicated sometimes but only as needed to tell the story,” he explains. “It is all part of the challenge of making the work.”
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Horsky hopes that viewers will have compelling, exploratory experiences with these works, affirming, “They are meant to be sat with and pondered, letting your imagination and intuition direct you to what appeals to your sensibilities, eventually finding something that inspires a vision or revelation.”
“Can We Talk With Spirit Friends?” will be on display through Saturday, March 29. The show leaves visitors with a cryptic message: “Fantastic energies await to find those who are open to truth, trusting of intuition, dwelling in mystery. The spirit friends call and the artist answers, excavating, translating and amplifying their untold stories. Discover your truth from codes laid forth in poetic visions, page-by-page. In short, the answer is YES.”
