In the Land of Retinal Delights (1968) by Robert Williams.
More psychedelia. I’d wanted to link to a decent version of this painting by Robert Williams for some time but it took a while for one to turn up. When people mention psychedelic art it’s usually concert posters they’re talking about. Williams’ super-detailed canvas is a good example of psychedelic painting when it conveys particular aspects of the hallucinogenic experience such as hyper-reality and a sense of physical distortion, something that the posters and album covers seldom convey. That said, Williams’ picture did appear as a cover illustration for The Acid Trip, Vernon Joynson’s guide to psychedelic music in 1984, setting that volume apart from similar books which are often spoiled by poor artwork.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The fantastic art archive
Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Mati Klarwein, 1932–2002
• The art of LSD
http://www.realcentralva.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/mc-escher.jpg
The bulging perspective reminds me of Escher image above, maybe if Escher ever got off his gourd on acid and discovered colour.
Escher’s work is a good reminder that you don’t need drugs to create mind-bending visuals.
God, I’ve wanted to own this ever since I bought that book as a teenager