It seems as though the paranormal is an increasingly popular topic among the arts. If you happen to find yourself in the Hamptons (I mean, I find that to be true of myself all the time. Kidding.) you should check out this show!
The gallery walls are garden variety white, but the artwork displayed on them is anything but ordinary. After all, it’s not every show that presents art channeling a world beyond the one we inhabit.
And while the art may not actually “channel” ghosts or spirits, it does depict places touched by tragedy and haunted by those from the other side. It’s not unusual for those who see the art to feel the urge to share their own experiences with the unexplained with the curator, the artist or those around them.
The artwork in “Hauntingly Beautiful” was inspired by and based on photographs taken by Ms. Rother. Each painting is imbued with Countess Buxhoeveden’s distinct sense of drama and mood. The art in “The Paranormal Period” was made while exploring haunted places throughout the world with her husband, Hans Holzer.
In that partnership, Mr. Holzer worked with famous mediums to communicate with the ghost or spirit haunting a locale. After establishing contact and identity, the next step would be to urge the soul onward and thereby curtail the haunting of the building.
Mr. Holzer wrote books on their findings and experiences and Countess Buxhoeveden made art and illustrations for the books and for art’s sake. The two were married from 1962 to 1985; Mr. Holzer passed away in April.
The exhibition is a way to acknowledge Mr. Holzer’s death and to celebrate his ground-breaking work in paranormal research. Credited with coining the phrase, “the other side,” Mr. Holzer authored more than 140 books on ghosts, the afterlife, witchcraft, extraterrestrial beings and otherworldly topics.
Mr. Holzer hosted or co-hosted television shows including “Ghost Hunter,” “In Search Of … with Leonard Nimoy” and others. He achieved widespread fame in 1977 when he and medium Ethel Johnson-Meyers investigated a haunted house in Amityville, widely known today as “The Amityville Horror.”
One of the works is of the Conference House in Staten Island (pictured here)! Very cool.
