The Holy Art of Mati Klarwein

The Holy Art of Mati Klarwein

Abdul Mati Klarwein (April 9, 1932 – March 7, 2002) was a painter best known for his works used on the
covers of music albums.

Klarwein was born in Hamburg, Germany. His family was of Jewish origin and fled to the British Mandate of
Palestine when he was two years old, after the rise of Nazi Germany. In 1948 when the territory became
Israel, his family traveled to Paris. There Mati studied with Fernand Léger, after attending the École des
Beaux-Arts. Klarwein traveled south to Saint-Tropez and met Ernst Fuchs, who would have a profound
influence on him. Leaving France in the 1950s, Klarwein traveled widely and lived in many different
countries, including Tibet, India, Bali, North Africa, Turkey, Europe and the Americas. He eventually
settled in New York City in the early 1960s.

Much of Klarwein's most famous work is inspired by surrealism and pop culture, but also reflects his
interest in non-Western deities, symbolism, and landscapes. The alleged connection between Klarwein and
the so-called psychedelic art of the period is not entirely unfounded, as he has detailed his experience with
LSD in his 1988 book Collected Works; however, Klarwein also explains that drugs were never his prime
inspirational source, and in one interview, denies their influence entirely. His extensive travels and wide
interests (notwithstanding the fact that his style had fully developed before the so-called "psychedelic era" )
are further support of his claims. Klarwein claims that his friend Timothy Leary once told him, based on the
character of his paintings, that Klarwein "didn't need psychedelics."

Files: Photographies of his paintings and album-covers.

Comment: Instructions for watching these pictures: Don't just look at them, meditate on them, dive deeply into
them, absorb them, merge with them, become one with them, and feel their deep symbolism. There are many important
details to be discovered in these paintings, but what matters most is their overall effect on your mind and soul.

tags:Mati,Klarwein,art,painting,painter,music,album,mystic,LSD,surrealism,pop,culture,quaballah,cabala,GOD,
enlightenment,holy,symbol,psychedelic

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