Page 10 - Art Reveal no8

Alann De Vuyst

Aalst, Belgium

1988 Olivier Strelli prize for cartoons and painting in Brussels, Belgium

1996 Tribal Connection in Kolkatta, India
1994 In Colombo Sri Lanka

2012 In Juan Parras del Riego Barancas, Lima, Peru
2006 At Qoricancha, the Inca Sun Temple, in Cusco, Peru

Today it occurred to me that something is at stake. Something very important to me: art produced in a shamanic way. There was a
gallery in Spain that I was negotiating with, that decided not to exhibit my works because a French agency that curates the artists and
artworks for the gallery would not choose an artist if he or she would consume substances that are prohibited in the EU or classified
as class A drugs.
I have produced and accomplished works from the mid 80s until 2005, without ever touching such a drug and create works that now
people interpret as works made under the influence of entheogens. However, now I know that the natural DMT in my body helps
me in creating lucid dreams out of which I pour fragments consciously or unconsciously onto the canvas, paper or whatever carrier
I can find. The medicine has always been in me, eons before I even ingested a drop of external DMT…

It never occurred to me that this is how it works; I was not conscious … you just let it flow and let the Eensy Weensy spider out of
the spout and let him weave his web. Still, I realise that I made at least two dozen pieces of artwork when slightly tripping on Mary
Jane and sketches during my first San Pedro (South American (mescaline) cactus) ingestion in Bolivia in 2005.
Fifty years on, the war on drugs has ruined many lives and keeps ruining them, and still, those who have been intimidated long
enough and scared, prefer to keep the doors of perception permanently closed. As an artist I will not cower or double back for those
evil forces at work. As a human I will fight for the right to use whatever means I need to see the light.”
Alann De Vuyst

THE GODS WERE PAGANS