The anniversary today of the passing of the great Harry Smith (1923-1991)
For Allen on Harry on The Allen Ginsberg Project, see, for example, here,
and on the recently republished American Magus – here and here
and not forgetting, 2023’s Cosmic Scholar
Currently at the Carpenter Center, Harvard University, for a few more days (till December 1), Fragments of A Faith Forgotten (the seminal Whitney show). Eileen O’Grady reviews it for the Harvard Gazette – here – Mark Feeny for the Boston Globe – here
Check out also the Dada Drummer Almanach – here
& Looking to the future, we await with anticipation, this collection:
The Occult Harry Smith – The Magical and Alchemical Work of an Artist of the Extremes – edited by Peter Valente (scheduled for July of next year)
The volume “explores in depth the occult and mystical side of Smith—his “heaven and earth magic”—focusing on how his varied artistic efforts were part of a comprehensive magical and alchemical practice. It “includes unpublished photos of and letters from Smith, alongside rare interviews, one of his unpublished texts, and essays by scholars and friends.”
We’ll have more on that closer to its publication.