GREENSBORO – An extraordinary exhibition of the works of Montpelier artist Delia Bell Robinson is ongoing at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, entitled “The Major Arcana, The Tarot Project,” consisting over 75 paintings and some 113 colored clay whistles. Also called “A Tarot Journey,” it consists of Robinson’s revisioning of 22 of the 78 tarot cards, known as the Greater Mysteries, in both paintings and small sculptures. In addition, there are paintings of the tarot as an autobiographical framework of her own life, plus other paintings related to the tarot theme.
Tarot cards originated for use in divination and fortune telling, the earliest record being in Italy in 1377. The development of woodcut printing in the early 15th century popularized the tarot deck and cards used in games and gambling. The oldest surviving complete tarot set is from 1491 and is named the “Sola Busca.” The most popular modern version of the tarot was designed by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909 and it referred to as the Rider-Waite-Smith edition.
Interpretation of the cards connects to the fundamental archetypes of human life and through intuition to explore a deeper sub-conscious levels of human minds. The visual symbols on the tarot cards are complex and often combine opposites in perplexing ways.
In this series, Robinson has a format of 12-inch by 12-inch paintings of acrylic on canvas She gives a unity to the 22 works by making them like wheeled floats in a parade, a visual metaphor for a journey through life.
Her imagination is amazingly rich and original in creating a more contemporary vision of the traditional tarot figures, often with delightful humor. Her compositions are dynamic and the colors harmonious, and her works have what might be described as a highly sophisticated naivite. Like all significant works of arts, her paintings take us into another world.
The Major Arcana starts (or ends) with The Fool, who has contradictory characteristics of recklessness but also adventurous daring, here depicted somewhat precariously on an aerial lift from a truck.
The Magician is first in the order of cards, “making the impossible feel tangible,” juggling improbable objects in front of a Gypsy wagon. The High Priestess evokes “the unseen realm of veiled knowledge, secrets, insight, intuition and dreams.” She directs a herd of elephants into a “sanctuary…for those in cosmic harmony to step into the boundless all.” The Empress represents “abundance and pure emotion transforming and ripening into something new,” shown seated in a float of a sheltering golden bird. The Emperor can be good or evil, in this case amusingly presented as running after his wheeled platform and empty throne. The Hierophant is another figure having contradictory possibilities, harmonizing “the sacred with the everyday,” or being repressive.
The Lovers feature Adam and Eve and the serpent with the proverbial Tree of Knowledge, but with angels flying off with baskets of apples to make applesauce. As an archetype the pair represents “balance and a deep understanding of love in all its forms, celebrating the harmony of opposites. The Chariot symbolizes unstoppable action, willpower, forward momentum and progress. The vehicle here is pulled incongruously by a tiger and/or dog, racing dangerously through an intersection with threatening cars.
Strength is very simple but with an intriguing image: a young Afro-American girl reading a book while sitting calmly on the back of a lion, suggesting “the quiet power of patience, healing and eve psychic abilities.” The Hermit embodies contemplation, sharing our knowledge, experience and “the wisdom found in introspection.” The Wheel of Fortune is whimsically shown as the “yin-yang of fate, a rotating force of inevitable change, evolution and cycles.” Justice has a large set of scales, urging us to “seek a path of integrity and truth,” with the nice touch of the Vermont State House in the background. The Hanged Man is a complicated figure, here bungee jumping but dangling upside down, signaling “that its time to wake up and reconsider everything.” Death is number 13 in the tarot pack, presented as pairs of skeletons dancing on top of two emergency vehicles coming to a hospital, “a reminder of life’s impermanence.”
Temperance means “balance and harmony avoiding extremes . . . reconciling dualities.”
The Devil is about “bondage, imbalance and temptation,” with a rather medieval red demon seated on his throne overlooking some miserable people. The Tower signals “sudden upheaval, chaos and the collapse of what seemed unshakable.” Here the twin towers of the World Trade Center burn hideously. The Star brings to mind “soothing renewal . . . peace and restoration,” all connected to the cycles of life.
The Moon is mesmerizing, evoking the emergence of subconscious thoughts with curious awareness,” which have both positive and negative possibilities. The Sun “is associated with good outcomes, happiness, health, success, enthusiasm and attainment.” An innocent child rides a white horse in a field of sunflowers. Judgment represents “a chance for reflection, repentance and transformation,” with a huge hovering angel blowing a trumpet. The World, the last in the Major Arcana, has a nude woman superimposed on the globe of the world, which is supported by an elephant, celebrating “the culmination of life’s journey and the fulfillment found within the eternal and infinite cycle of renewal.”
The second part of this exhibition, the more personal visualization of the 21 Tarot cars of her own journey from childhood to maturity, is equally fascinating and beautiful, but space limits a review of it, as of the many small paintings and numerous whistles, though with the exception, two paintings: The Emperor Misses His Parade Float and The Tower: Into the Garbage Bin, both of which show Trump in a highly unflattering but hilarious way.
Buy the fine catalogue, “A Tarot Journey.” It’s well worth it.
This exhibition runs to May 18. For more information, check with the Highland Center for the Arts at (802) 533-2000 or online at highlandartsvt.org. Delia Robinson can be reached at (802) 505-1193 or online at delia-robinson.com
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
