Illustrator and graphic novelist Brian Blomerth (who wrote 2019’s Brian Blomerth’s Bicycle Day about the discovery of LSD) returns with Mycelium Wassonii, the story of scientist couple R Gordon and Valentina Wasson—the duo credited with introducing the use of psychoactive mushrooms to a wide audience in the United States. The Wassons’ tale takes readers from escaping the Russia during the revolution to honeymooning in the …
The Elusive Smile in Art History It’s a common misconception that the reason subjects in portraits of yesteryear didn’t smile is because of unappealing looking teeth. In fact, the reason is quite logical: smiling for hours on end is awkward and straining for models. In an essay on the topic, writer Nicholas Jeeves says, “A smile is like a blush. It is a response, not …
By Brooklyn-based artist Brian Blomerth, Bicycle Day documents the day LSD was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann. As the story goes: he ingested the experimental compound and then set off on the first documented trip, which culminated in a peak while he was riding home on his bicycle. Hofmann’s book LSD: My Problem Child, affords only a few paragraphs about the first encounter. As …
