On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the death of G.I. Gurdjieff (29 October 1949) OXO Collection -- The Gallery will present the pictorial work of Massimo Salotti and the sculpture by Fabrizio Da Prato in a dedication to the master Armeno.
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff 31 March 1866/14 January 1872/28 November 1877 – 29 October 1949 was a mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and composer of Armenian and Greek descent, born in Alexandrapol (now Gyumri), Armenia.
Gurdjieff taught that most humans do not possess a unified consciousness and thus live their lives in a state of hypnotic “waking sleep”, but that it is possible to awaken to a higher state of consciousness and achieve full human potential.
Gurdjieff described a method attempting to do so, calling the discipline “The Work”(connoting “work on oneself”) or “the System”. According to his principles and instructions,
Gurdjieff’s method for awakening one’s consciousness unites the methods of the fakir, monk and yogi, and thus he referred to it as the “Fourth Way”.
Per una serata intera la Galleria si immergera’ nel ricordo e nelle musiche di Gurdjieff/De Hartmann, eseguite e registrate nell’album “The fourth way” di Massimo Salotti.
Ai visitatori interessati, verranno proposte riflessioni, letture e brani tratti dall’imponente opera letteraria di questo “Uomo straordinario”.
Opinions on Gurdjieff’s writings and activities are divided. Sympathisers regard him as a charismatic master who brought new knowledge into Western culture, a psychology and cosmology that enable insights beyond those provided by established science. At the other end of the spectrum, some critics assert he was a charlatan with a large ego and a constant need for self-glorification.
Gurdjieff had significant influence on some artists, writers, and thinkers, including Walter Inglis Anderson, Peter Brook, Kate Bush, Darby Crash, Muriel Draper, Robert Fripp, Keith Jarrett, Timothy Leary, Dennis Lewis, James Moore, A. R. Orage, P. D. Ouspensky, Maurice Nicoll, Louis Pauwels, Robert S de Ropp, George Russell, David Sylvian, Jean Toomer, Jeremy Lane, Therion, P. L. Travers, Alan Watts, Colin Wilson, Robert Anton Wilson and Frank Lloyd Wright.