New World Order: An Illuminati Image Search!

Or (alternate blog entry title): "In Which Janna Spends Way Too Much Time Jabbering About the Illuminati"

I have a piece in Light Grey Art Lab Gallery's upcoming Message in a Bottle show! The theme of the show is illustrations that are cryptic, secretive, and/or have hidden images or illusions. I've always been interested in secret societies, so I decided to make a piece about one of the most famous ones, the Illuminati. 

Detail: horns galore!

The Illuminati was started by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in 1776 as a group for Enlightenment-minded men to - supposedly - just talk shop and chillax. Ten years later the Bavarian government shut the group down and most scholars say that was that. Many other people, however, believe that the Illuminati persisted in secret, its members infiltrating various existing societies (such as the Freemasons) and world governments (such as our own U.S. of A). Some even believe that the Illuminati goes back even further than 1776, relating them back to the infamous Knights Templar of the Middle Ages and even further back, to ancient Egypt. 

Detail: Jammin'

For hundreds of years the Illuminati have been blamed for everything from causing world wars, to poisoning the populous with fast food and toxic "chemtrails" in the sky, to covering up alien abductions and reptilian humanoids living under the earth. However their ultimate goal, most believers say, is to create one world government led by the Antichrist. Pretty much every politician and celebrity you can think of has been accused of Illuminati ties, including (bizarrely) many popular rappers, in recent years. Illuminati conspiracy theorists can be anyone from gun-toting, apocalypse shelter-owners to teenage kids in hip-hop clubs. Poll your friends and relations and you may find a few Illuminati conspiracy theorists among them (I've found a couple)!

Detail: hip-hop royalty

I've been wanting to do an image search piece for a while, and I figured the mysterious world of the Illuminati was a great theme to work with. I spent three days alone in my room doing nothing but reading Illuminati conspiracy theory blogs and message boards in order to find out what people are currently saying about the Illuminati. It was fascinating and fun and incredibly creepy. Every celebrity, character, and symbol in the image search references real Illuminati conspiracy theories I found in my search. 

Detail: Perhaps the best thing I have ever painted, ever.

Okay, I know that trip to the department of back story was totally superfluous, but thanks for sticking with me anyway. Click on the image below to find all of  the Illuminati figures and symbols, BEFORE THEY FIND YOU!

PS: Extra points if you can find me, the artist! 

PPS: The Message in a Bottle show opens January 25th at Light Grey Art Lab and runs through February 15th. If you're in the area of Minneapolis, Minnesota please check it out and snap some photos for me!

PPPS: If you're fond of "New World Order: An Illuminati Image Search" and want to look at it all the time (or hate it and want to throw darts at it), PLEASE PURCHASE PRINTS HERE.