Antone Dolezal

The Western United States holds a strange tale of European settlers seeking a utopian future. For those who aspire for “divine knowledge,” it’s a place that holds the key to the mysteries of the cosmos. Luminous globes falling in arcs from the night sky, giant craters in the earth, relentless wildfires, and unidentified radio signals all create fertile ground for conspiracy and myth to take root.

This work focuses on new religious movements of the region and the beliefs to which they adhere. Influenced by American West folklore, sci-fi cinema, and secret military programs, the religious faiths the artist follows form a complex and entangled story—a story of American utopia that is grand in vision yet historically rooted in the imperialist narrative of colonization and exploitation.

Part of Fortune and Part of Spirit points to the inherent human need for communal belief yet aims to critically examine the propensity toward magical thinking. Through the layering of photographic and archival materials, this work examines the evolution of American mythmaking while drawing parallels with modern-day conspiracy theories and the cultivation of American prophets.