John Yau's 'The Wild Children of William Blake' Explores Occult Themes in Overlooked Artists

John Yau's 2017 book 'The Wild Children of William Blake' examines lesser-known artists and writers through the lens of the occult. Published by Autonomedia, this 264-page collection features essays on figures like Hilma af Klint, Philip Lamantia, and Katherine Bradford. Yau, a poet and critic who contributes to Hyperallergic's Weekend section, approaches art criticism with curiosity rather than academic rigidity. His writing emphasizes storytelling over formal analysis, seeking what's hidden in plain sight. The book includes discussions of William Tillyer's Bridge Paintings series from 1982-83 and references Odilon Redon's concept of 'the logic of the visible at the service of the invisible.' Yau's method involves daily art observation and writing practice, resulting in 96 Hyperallergic articles in 2017 alone. The collection contains illustrations of Jay Defeo's 'The Eyes' (1958) and Brian Lucas's 'Afternoon's Embryo' (2016).