Tarot and Contemporary Art: Mysticism Meets Modern Vision

Tarot and Contemporary Art: Mysticism Meets Modern Vision

A Guest Curation by Manneken Press.

In an age of digital art, AI generation, and gallery installations that question the very idea of “art,” the tarot deck remains a creative muse for artists. This is a collection of prints made from the 1960’s to the present which reference or are inspired by tarot. These cards, once used for Renaissance parlor games and later reimagined for mystical insight, are being reinterpreted by contemporary artists across the globe. In many ways, they’re more relevant—and more radical—than ever. The tarot is no longer just a deck of cards—it’s a gallery, a manifesto, a mirror. Contemporary artists are transforming these ancient images into tools for social critique, personal healing, and radical reimagination.

Tarot decks have always been highly visual. The Major Arcana, whose iconic cards like The Fool, The Magician, Death, and The Star, are packed with archetypes, symbolism, and metaphor. That makes tarot a natural canvas for artistic exploration. Contemporary artists have reinterpreted the cards through the lens of current cultural conversations. Tarot becomes a space to explore race and representation, identity and gender, mental health, environmentalism, technology and the body.

Decks like The Numinous Tarot (by Noel Arthur Heimpel) and The Black Power Tarot (by King Khan & Michael Eaton) reframe traditional imagery through inclusive, decolonized perspectives. Artists like Claire Goodchild (The Antique Anatomy Tarot) and Courtney Alexander (Dust II Onyx: A Melanated Tarot) center marginalized voices and blend fine art with spiritual narrative.

At its core, tarot is a system of symbols—fluid, evocative, and endlessly open to interpretation. It invites people to see themselves, to question what they know, and to imagine what could be. Tarot offers a kind of slow thinking alternative to our hyper-rational, hyper-digital world. It doesn’t give answers—it invites reflection. And that, more than anything, may explain why so many artists are drawn to it.