Website review: European Artists Return to Church -...
laodan discovered this in Arts
•1 reviews since Jul 15, 2007
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•travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/travel/15journe...
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laodan discovered 10 months ago- European Artists Return to Church in The NYT Travel by VALERIE GLADSTONE
IN centuries past, it was a perfectly ordinary thing for churches and cathedrals to commission artists to beautify their sanctuaries with stained-glass windows, new altars and other decorations. Think of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, or Piero della Francesca's frescoes in the cathedral in Arezzo. In more recent history, the association between churches and artists has waned somewhat, partly because religious sanctuaries were not always thought to be the most appropriate settings for modern art. But as a wave of contemporary art installations is being unveiled in cathedrals, churches and chapels across Europe, religious spaces are once again becoming showcases for many artists. ... Do all these new installations herald a renaissance in religious art? Whatever the reasons for the trend or its outcome, the churches that draw on the spiritual inspiration of modern artists are attracting a new group of people who may never have considered religious spaces as a wellspring of innovative contemporary art. European Artists Return to Church Alvaro Felgueroso Lobo for The New York Times Copyrights Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter's design for Cologne's cathedral. Is this to be seen as a return to the source or is it just escapism from the merchants? For one, I think the merchants don't care a damn if it's a church or a gallery, for, they'll keep their hands firmly in control of the sales anyhow. For the church itself it's an astute marketing ploy "attracting a new group of people who may never have considered religious spaces as a wellspring of innovative contemporary art" and by the same token fortifying the creed in the minds of the remaining traditional believers. But what about the artists who realize those commissions? Is their work taking a turn towards the spiritual? Is their art giving signs of the post-modern worldview in the making? I really doubt that.
- European Artists Return to Church in The NYT Travel by VALERIE GLADSTONE
