Post 2 | Can Society Find a Place For Religion in Contemporary Art?

Reflection on James Elkins' article: Bridging the Gap Between Modern Art and Religion, and Linde Ivimey's current exhibition: 'If Pain Persists'

by Theresa King

James Elkin, a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, argues in his article Bridging the Gap Between Modern Art and Religion, that modern artists who infuse Western religious or spiritual themes into their pieces are more excluded in art circles than those who produce secular art. As James Elkin (2007) states, instructors 'will often shy away from religious or spiritual themes, and talk instead about safe things like colour and form'. In saying this, it seems art students are unable to attain productive feedback from their instructors on work with religious content due to it being a sensitive issue. This can be due to differentiating beliefs and views, and the issue of offending the artist. Furthermore Elkin (2007) argues that artists who include religious aspects in their works are typically unable to get shows in main art galleries or art fairs. What seems more peculiar is the popularity of art that openly criticizes and belittles religion, in particular Western religions, is highly successful. Why is this so? Why has religion in art become a stigma in today's society?

Elkin's (2007) article has the intention of capturing the gap between religious art and secular art and how secular art that is skeptical of religion is sky rocketing in modern art shows. This is highly evident when Elkin describes an event he held in April called 'Re-Enchantment' as an attempt to address the problem of this art gap, in which he describes was a fail. He continues to say, 'Several people (whom I won't name) said that just sitting down at a table with people who will talk about religion and modernism would itself be too unpleasant'. Is this displaying how modern society, in this case the art world, is turning more secularized and therefore religious art pieces which used to be so highly loved is now losing its attention?

When entering the University of Queensland Art Museum for the first time and looking at the different sculptures in Linde Ivimey's exhibition it reflected not only spiritual elements, but her personal stories and a somewhat narrative of her past. What was most attention grabbing was the way her sculptures were built - out of bone. At first it seem quite unusual why Linde did this until it was further explained. Linde explains the reason for doing this is due to the importance of our own bodies. Her work is an externalisation of what’s inside. What she feels and is on the inside is shown on the outside.

Here is a video of Linde herself discussing her work:

 

One piece that caught attention of our class and was highly discussed was that of the Twelve Apostles. When first glimpsing at this piece without first hearing the name of the artwork our class was asked what we thought this sculpture looked like, many responded: "blind leading the blind", "prison chain gang", and "blindly following religion". When looking at the twelve masked figures more closely, they are in a ritualistic stance following each other and each figure can be identified and defined by the objects they carry. What was quite unusual at first was that the figures are connected through their hands, one hand reaching to the shoulder in front and the other back to the penis behind. When looking more into the reasoning behind this Linde explains the connections refer to the etymology of the words: testify, testament, testicle. They refer to the Hebrew practice of  pledging their word, their seed and lineage, to follow through with their vow. This is evident in Genesis: 24.9, where it shows Abraham and his servant doing just this.
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Linde Ivimey ‘Twelve Apostles’ 2003. Acrylic resin, wood, steel armature, dyed cotton and silk, natural fibre, acrylic fibre, cast and natural cow, sheep , turkey and chicken bones, seed pods, shell, echidna quills, porcupine quills, found objects, laundry lint, feather. Reproduced courtesy of the artist in University of Queensland Art Museum. 
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When hearing how Linde described the Apostles as having "blind faith" many can take it in two ways. Firstly, people can interpret this as a criticising and satirising view of the Twelve Apostles who are important figures amongst the Christian faith depicting them as ignorant, lacking in awareness, and so on. However, a different point which Linde may have been trying to get across which seems more likely, due to her Catholic background, is that she is suggesting there is an element of our faith that is blind faith,  that those who are religious believe even though we cannot see. That faith is believing even though we have no proof. This reminded me of what St. Augustine once said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" (Hope, Faith, Prayer, 2013).

Overall, the visit to the UQ Art Museum was quite interesting when Gillian further explained the reasons behind each artwork and showed several spiritual elements and life stories which Linde chooses to share with her viewers.


Sources Cited:

Elkins, J. (2007). CAC Perspectives: Can Modern Art and Religion Get Along?, ArtStyle Blog. Retrieved on March 14, 2013 from http://www.chicagoarts-lifestyle.com/cac-perspectives-can-modern-art-and-religion-get-along/#more-660.

Hope, Faith, Prayer. (2013). Faith Quotes [Web log message]. Retrieved on March 14, 2013 from http://hopefaithprayer.com/faith/faith-quotes/

Saint Benedict Press. (2010). Holy Bible. Belmont, NC: North Carolina.

University of Queensland Art Museum. (2012, October 23). Linde Ivimey UQ [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfvD45OVqgk