The Problem of God

Beschrijving

Tent. Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, K21 Ständehaus, 26-09-2015, 24-01-2016. - Groepstentoonstelling onderzoekt invloed en betekenis van de Christelijke beeldcultuur in de seculaire context en in het universele culturele erfgoed in de afgelopen 25 jaar. - Coll. VAM: Bacon, Francis, Fragment of a Crucifixion, 1950, p. 100 ill. kleur, p. 101-102 tekst. - The exhibition documents the ways in which the Christian image tradition has continued to evolve in secular contexts as a universal cultural heritage - and independently of specifically religious references. A striking number of works resist simple readings. Instead, they deploy complex narratives and images in an attempt to come to terms in subtle ways with Christian motifs, themes, or issues. The presentation, then, is not devoted to sacred art, nor to religiosity in general. The focus is on works that to be sure reference Christian symbols or thematic fields, but at the same time reflect upon and transform them critically while transferring them to new contexts, both in terms of content and visual aesthetics. The thematic range is broad, and extends from fundamental existential questions and the philosophical and spiritual challenges associated with them to a humorous or critical preoccupation with individual aspects of religion and faith, from confrontations with art-historical traditions all the way to present-day sociopolitical topics. The selection focuses on the art of the past 25 years and encompasses paintings, works on paper, glass works, sculpture, photography, video, and film, as well as complex, spatial installations - some created especially for this exhibition. A selection of works exemplifies pivotal positions in the history of art between 1950 and 1980. In exemplary ways, these allow us to reconstruct the often subtle penetration of Christian emblems and symbols systems and to situate them within a collective image memory