2011/12 season

Art section

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Rike Zoebelein | Art section

“Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman” (Moses, book 5, chapter 27, verse 15). In early Christian times this Bible verse caused violent argument as to how churches should be designed and whether the use of images in a religious setting was permissible. This argument was to become extremely important for the entire history of Europe. At the end of the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great authorised painting at least, saying: “What writing means for those who can read, pictures achieve for those who cannot." By this he conferred authority on painting, but placed it firmly within limits: art should depict God's teaching, it should clarify and educate, transmitting knowledge and so strengthening faith. Art was a means to a religious end.

Art today is independent, and rightly so. But interest in matters of faith has reawakened in the global art world: there is even talk of a “new spiritual tendency” (art-Magazin 2/2011). The attacks of 11 September 2001 and increasing religious fanaticism have deeply shocked all of us and led us to consider our religious beliefs and attitudes to faith. In the West at least, these matters have seemed to be “hidden” in the private realm. So the questions for artists, in their role as seismographers of the contemporary world, are: what is the relationship between art and religion, and what impact do religion and spirituality have on art? Of course, this does not mean that modern artists should explain religious content to us in a “modern” way. Rather, contemporary artists are exploring the everyday consequences of religion, experimenting with matters of belief and transforming religious symbols and myths into the present day, sometimes in the form of a "wild" crossover or in ways that break taboos.

Some artists also approach the topic of faith in a spirit of anthropological curiosity and scientific gravity. They include the photographer Giorgia Fiorio, whose exhibition Rite. The Gift will be on show at the Bayer Kulturhaus from November. She has visited people from a wide variety of cultures, observed their religious rites and accompanied them on the search for the meaning of life as they look for purification, clarification, truth or salvation. What force exerts such a powerful, magical effect that it causes hordes of pilgrims to struggle across vast deserts or walk barefoot on hot stones? Can trance and pain lead to a higher form of physical reality? Is anything beyond the power of faith? When we study the photographs, the phrase “faith can move mountains” becomes a fact and we, as members of a knowledge society that regards knowledge as synonymous with security, stability and order, are faced with questions like: “Does faith not offer us much more than knowledge?” “Do we not need faith as a refuge?” “Does not faith always challenge, question and move, even teasing out knowledge?”

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The reverse approach is a movement in contemporary art that has turned the studio into a laboratory, and sees faith merely as the irrational opposite of knowledge that can be verified by facts. The proponents of this approach work with systematised knowledge that has a theoretical foundation, knowledge gained by empiricism, research and experiment, and uses it for artistic purposes. This never takes a purely rational direction, but also follows subjective and emotional pathways, which can have ironic breaches. The artists are just as charmed by the fact that chance also affects research into materials and situations as they are by the wealth of associated biological, physical and social issues. The creations of the “ars viva” prizewinners for 2010/11, Klara Hobza, Markus Zimmermann and Andreas Zybach, whose works we will be presenting under the title Test array for Art in spring 2012, are a dynamic example of this particular artistic phenomenon.

The second Labor Berlin show to be put on in Leverkusen deals with the topic of Faith and Knowledge. The artists contributing to this show are the Turkish film-maker Züli Aladağ and the American Reynold Reynolds. Aladağ has dedicated his film The Others to the major “foreign” religious community in Germany – the Muslims – and explores the concept of otherness. Reynolds investigates the phenomenon of “loss” and “not knowing” in his portraits of people who have disappeared and whose fate is still unknown.

Faith and Knowledge - it would be hard to think of a pair of concepts that are more opposed to one another. In the final analysis, faith cannot exist without knowledge and knowledge cannot exist without faith. We are delighted that, in addition to the exhibitions devoted to the theme of the season, we will also be able to exhibit the work of upcoming artists as part of the stART programme. This year the class of Professor Feldmann of Kassel Art College will be our guests. We hope that you as art-lovers will come to find out how they have approached the topic of Faith and Knowledge, which is ultimately relevant to us all.

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