Spirituality in Art

According to Morgan (2007) popular culture has developed a kind of “common language of leisure” which overrides the idea of artistic forms being “true culture” or “profane”. The idea that is referred to by Morgan (2007) of Kandinsky elevating the art of children (considered as marginalised) to an “avant garde” status speaks to me when I consider the art work in Linde Ivimey's If pain persists exhibition. Far from the concept of art moving beyond the human condition and “elevating national taste”, I felt connected to Linde’s art work precisely because it examined the human condition – deceit, despair, love and longing (the list really does go on).

A Self Portrait

If I had the experience of visiting the art gallery by myself, and simply observing the artworks, the meaning, depth and significance of each display would have escaped me. I required some knowledge of Linde’s life – an understanding that her marriage broke down, that she struggled with the fact she could not have children, that her nickname as a child was bunny. These insights into the artist’s life allowed me to build much deeper, richer and rounded meaning of each of the pieces. 

Despite this prior knowledge being almost a necessity for me to be able to interpret the art work I am positive that I took a completely different message away from each piece then the person who looked at it before me did. As Morgan (2007) identifies “meaning is a restless, forever unfinished thing” and as such the meaning and creativity that went into making each work and organising the pieces differed greatly to the response that I had, my peers had and indeed what we would take away from the artwork at a different point in time.

The representation of religion within Linde’s artworks was very different to anything I have come into contact with. These symbols may well be what Elizondo (2005) refers to as the religion of the people. It is not occuring within a church or a structured religious ceremony however the connections and feelings that I developed with the pieces of artwork went far beyond simply admiring the creativity of Linde Ivimey to a much deeper connection with what it means to be alive in today's world. Morgan (2007) argues that religion is not a "fixed essence" within cultural objects and I agree with this view that issues of religion are only intertwined with art when deeper knowledge is held however can occur in any time and any place.   

The four horsemen
Religious identities or playful youngsters?

References

Elizondo, V. 2005. The virgin of Guadalupe as cultural icon. In C. H. Badaracco (Ed.), Quoting God. How Media Shape Ideas about Religion and Culture. 201 - 208. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.

Morgan, D. 2007. Studying religion and pop culture. In G. Lynch, Ed., Between Sacred and Profane: Researching Religion and Popular Culture. London & New York: I.B. Taurus & Co.


Image Source

Ivimey, L. (2013). The Four Horsemen [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=25374

Ivimey, L. (2013). Thumper [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=25374