- February 17, 2012
- 12:01 am
- Karis Hustad
- no comments
Depicting heaven and hell
Heaven and hell have arrived in Chicago (or at least their artistic representations have).
HEAVEN+HELL is the newest collaboration between the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) and Intuit: The Center For Intuitive and Cultural Art. The works of art, which depict, and are inspired by, life after death, will be on display at both museums. LUMA will host the heavenly art, while Intuit will host works on hell.
In addition to the unique split-gallery setting, these works of art are created by folk, self-taught, and outsider artists. Exhibition co-curator Molly Tarbell says this adds a unique perspective to the exhibition and LUMA, where most of the artists featured are mainstream.
“The work in this exhibition is spiritual in content—with representations and meditations on the afterlife and biblical messages—but it also incorporates work by artists who were deeply spiritual themselves. Many of the artists in this exhibition received visions, which prompted them to begin to create their art,” she says. “By featuring work by people who are outside of the mainstream, we hope to demonstrate that spirituality in art often exists in a very raw form.”
These un-trained artists bring a new medium to the usual content of the gallery, Tarbell points out.
“One thing that is so compelling about this exhibition is the variety of materials and forms the artists use. Artists use a range of mediums, from traditional mediums such as oil, acrylic, canvas, and colored pencil, to non-traditional ones such as glitter, sand, industrial materials, and found objects.”
There are several pieces in the exhibition that she feels are exemplary of this unprocessed style. A pulpit painted by Ronald and Jessie Cooper depicts scenes of heaven and hell, combined with text that underscores their message. A two-paneled painting by William Blayney mashes together crowded scenes with copyright notices and textual references, which Tarbell describes as “intense.” She also points out that there are several different takes on angels throughout the exhibition, from wooden carvings wrapped in cigarette foil by Kenny Tucker to stone angels carved by Raymond Coins and William Edmonson (Edmonson was the first solo African-American artist to have an exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City).
Tarbell also points out that some of the art was not even created by people who identify themselves as “artists”– instead, their inspiration came to them in visions and they use the product to spread the Gospel.
In essence, Tarbell says this exhibition provides a new perspective on the LUMA mission.
“LUMA’s mission is to explore the spiritual in art of all faiths, cultures, and societies,” she says. “The work in this exhibition is spiritual in content—with representations and meditations on the afterlife and biblical messages—but it also incorporates work by artists who were deeply spiritual themselves.”
HEAVEN+HELL runs February 10 through June 30, 2012. For more on the exhibition visit the LUMA website here or the Intuit website here.
