25/10/2021 - THE CHURCH AS A MUSEUM
ABOUT THE FRUITFUL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY ART AND SACRED PLACES
The church has always appealed to the creative abilities of artists to interpret the message of God and its concrete application in the life of the Christian community. That’s why every church is a museum, a sophisticated blend of classical art forms (such as painting and sculpture) and architecture. However, sacred art wasn’t born as a pure artwork, but for devotional purposes. It’s not an art to be admired, but to be used to get closer to God. In whatever way we consider it, since the church is a place of worship and culture, we can still think of it as a museum. Even if we don’t go to mass, many of us have walked through more church doors than houses.
For some years now, churches have become shrine of treasures that don’t necessarily have to do with religion, but rather with art and architecture, and which perhaps are very far from the religious theme. Many churches, most of which are now deconsecrated, are intended to exhibit art, suggesting a fruitful dialogue between tradition and modernity.
Even though he was a layman, the master of Arte Povera Jannis Kounellis (Pireo, 1936 - Roma, 2017) often worked in the religious sphere. He used to say that the artist shouldn’t only be spiritual, but should “be able to touch religion”, and contemporary art could play its role. More and more projects bring contemporary art to ancient religious buildings. Another concrete examples is the permanent installation designed by Dan Flavin (New York, 1933 - 1996) for the church of Santa Maria Annunciata in Chiesa Rossa, in Milan. Or just think to the Kunstraum Kirche exhibition, an annual event which invites selected artists to exhibit their artworks in St. James cathedral, in Innsbruck.
As we like to go further, we took an artwork by Arik Levy (Tel Aviv, 1963) and we set it in the ancient Reims Cathedral, roman catholic church based in northern France : there are “only” eight centuries between the artist’s installation and the building. Reims Cathedral was the traditional location for the coronation of the kings of France. Prominent example of High Gothic architecture, it was damaged and rebuilt several times, and comes to us with its thick walls steeped in history and a vertical beauty that never ceases to surprise.
Because we like to play on contrasts, which create risk and movement, we’ve cleared the nave and we’ve transformed the floor into a huge mirror that reflects the ceiling. Here, we’ve installed the monumental white marble sculpture “RockGrowth exploration” by the Israeli artist. The latter has repeatedly taken up the subject, varying its shape and material. We’ve first set it in place of the altar and then, as if it were moving by itself, we placed it between the side naves of the church. Previously hidden like Wrapped Monuments by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the sculpture gradually reveals itself as it was flooded by heaven’s diviner light and the conquers the space.
RockGrowth exploration by Arik Levy