Silence, Spirituality and Contemplative Experience in Contemporary Abstract Paintings. Analysis of Selected Examples
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: In recent decades, there has been increasing interest in including the spiritual dimension in artistic practice and in discourse on art. This phenomenon seems to be universal but is definitely not homogenic. I examine it by referring to meaningful examples of abstract paintings from different cultural and religious backgrounds. I analyze artworks by two contemporary bicultural painters: the American-Japanese artist, Makoto Fujimura, and American-Iranian artist, Yari Ostovany. The Polish non-figurative artist Tadeusz G. Wiktor is also considered. Their oeuvre can be set within the larger context of great religious and spiritual traditions. I stress the influence of Oriental legacy in contemporary examples of abstract art. I investigate how the selected artworks refer to an invisible reality, and I focus especially on the silence they evoke. My aim is to show how contemporary non-figurative art can influence the viewer by creating a contemplative experience. I also place the selected artworks in the theoretical contexts presented by the artists themselves and refer to classical and contemporary texts.
Source: Perspektywy Kultury
Author: Agnieszka Tes
Institution: Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie
Language: English
Topic: Art, Politics, and Modernism
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3129938599