In our secular society, there often seems to be no safe place for the sacred. It has become marginalized, trivialized and worst of all, politicized. But throughout human history, the yearning to connect with invisible realities and larger forces has inspired great works of philosophy, art, literature, and architecture. It is the impetus behind religion and the inspiration for personal transformation. This exhibition takes as it starting point the notion of the sacred space as a locus for spiritual transformation. As understood in this exhibition, a sacred space can be a house of worship, but the term is not confined to conglomerations of bricks and mortar. A sacred space may also be created by a ritual action or a gathering of like-minded individuals. For some, the natural world is a sacred space. For others it is a place for the preservation of ancestral ties and common memory.
The artists in this show were invited to consider such questions as: What makes a space sacred? How are beliefs embodied in architecture? How do expressions of art and metaphor advance the possibilities of spiritual understanding? Many of the artists here deal with these questions by drawing on recognized religious beliefs, among them Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Shinto, Santoria and Buddhism. Others provide a more personal vision of the spiritual. Their diverse expressions have been gathered together in the spirit of ecumanism, as a means of exploring the often very different modes that humans use to delve into questions of spirituality, transcendence and metaphysics.
About the Juror |
Eleanor Heartney |
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Eleanor Heartney is the author of the books, Postmodern Heretics: The Catholic Imagination in Contemporary Art and Critical Condition: American Culture at the Crossroads. She is a New York-based art writer and cultural critic who has written extensively on contemporary art for such publications as Art in America, ARTnews, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Art Examiner. She also received the College Art Association's Frank Jewett Mather Award for distinction in art criticism and is the president of the US section of the International Association of Art Critics. |
In the Exhibition |
Artists
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Donna Adams, Heather Adivari, Ava Blitz, Pauline Chernichaw, Donna Curanzy-Seltzer, Lauren Curtis, Susan D'amato, Marisa Dipaola, Roya Farassat, Jenny Freestone, Ronald Gonzalez, Kathy Goodell, Jo-Ann Gross, Mikhail Gubin, Joe Guerriero, Dwight Harris, Megan Hildebrandt, Kenneth Kaplowitz, Eliza Lamb, Michael Lasater, Alexander Lorge, April Morales, Dan Perrone, Janis Purcell, Steven Richman, Carol Rosen, Sandra Shapiro, Keith Sharp, Lorna Stokes, Mary Strother, Richard Wedeen, Margi Weir, and Jing Zhou. |
The College Art Gallery
The College of New Jersey
111 Holman Hall
2000 Pennington Road
Ewing, NJ 08618
609.771.2198
www.tcnj.edu/~tcag
Gallery Hours: Tu, We, Th 12-7p.m.; Su 1-3p.m.
Reduced hours: Jan 16-20 (Tu, We, Th 12-3p.m.; Su closed) |
