Spirituality and Contemporary Art

Arya, Rina

Abstract

The artworks under discussion detail the scope and breadth of art that can be described as spiritual by virtue of its revelatory, revitalizing and contemplative capacities. Rather than interrogating the relationship between art and religion, more pertinent questions in the contemporary age are: What is the nature of the dialogue between art and spirituality, how do the two come together, and what form does the meeting take? The range of multimedia brings novel forms of encounter that occur outside the gallery and other spaces and involve audio-visual and other means of articulating the spiritual. These new forms make different demands on viewers; they create greater intimacy (often through immersion), both physically and psychologically, and one of the consequences of having greater intimacy can be a heightened awareness that increases presentness and a sense of embodiment. What we learn is that there are potentially as many interpretations of spirituality as there are viewers.

Citation

Arya, R. (2016). Spirituality and Contemporary Art. In {. }. {Burch Brown} (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.209

• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 23, 2024
• Book Title: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.209
• Keywords: abstraction, embodiment, immersion, New Media, spirituality, the sublime, transgression
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4629593