Beyond Airbrushed from Art History: Bronson, Finster and Pass

In his Hyperallergic article Rob Colvin sets out strongly the thesis that, when it comes to art and religion, never the twain shall meet:

'The close relationship that art and religion maintained for several millennia has in recent decades eroded so drastically that it’s difficult to imagine fine arts and contemporary religion having anything in common. Art is, on the whole, a secular enterprise, and religion is frequently more anesthetic than aesthetic in character. The two worlds happily foster vulgar understandings of each other almost to a point of pride. Some might even suggest that adherence to one entails a rejection of, or at least critical distance from, the other.'

Despite this beginning, his main interest in the piece is to do with a place where the two do meet, in this case the Artist AA Bronson and the Institute for Art, Religion and Social Justice:

'Serene Jones says that the largest population of the US declares themselves to be spiritual but nondenominational. And she says that’s the horse she wants to be riding on; that’s the audience she wants to be able to harness at Union. Because, for the most part those people — a very large number of people — have nothing to feed them spiritually.

I see the art world much the same way, because there are many, many artists who would declare themselves as spiritual but don’t really know what to do with that. As a result of being at Union, I wanted to create some kind of conversation between the two: not only could the art world learn from the theological world but vice versa. It seemed just crazy to me to have this division between the two.'

One place where art and religion have always co-existed has been in Visionary Art:

'The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM)’s 20th original thematic exhibition hails the great dreamers and doers throughout history, exploring the astonishing visions of Hildegard von Bingen and Leonardo da Vinci, to Nikola Tesla and Philip K. Dick, as we pay tribute to the ecstatic “Aha!” and “Eureka!” moments that propel discovery, leaps in consciousness, and cultural renewal. The Visionary Experience: Saint Francis to Finster examines the human impulse to forge a path out of darkness into illumination, as well as the duality and complexity of vision, from radical clarity to unfettered delusion, and the legacy of visionary experiences throughout time.

Guest curator, acclaimed filmmaker and book publisher Jodi Wille, and AVAM founder
and director Rebecca Alban Hoffberger have together assembled a diverse and wildly
transcendent collection of artists, scientists, philosophers, and spiritual pioneers who have
ventured straight to the source of inspiration itself.

In anticipation of his centennial birthday celebration, The Visionary Experience includes a
lifetime of visions in paint, and the process of the most acclaimed intuitive artist of the 20th
century, Rev. Howard Finster. 

The Visionary Experience exists out of and above the influence of time or place, socioeconomic background, age, race or gender. It is a path ancient and modern, futuristic and primitive.
Within this experience, discovery can be found down the road to Damascus, inside the depths
of the cave of Athena, via the power of music, intoxicants, spiritual emergency, meditation or
prayer. The touch of grace, the whisper of the muse and the still small voice beckon, offering the
traveler transportive visions: personal, cultural, and cosmic.'

In addition to this thematic exhibition, AVAM is also showing work by Donald Pass:

'A celebration of the late British visionary artist’s ethereal spirit paintings, inspired by his own
life-changing glimpse into the afterworld. Donald Pass (1930–2010) was a well known painter of
lyrical abstract landscapes until the late 1960s when he experienced a series of spiritual visions
of the Resurrection that radically and forever changed his view of reality, and subsequently, his
artwork. Sir John Rothenstein, late Director of the Tate Gallery in London, described Pass as “a
spark of genius, a very rare talent.”'

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Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street.