My latest review for Church Times is of Magic Realism: Art in Weimar Germany 1919-33 at Tate Modern.
Two of the artists included, Albert Birkle and Herbert Gurschner, were part of an under-recognised strand of artists at this time (including, in the UK, Eric Gill, David Jones, Winifred Knights, Stanley Spencer, and others) for whom religious iconography did retain spiritual significance, and who produced work that was both original and modern as a result. One of many interesting aspects to this exhibition, and the earlier linked “Aftermath” exhibition, is that the curators have recognised this and reflected it as part of the rich tapestry of modernism, instead of overlooking it on ideological grounds, as others have in the past.
This new recognition on the part of curators is also apparent in Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life, Death, Rebirth at the RA which explores resonances in both artists’ treatment of the fundamental questions of life and its meaning. As Ben Quash pointed out today at a study day on Art & Theology, an exhibition that aims to journey through the cycle of life by taking us closer to the spiritual and emotional power of the art works is a relatively new development in curation.
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David Bowie - Where Are We Now?
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