Church Times: Spirituality and Abstraction in Post-war Europe

My latest review for Church Times is on 'Spirituality and Abstraction in Post-war Europe' at Hanina Fine Arts, London, an exhibition of 20th-century abstract artists influenced by esoteric and Eastern religious movements:

'Postmodernism has shone a light into the hidden corners of art history and one of the stories increasingly being explored is that of the interplay between spirituality and modern art. This exhibition adds to that story by highlighting the works of abstractionists from groups such as Abstraction-Création, CoBrA, and Groupe Espace who were engaging with the spiritual teachings of Theosophy, Swedenborgianism, Rosicrucianism, and Eastern religions.

This is ground that was originally covered by the 2008 exhibition Traces du Sacré, an exhibition that provided my first opportunity to review for Church Times. That exhibition, as with this, sought to document the traces of spirituality to be found in modern and contemporary art. As the story of modern art had originally been told primarily as a secular tale, arguments that metaphysical questioning has consistently featured in that story are necessary counterbalances revealing a greater complexity of influence and motivation than was previously allowed.'

The review mentions Marie Raymond and her son Yves Klein about whom I have also written in an article for Artlyst which explores aspects of their spirituality in the context of the exhibition At the heart of abstraction: Marie Raymond and her friends at the Musée des beaux-arts at Le Mans. For more on Yves Klein see my sermon entitled 'Together for the Common Good'.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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After The Fire - Take Me Higher.