Vatican to host pavillion at 2011 Venice Biennale

April 6, 2009 at 8:00 pm | In Art Criticism, Art History, Belief & Art, Biennial, Contemporary Art | Leave a Comment
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La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour) a controversial installation by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is seen on display at the Padiglione delle Tese as part of Venice's 49th Biennale arts exhibition

The Vatican has announced its plans to re-engage the art world by hosting its own pavillion at the 2011 Venice Biennale. In an AP news article, Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture stated,

“The great religious symbols, the great stories and the great figures of spirituality — these can stimulate an art that more and more often lacks any message” — or is blasphemous”

I’m not sure opposing blasphemy is a productive reason to engage in the arts, but I guess you have to start somewhere.

“We are reminded of the urgent need for a renewed dialogue between aesthetics and ethics, between beauty, truth and goodness not only by contemporary cultural and artistic debate, but also by daily reality,” said Pope Benedict XVI, in a November message to pontifical academies.

This on the other hand could be seen as a good sign. However, the interesting thing will be to see whether or not the Vatican’s selections are able to present it’s idea of “truth” and “beauty” to a world that can have multiple, and sometimes opposing views of what those things mean. To label art as blasphemous doesn’t do much to keep the “dialogue” and “debate” open between contemporary culture and religious world. In our post-post-modern/post-ironic point in time, much of the cynicism seems to be lifting in the art world towards work that deals with the spiritual.

I’ve been to the Vatican Contemporary art collection and it is okay at best. Much of what you’d expect. Some beautiful pieces are there for sure. Not suprisingly, much of it leans toward the didactic or simply ideological. Hopefully they will hire someone who has a good eye for relevance and depth without the theological heavy-handedness.

Times Online has more on the subject.

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This time it’s personal…

September 25, 2008 at 4:54 am | In Belief & Art, Contemporary Art, Drawing, The Critical Zone, Thoughts on Art | 3 Comments
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And by that I mean this post. If you have been checking in at all or are even remotely interested in what is to come then you might be glad this post will actually sound like it was written by a person.

While we are still reshaping an organization that has already used up one of it’s lives- previously we had property with studio and meeting space, a full board, associate artists and plans for expansion- we have become once again an humble vision, three individuals and no place to meet but cafes or each other studio spaces.  While I am new to the board for this incarnation of Blue Tower, I was active as an artist with the Foundation previously, having showed my work at events and consulted regularly for input.

Drawing Wall Installation at Blue Tower's old studio space, 2005

Drawing Wall Installation at Blue Tower's old studio space, 2005, Courtney Stubbert

This time around we are starting with a completely different approach and for this we hope our blog becomes an active place of discussion and encouragement. As we continue to restructure we will re-launch our website and let you know of events or lectures we will be putting on. In the meantime we invite any readers to comment, ask questions or share about their own artistic developement, art making practice and related concerns. Our aim is to engage contemporary art and issues of belief and support those who are cut from the same cloth as we are.

If you have not yet read the essay on “The Critical Zone” I invite you to do so. For me personally, when I met the author in 2000, this paper put my personal frustrations in sharp relief and gave me a way to articulate things I found troubling in the culture I grew up in, my desires to make art and how the two related to one another. We would love to hear comments or feedback on the essay. If for no other reason than to find out who is out there and interested.

I finally got some time in the studio last night. It wasn’t earth shattering or anything. Cobwebs are starting to form in the corners and unfinished drawings are everywhere. I did make a few solid moves on some pieces I’ve been staring at for some time. I have a few canvasas I am working on as well as MANY small drawings and collages on paper. I tend to give the paper work more attention as it is largely dry media or watercolor/ink/acrylic and can be cleaned up quickly. I have small children, work many hours and don’t have time for oils or encaustic right now. Some of my work is up at this site for those that are interested.

Thanks for reading.

The Critical Zone: Speculations on a Conceptual Space for Postmodern Seekers by Wesley Hurd

September 2, 2008 at 9:27 am | In Belief & Art, Contemporary Art, Existentialism, Modernism, Philosophy, Post-Modernism, The Critical Zone, Theology, Thoughts on Art | Leave a Comment
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The Critical Zone: Speculations on a Conceptual Space for Postmodern Seekers
by Wesley Hurd
(copyright 2008, all rights reserved)

My topic, “Speculations on a Critical Zone” is about a space in our culture. This “Critical Zone” is a place of ideas and beliefs that people can inhabit. It is a conceptual space where, I think, life-determining beliefs we hold can be explored, embraced or rejected. It is therefore ultimately a place of vital intellectual and spiritual importance to those who inhabit it. Let me introduce this speculation by telling how I first noticed the possibility of its existence.

Read more…

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