Seeking the spiritual in art

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Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art

T.J. Gorringe

Cultures associated with different Western religious traditions deal with visual imagery, especially in relation to verbal texts, in different ways. Gorringe identifies both Judaism and Islam as aniconic, that is, avoiding representation (in accordance with the biblical Second Commandment), although examples of figuration are found in secular cultures that flow from these belief systems. Protestantism, in its reforming mode, also responds warily to religious imagery. It’s really only Catholicism that embraces a broad range of representations, even though numerous contemporary images – often by artists raised as Catholics – are perceived as blasphemous and received with hostility.

The author’s intention is to show ‘the way in which some of the greatest secular art of the past four hundred years can be understood to speak of the presence and reality of God in ways which do not compromise its integrity’.

Gorringe analyses certain works that long have been perceived as spiritual in a non-religious sense: paintings by Wasily Kandinsky, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, for example. Less predictably, however, he also makes a solid case for spiritual lessons to be found in works by Rene Magritte and Francis Bacon, among others. This is possible, Gorringe writes, because ‘great artists see more clearly and enable others to see. To do this they do not have to be believers but they do need to be truthful’.

Gorringe argues that even the most agnostic or irreligious images can be received as spiritual lessons, ‘secular parables’, by those of faith. Thus, for believers who participate in faith as a challenge, the challenges presented by serious art will stimulate inquiry and growth. Conversely, the faithful who seek only reassurance in their religion will avoid challenging art and choose only images that bolster what they already believe.

Taken in this light, then, the book is of particular importance to those who profess or confess belief in the midst of increasingly secular Western cultures in general and an even more secular art world, in particular. What sort of appeal, however, might the book have for individuals who care about art, but are not persons of religious faith?

The likeliest appeal, of course, is that of addressing ideas that do not conform to one’s own – especially when they’re presented in a reasonable and informed manner. Certainly Gorringe and his writings fit those criteria: Gorringe is St Luke’s Professor of Theological Studies in the University of Exeter, and has written widely on religion in relation to a range of cultural and political concerns. A member, as well, of the Iona Community and an exegete on the theology of Karl Barth, Gorringe brings considerable breadth to his thinking – the kind that inspires respectful consideration, even when his ideas fail to persuade.

Another possibility is that ignoring the issues raised in Gorringe’s book only further narrows opportunities to persuade the broader public of contemporary art’s importance: this at a time when the study of art is being compelled to prove itself more popular, even as funding to do so is reduced. Gorringe understands why progressive thinkers – including those engaged in the production, dissemination and reception of visual art – reject religion and why Western society in general has pushed faith to the cultural and social margins. Yet studies in visual culture have established a tradition of addressing art within the context of marginalized cultures: it is only logical to anticipate cultures of faith as potential arenas for discussion.

A final thought: Gorringe titled his book Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art. This reviewer suggests that the subtitle could easily have been‘Art and the Challenges of Theology’. Either way, it merits considered reading.

Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art by T.J. Gorringe is published by Yale University Press, 2011. 254 pp.,  44 colour and 26 mono illus. ISBN 978-0-300-16280-6