Art and religion
may also helpfully be compared with one another
on the basis of their social purpose as forms
of critical reflection, on the one hand, and
as an authorization of prevailing forms of
power, on the other. While it is misleading
to differentiate these two absolutely-no
cultural form is probably ever just reflective
or just authoritative-a careful analysis
of the social operation of religious institutions
and works of art will show that one purpose
is often preponderant.
David Morgan1
A strength of and
a catalyst for the complex nature of contemporary
art is its ability to convey and reflect realities,
both exterior and interior. The visual, symbolic
and metaphorical languages employed by artists
reveal and analyse experience, as well as
extending it. While today art may have become
a surrogate for religion to some degree, and
the gallery a sanctuary, neither art nor religion
can displace the other.
Both the Adam Art
Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery are
pleased to present Votive: sacred and ecstatic
bodies, an exhibition that both examines and
questions certain representations, politics
and effects of organised Christianity, particularly
Catholicism. Votive indicates the ongoing
connectivity between art and religion, doctrine
and lived experience; it also plays on the
tensions that exist between them.
Votive addresses current issues that are seldom
welcomed within the contemporary art gallery.
It dismantles our confidence in the idea of
a singular operation of either religious institutions
or works of art. In bringing together the
work of five artists-Christopher Braddock,
Ian Breakwell, Cathy de Monchaux, Megan Jenkinson
and Pierre et Gilles-the curators disturb
our expectations and challenge the impact
of religion on the body, gender or sexuality
and indicate the changing relations between
religion, tradition and contemporary belief.
Politically and socially charged, the works
in Votive are provocative and sometimes humorous,
yet acknowledge and appreciate the individual
and communal importance of religion.
Drawing attention to the associations and
slippages between aspects of the sacred and
profane, ideas of devotion and deviation have
been central to Christopher Braddock’s
art practice and his curation of Votive. We
thank Chris for initiating the exhibition
and the accompanying catalogue with co-curator,
Mark Jackson. Both galleries also warmly thank
all the artists for their interest in and
contributions to the project.
The catalogue is
enriched by the insightful writing of Kyla
McFarlane and Mark Jackson and the additional
work, Phenomenon at Ballinspittle, by artist
Ian Breakwell. We are grateful to the lenders
to the exhibition, to Creative New Zealand
and Auckland University of Technology for
financially supporting the project and to
the British Council for assisting the travel
of Ian Breakwell to New Zealand
Zara Stanhope
Director, Adam Art Gallery
Priscilla Pitts
Director, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
1 Morgan,
David. “Secret Wisdom and Self-Effacement:
The Spiritual in Art in the Modern Age”,
Negotiating Rapture: The Power of Art to Transform
Lives, Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art,
1996, p 35
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