AMEN
The contemporary artist's approach to religion
Allegory in renaissance art was a catalyst for the progress of conceptual thought. Use of abstract forms, figures and concepts introduced depth of knowledge and intellect, waving direct reference to heavy symbolism and figurative imagery that burdened issues such as that of religion in which key factors of dominance and authority, prevailed. Religion and the ritual, the spiritual and the ethical. Exaltation, guilt, redemption, stripped from narrative, from the sublime, the vast, the large, the dark representation.
Amen, examines the contemporary artist’s approach to religion in attempt to melt superficial stereotypes with depth and knowledge, often expressing anti-authoritarian views on contemporary society. In a sense, the artists are called upon to reflect on their individual relationship to faith, as to the global disposition on religious belief.
Contemporary society, from popular culture to the visual arts, has reinvented iconography introducing a set of new individualized values. Re-evaluation of the figurative, of the symbolic? An abstract outburst of sequential forms, of text underlying messages? However art values develop within subject matter, the work awakens us to new paths of personal faith-unfaith far from communal worship, religious settings and aesthetic props.
Participating artists: Stefanos Kamaris, Babis Karalis, Dimitris Protopappas
Curated by: Fotini Kapiris
The ArtWall Project Space was initiated in 2012, intending to act as a showcase devoted to contemporary art and a catalyst for discussion and collaboration among artists and art professionals. The scope and direction of the ARTWALL art program is designed and implemented by Fotini Kapiris, artist, curator and co-founder of CAMP! Contemporary Art Meeting Point, so as to meet requirements and standards of contemporary artistic production. Fresh Hotel, actively supportive of this effort, recognizes the demand for this cultural spot within the center of Athens.