Are art galleries and museums the new churches? What is the relationship between art and faith? Does art that can inspire us to that degree even still exist?

The Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. Image: artblat.com

Emily Carr, Wind in the Tree Tops, c. 1936-1939. Image: heffel.com

I was marveling with a friend the other day at how in the early 20th century - only 100 years or so ago - people were profoundly shaken by bright colours and loose brushstrokes in painting. I was speaking specifically about the reaction of Torontonians to the early work of A.Y. Jackson and other painters who had been influenced by the likes of Edvard Munch and the Impressionists in Europe.

A.Y. Jackson, The Red Maple, 1914. Image: yorku.ca

And then today on CBC Radio’s Q, today the Reverend Jennie Hogan spoke about the relationship between faith and art, and how the Mark Rothko room at the Tate Modern can have such a profound spiritual effect on people.  Is art, she asks, replacing religion?

James Turrell’s Roden Crater Project. Image: 1.pb.blogspot.com

At a time when religion indeed seems to be on the wane, is art able to replace it? Or is art that powerful (I’m thinking Rothko, Barnett Newmann, James Turrell, even Emily Carr, even still being produced?)  Much of today’s art, as Hogan put it, unfortunately seems to be no more than a knee-jerk reaction to things.

Maybe it’s architecture, though, not art. If museums are the new cathedrals, as Hogan argues in THIS Guardian article, then maybe it’s not the art but the architectural space that now provides the sublime experience.  This is something that was brought up after Gehry built Bilbao and architecture fans flocked there like catholic pilgrims to Lourdes.

If at first glance it seems unlikely that art has replaced religion, I can think of two artists who have the power to create a faith experience, one in the positive (inspiring belief), and the other in the negative. Canadian David Rokeby’s award-winning interactive sound installation Very Nervous System (1986 - 1990) is an  invisible computer interface that sets body movements to music. Imagine walking down the street and suddenly your body movements begin to create sound! Though I haven’t seen it in the flesh, on THIS video, it seems sublime. Click that link also to find out how it works.

Secondly, and on the other side of things, is Gregor Schnieder, possibly the greatest German artist of his generation. His numbingly claustrophobic, absolutely terrifying basement installation, Weisse Folter at the K21 in Dusseldorf in 2007 shook me so profoundly that it still haunts me now, years later.

Gregor Schneider’s Weisse Folter. Image: 3.bp.blogspot.com.

So great art hasn’t lost any of it’s power. It may seem like more of a challenge for art to generate an almost spiritual reaction, but it’s still there. Perhaps it’s just harder to see, with so many mediocre artists clouding our view of it.

Speaking of Americans (see below), we just came across this very cool project in Detroit.

The Ice House Detroit. Image: Greg Holm/dwell.com

A collaboration between photographer Greg Holm and architect Matthew Radune, the Ice House Detroit is just what it seems to be. A completely frozen house.

Read more about the project on their blog, HERE

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We’ll be back soon with reports on Pop Life at Tate Modern, Gustav Metzger at the Serpentine, the Artangel commissions…

Seizure, 2008 by Roger Hiorns. An Artangel commission by the Turner Prize-shortlisted artist. Image: tate.org.uk

…Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy, Radical Nature and Heather and Ivan Morrison at the Barbican, the Turner Prize shortlist, and much more!

Nuit Blanche 2009, which will take place on the night of October 3 from sunset onwards, looks to be excellent again this year. Perhaps more serious than past years, many of the pieces are designed to make you consider the meaning of your surroundings. With more performance-based work than previous years, there are lots of ways for you to get involved with art.

For the Nuit Blanche 2009 website, please click HERE.

Jeff Koons’ Rabbit in New York. Image: rawartint.com

Here are VoCA’s picks:

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…So what are we going to do about it?

Image: afonline.artistsspace.org

The Art Newspaper has some excellent thoughts on the subject.

Check out this highly recommended article, right HERE

Moscow-born, California-raised Daria Zhukova, 27-year-old daughter of an oil magnate and girlfriend of billionaire Roman Abramovich is the director of Russia’s newest contemporary art space, the Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture. In this article, she speaks with the FT’s Peter Aspden:

“I liked (art), I liked going to Tate Modern in London and then other galleries but I was never directly involved and I didn’t take any art classes.” (Her degree, from the University of California Santa Barbara, is in Slavic studies and literature). She has assembled a formidable team of advisers for the Garage, including Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota and Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones….

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…And reports back, next week.

From the streets of New York City. Image: firstrung.co.uk

Stay tuned for reports on the Calder exhibit at the Whitney, Chagall and Russian Jewish Theatre at the Jewish Museum, VoCA favorite Pipilotti Rist at the MoMA and maybe a couple other things…

New York art dealer Marian Goodman - one of VoCA’s art heroes and rep of Thomas Schutte, our favorite artist - speaks to Art + Auction:

Art dealer extraordinare Marian Goodman. Image: artinfo.com

Read the article HERE

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Fuse magazine editor Izida Zorde and publisher Heather Haynes (of Toronto Free Gallery) are organizing a Town Hall meeting in Toronto to address the recent and upcoming budget cuts to the arts.

Valuing Culture: TOWN HALL REGARDING CUTS TO CULTURAL AND HERITAGE GRANTING PROGRAMS

Who should come? Everyone concerned about the Federal Government’s blatant contempt for arts and culture.

Who will be speaking? Representatives from Government, visual arts, film, video, performing arts

What will we be doing? Strategizing on how to get our voices heard in the next election

Why is this important? Because the wave of cuts and policy changes are radically changing Canadian society.

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 at 7pm.

The Theatre Centre
1087 Queen Street West, (South East Corner of Queen and Dovercourt)

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Coming up on VoCA:

Paul Thek, Uncle Tom´s Cabine with Tower of Babel, 1976. The Personal Effects of the Pied Piper.
Image: zkm.de

-The Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
-Paul Thek at the Facklenberg collection, Hamburg
-Art criticism debate in London

…and more!