THE SACRED
& THE PROFANE
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Art has always been connected to magic and mysteries. The sacred, mythology and religion have been the source which art canalized into magical symbols, practices and rituals - suggesting solace for existential agony and aspiring collectivities to bond, dare, create, flourish.
In archaic times, religion, cult and rite was experienced as a fundament of social life. Movements, ornaments, words and objects outlined the sacred and the profane. For hundreds of years, both sides of life had been inextricably linked, according to Mircea Eliade, 20th century's most influential historian of religion.
The two part international art project "The Sacred & The Profane" was born in Arcadia during an artists workshop retrieving the roots of religion and experimenting with the form and discipline they can be expressed in our consumption oriented, trivialities loving and medialized world.
The second part - consisting of feasible objects, installations, performances and poetry - takes place in spring time Munich and celebrates - via contemporary art, often iconoclastic - the death of winter and nature's revival in Europe's most tradition conscious metropolis.
The beauty of daemons and saints, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, faith and suffering, fall and resurrection, ecstasies and self annihilation, rebirth through recycling, the cult of Kitsch objects, votives for a Godless spirituality, destruction of memories, the Jewellers' hell, religion and hate, emotions and the genesis of symbols are the key words describing participants' work.
This year to celebrate the fifth show we curate and present in Munich and to emphasize the necessity for artists to take initiative and be proactive, we grant three Artist Residencies in Greece to fellow artists who participate in shows during the city's prestigious Schmuckwoche.
The cycle is thus completed; from Arcadia to Munich and back!
Loukia Richards & Christoph Ziegler
