The Church Gives Contemporary Art Its Blessing

The Church Gives Contemporary Art Its Blessing 

As the Vatican tries to build bridges between the Catholic Church and living artists, it also makes plans to exhibit new works

 

The new president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, plans to revive that sort of relationship between the Vatican and contemporary artists. “For a century now there has been a divorce between art and faith,” Ravasi, who is also a noted biblical scholar, teacher, writer, and TV commentator, told ARTnews. “The basic idea is to return to a dialogue on biblical and religious themes between the Church and the great artists of our time—artists such as Bill Viola, Anish Kapoor, and Jannis Kounellis.”

...The first showing of new Vatican contemporary artworks will likely be in Venice, concurrently with the 2009 Biennale. “Venice is a showcase for all the big countries in the world, and the Holy See would like to be there with them,” Ravasi said. “We are trying to get the best of international artists on our side, to create new works with a religious or spiritual theme.”