| Visual artists have used the image of light time and time again to express the intangible, along with its wonder, fear, and mystery. The exhibition “Heavenly Light” includes prints, watercolors, and sculptures, ranging from the 16th to the late 20th century, which are united in their representation of the metaphysical as light. Personification, the illustration of religious narrative, philosophical allusion, and the depiction of earthly natural light represent some of the methods by which artists have made manifest this symbolic relationship. While the majority of the works derive from the western tradition, Suiyotei Shogetsu’s, Amaterasu Emerges from Her Cave, provides a notable exception, attesting to the imagery’s potency in transcending cultural boundaries. It is also interesting to note the contrast between the disquietude of many 20th century works with those from earlier centuries. Images such as The Solitary Shrine (c.1926) by Albert Decaris and Astronaut by Letterio Calapai (1966) evoke a sense of isolation and ontological angst in a century of rapid change and expansion. It will be curious to see how the interaction of visible light and metaphysics as it is expressed materially by artists will continue to grow and change as we move through the 21st century. |
