ANGELA GLAJCAR: CURALIUM
March 25-May 16, 2011
NEW! Exhibition catalogue, featuring beautiful photography, poems and essays by Holy Cross students and scholars, and an interview with the artist, is now available for purchase in the Holy Cross Bookstore.
Watch a timelapse video of the installation»
See more photos on the Holy Cross blog»
Photos by Patrick O'Connor. |
The Saint Joseph Memorial Chapel at the College of the Holy Cross was the site for an original, contemporary sculptural installation by German artist Angela Glajcar. Sheet upon sheet of fiberglass fabric created a monumental, curving, floating sculpture above the main aisle of the Chapel - necessitating that worshipers encounter their sacred space in a new way.
The project, unique in the United States, was designed to foster a dialogue between the world of faith and the world of contemporary art. It was modeled after the Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, in Cologne, Germany, a functioning parish that also serves as a center for contemporary art and music. Kunst-Station founder, Rev. Friedhelm Mennekes, S.J., a visiting art critic in the Department of Visual Arts at Holy Cross, shepherded the project here.
Glajcar's work explores the spatial effects of large-scale sculpture created from lightweight, sensitive and easily-harmed material. The artist is also interested in the play of light on the plain white medium. Tearing the sheets to create caverns in the sculpture further reduces its heft while breaking away its internal spaces to the light. In this way, her work draws parallels to sacred spaces, monumental vessels of bricks and mortar built with the purpose of bringing worshipers to the light.
"We want to begin a conversation about what is sacred, what the Holy means, and where we find it," said Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. "There's a danger that the space becomes a museum, when it doesn't respond to anything contemporary. We want bring art in there, and bring it to life."
The Saint Joseph Memorial Chapel opened in 1924 as a memorial to those who perished in World War I. The church, designed by Charles D. Maginnis, was inspired by an Italian Renaissance basilica, incorporating features of Jesuit architecture first expressed in the church of Gesu in Rome.
RELATED EVENTS
Opening Reception
Thursday, March 24, 4-7 p.m.
German Mass
Sunday, March 27, 11:30 a.m.
Rev. Friedhelm Mennekes, S.J., visiting art critic in the Department of Visual Arts at Holy Cross, presides over a special Mass in German and English.
Artist Talk: Angela Glajcar
Sunday, March 27, 2 p.m.
We welcome your feedback and questions. Email crec@holycross.edu or call 508.793.3869.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This installation was presented by the Center for Religion Ethics and Culture with guidance from Rev. Friedhelm Mennekes, S.J., visiting art scholar at Holy Cross. Coordinating Committee members are:
Thomas M. Landy, Director, Center for Religion, Ethics, and Culture
Paul Covino, Director of Liturgy, Chaplains' Office
Roger Hankins, Director, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery
Danielle Kane, Communications Coordinator, Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture
David Karmon, Head of Art History Division
Robert ParkeHarrison, Acting Chair, Visual Arts
Virginia Raguin, Professor, Visual Arts
Sylvia Schmitz-Burgard, Associate Professor, World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures