Paintings that Reach for the Future

Within the works at the Klint’s exhibition, I felt the running theme of spirituality and creating works that transcend the time period of which they were created. They have little to do with the terrestrial realm, which give the pieces a timeless quality which allows the works to be interpreted in many different ways as time continues to progress. Beyond that there is also a feeling of “reaching” throughout the gallery. Many of the works feel as though they are reaching out, or rather tapping in to something beyond. Klint captures the essence of spirituality in the sense that the practice of religion and other spiritual practices involve reaching out into something not immediately or easily comprehensible. To seek something beyond comprehension that is not justifiable within the realms of reality. These endeavors of the human experience to “reach” for  something beyond ourselves also aid in helping to understand ourselves and our sense of identity and our place in the universe. These are concepts of theology and religion itself are further explored in Klint’s fantastic paintings.

(1.) Based on her background, it is easily understandable that Klint’s deep involvement in the realms of theology and religion are expressed clearly throughout much, if not, all of the works at the exhibition. The visceral response to these paintings that expresses much of her understanding of these concepts is immediate understanding, at least a face value. The response I had was that these paintings have much spiritual meaning tied to them and made me think of where I stood on the topic of religion. Though I grew up in a religious school environment, I began to make judgments about the world and the universe for myself the more I learned. The journey for understanding what are place in the universe is, I believe, part of the human experience and, in a way, is a part of everyone’s identity, whether you practice religion or not. I, personally, fall in to an agnostic, middle ground view in terms of religion. I attribute much of that to being firmly aware of either side and have from that drawn my own conclusions. As we continue to understand more about the universe as time continues, we are able to better parse information about our reality under the lens of theology and religion. (1.) Klint's works play at this marriage of the concepts and endeavors of science and religion, both “reaching” to something about our universe that isn’t easily understood. They both, when involving the origins of our universe have a sort of spiritual feeling to them, because the cosmos and its connection to spiritual practice are almost inseparable, which is explored in Klint’s work. (2.) The concept of time itself still baffles some the greatest minds of our day which is further explored within Chopra’s “You are the Universe”. All of these theories of the universe’s origins and religious telling of the creation of the heavens are all things that give us some kind of insight into the yet “unreachable” beginnings of not only our universe, but as well as the origins of us.

To conclude, much of Klint’s works touch on the spirituality and religion, but beyond that I found that the works were also “reaching” out into the future. And also into the non-tangible realms of understanding that we as humans have yet to grasp, whether it be under the lens of  theology and religion, or science.

(1.) On Hilma af Klint: Who was Hilma af Klint? At the Guggenheim, Paintings by an Artist Ahead of HerTime
https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time

(2.) Deepak Chopra excerpt from his book, You Are the Universe

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/212685/you-are-the-universe-by-deepak-chopra-md-and-menas-c-kafatos-phd/9780307889157/excerpt

af Klint

Hilma af Klint

Hilma af Klint’s “Paintings for the Future” at the Guggenheim museum was an experience worth being a part of. Her work was most appealing because it “broke all the rules of art” and offered insight into the bravery of female artist of her time. I found her exhibition inspirational as she was involved in spiritualism and incorporated it in her artwork; “af Klint was deeply involved in spiritualism,” in which I can relate to since growing up in a spiritual family; religion was at the forefront. With this, I have often been challenged on choosing to be either a Christian performer or secular performer. I can only salute Hilma as I am sure she had many more obstacles to face then than I do today in getting art across to audiences. I believe that Hilma af Klint’s work is a testament to hard work, dedication, and resilience.

Furthermore, Hilma dared to be different in her creativity. Being one of the first artists to start abstract paintings is a testament to just how audacious she was. She wasn’t hindered at all by gender and saw that her artwork would be accepted or understood in future generations, “I think her impulse not to show the work to the public, and to hold it pretty privately throughout most of her life, was really motivated by wanting an understanding audience,” says Bashkoff.” Looking at Hilma’s pieces, I gathered that she was fond of botanical drawings and painted circles in mostly all her pieces; the cross is also prevalent in her works. I conclude that she often used these shapes because they represented spiritual wholeness. As mentioned by Helen Molesworth, ““It seems like she is making pictures of how things are interrelated. She is trying to make a picture that draws on disparate fields of knowledge in a synthetic manner. She is producing a picture that is both image and diagram. . . . In essence, she’s offering a Gaia-like theory of radical holistic interconnectivity.” Hilma af Klint reflects a deep involvement in spiritualism and the wisdom concerning God altogether. Her art teaches us to be bold and courageous even when there are others who don’t believe in us. I will use what I’ve learned while viewing and learning about her to better my artistic endeavors.

Dover, Caitlin. “Who Was Hilma Af Klint?: At the Guggenheim, Paintings by an Artist Ahead of Her Time.” Guggenheim, 12 Oct. 2018, www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time.

Ventura, Anya. “Secret Séances and High Masters: The Making of Mystic Painter Hilma Af Klint.” Frieze, 11 Oct. 2018, frieze.com/article/secret-seances-and-high-masters-making-mystic-painter-hilma-af-klint.

Paintings for the Future/Spirituality and Identity

The paintings that I witnessed at the Guggenheim Museum impressed me with their scale. It seemed to me as though Hilma af Klint tried to capture the entire universe in her artwork. When I stood right in front of her work, I felt as though I’m inside on them, floating around between the shapes and immersed in colors. I found it interesting that according to the Frieze article, “During that period, women’s subject matter was circumscribed by the mundane, the domestic worlds of animals and flowers, to which they were forcibly confined. In operating as a medium, however, af Klint was able to work on a cosmic scale.” I found it fascinating how Klint was able to break away from stereotypes that women were subjected to even in the field like art, where it seems to be a lot of freedom. Her work challenges the audience in a sense that it captures all of your attention with its scale. It’s not only about flowers, it’s about capturing and showing the spiritual side of her identity, and also embracing the flow of consciousness, channeled by the universe. According to the article by Guggenheim, Quaytman notes of af Klint’s work, “If you . . . didn’t know anything, you’d think these paintings were made ten or twenty years ago. You would not know how old they were. And what’s so thrilling about her work, I find, is how contemporary it feels.” Klint’s artwork seems contemporary, which allows her artwork to become truly timeless, speaking to any year, including the future.

I was inspired by the idea of the automatic drawing that Klint incorporated in her paintings. I want to explore this idea in my self-portrait, mainly because in my artwork and during designing phases, I embrace the inner energy that I put into the creation of my work. I allow my brain to spill over the page. I enjoy looking within myself for the answers to any design problem, and the first thing I do is just go for it, without any planning. Hilma af Klint inspired me to embrace my way of creating and my process. In my self-portrait I plan to include things that I don’t think about, but actually use and which play role in my life. Example: text messages, tickets, flyers, notes, my handwriting. All of these and more are part of my daily routine, which comes together to my life as a whole. Unlike Klint, I want my self-portrait to be reflective of the era, which I live in now.  Metro Cards, train tickets, newspapers, might not be a part of the future, but they are part of my consumer culture now. Hilma af Klint also inspired me to consider going large scale, make a full body portrait with extremely small details to challenge the viewer and make them walk and observe around, just like I did in front of af Klint’s artwork. 

Paintings for the Future/Spirituality and Identity

I personally am not much of an art person, but I am open to learning about and exploring different subjects. The Guggenheim was one of the first few art museums I’ve ever visited in my life and it was an enjoyable experience that I would like to try again sometime in the future. Hilma Af Klint’s artwork was something I’ve never seen before. The only artwork I’m used to seeing are photographers work on Instagram whether it be portraits or landscapes.

Getting to see and experience a very different type of artwork was like getting brought into a whole different world. Its impressive to have learned that Af Klint worked on made so much art all on her own and not just small paintings, but large ones like the ones seen in “The Ten Largest”. “It is a massive piece—about 10 feet tall by 8 feet wide—and it is not a landscape, a portrait, a still life, nor a scene from myth or history.” Like I said before I’m mostly used to seeing portraits or landscapes on a very small scale. It made me think how much hard work and time Af Klint put into these paintings and made me appreciate a different form of art.

I myself am not much of a spiritual person, so spiritualism isn’t something that affects my work. On the other hand learning about Af Klints group “The Five” was something I didn’t know happened ever. It was surprising to read about how Af Klint created some of her work not because she just wanted to but because she was instructed to do so by the “High Masters”. For example, “In 1905, she was instructed to create the 193 large-scale abstract paintings that would comprise her series ‘The Paintings for the Temple’ (1906-1915), and which, in speaking the language of angels, broke all the rules of art.” I’m not one to out right believe in a higher power or spirits or anything, but I am open to these things.

Being able to see Af Klint’s notebook with the sketch and description of the temple she imagined and automatic drawings made me think that maybe there is a higher power. I didn’t really understand or know what I was looking at when viewing some of her work, but the possibility of higher ups intructing Af Klint to create these art pieces makes it easier to wrap my head around.

"Paintings for The Future/Spirituality & Art" (Af Klint)

For the span of six decades Hilma Af Klint produced hundreds of paintings along with notes and calligraphy. Af Klint's abstract work predates the work of other abstractionist who were considered the pioneers of the 1900 hundreds.

Her influential exhibit entitled "Paintings for the Future/Sprituality & Identity" transitioned viewer's perception of art. Klint's work surfaced around the concepts of biology, nature, symbolism, holistic practices and most importantly spirituality. She explored a large variety of spiritual realms weather Christian, or Apostolic. 

Klint's work came to fruition during the process of conducting seances with her spiritual group De Fenn. During the process she communicated with spirits as mediums of which took the shape of artwork that we now see during these modern times. 

Astonishingly enough her work takes the form of living beings, meaning that each color has a specific gender role. For example blue represents a woman, while yellow represents the male figure. The "Ten Largest" are among Klint's earliest pieces and represents the span of life from adolescence to adult hood. Ventura States,"Though formally trained, af klint was less interested in aesthetic experience than the pursuit of knowledge itself, the articulation of a reality beneath the seen surface."

 "Paintings for the Future" (Af Klint)

Me at the Guggenheim trying to take a selfie of myself. 

In reference to my own creativity I felt extremely content during the process of viewing her work considering the fact that I myself am a spiritual being. Comparing her practices to the practices that I perform in relation to my artistry I tend to speak to the universe while manifesting energy of which I want to either come to fruition or influence my art work. 

Spirituality plays a large role in my success as an artist in reference to performing practices that circle around water. As stated in class a weeks ago we are not the only living breathing deity in the world, and to try to justify such a claim would be exceedingly ignorant to say the least.  

Citations 

• https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time
• https://frieze.com/article/secret-seances-and-high-masters-making-mystic-painter-hilma-af-klint

Paintings for the Future/Spiritualism/Identity

Hilma af Klint was a person beyond her time, when women were oppressed and society had a standard of living and perceiving reality. Her earlier works are based on biological structures and organisms. Later on through her works, it shows that she was influenced by nature, biology, and geometric structures as well. Hilma af Klint's paintings are "deeply involved with spiritualism, deep spiritual guidance, and a belief in radical holistic connectivity"(Dover) by presenting her work as both image and diagram. Often, Hilma had five friends that would meet and perform seances, called The Five. "Taking turns serving in the role of medium, they then drew the images received from a collection of spirits known as the High Masters."(Ventura) Her work was not presented until twenty years after she died.

Some aspects of her paintings are so precise and symmetrical, while there are aspects of her paintings that feel almost clumsy or rushed. That relationship of how those two aspects play off each other is what really draws me toward her work. The color is symbolic, she tries to radiate the spiritual energy of Gaia, a mother goddess who resided over the earth in Greek mythology, in her paintings, something she wants the viewer to connect with. The sheer size of her paintings almost engulfs the viewer  in what she portrays.

How Hilma af Klint wants her viewer to relate to work, especially by keeping it locked away until a different generation of the audience viewed it, is what I can relate to. The devotion to spiritualism and how it interacts with nature is something I found to be meaningful. In the Guggenheim, I found myself taking my time and absorbing what I saw, something I want people to do with my own art. In Hinduism, relating to my identity, I feel as though most people think more about the spiritualism engulfing my religion than the purpose of the rituals, and the aspect of that in itself is what I could connect with in her paintings. How that it was spiritualism, in its essence, is what drove Hilma af Klint to create these paintings.

https://frieze.com/article/secret-seances-and-high-masters-making-mystic-painter-hilma-af-klint

https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time

   

From the past to the future: Spiritualism and Art

From the past to the future: Spiritualism and Art

Hilma af Klint was born in Stockholm, Sweden 1862. She was an artist who created and influenced a branch of art by translating her spiritualism and theosophical views and beliefs into art. Although her art work did not see light of the day until twenty years after her passing in 1944. Her art work predicted the great changes and influences of the human mind and pursuit for understanding and creating spiritualism and abstractness.

 I always found that all of us are connected through our sub-consciousness, thus we are able to communicate and send messages with our art, the art that we create (indirectly or directly). In the case of Klint, her art work was not intended for the society in which she lived, she took into consideration how time would change and that her representation of spiritualism and connection with the earth and its geometry, as it is showcased and strongly hinted in her “Tree of Knowledge” a series of artworks that demonstrate trees and what seems to be amazing representations of otherworldly planes of existence within them.

Unlike Klint, no art work of mine has been made with the intention to present some kind of spiritual connection, although I do understand that the message that my art work would convey would be transmitted to some as comfortable or uncomfortable depending if the message was accepted by their subconscious. I would, however, create one in the future and use spiritualism to send a message, if my sub-consciousness hasn’t done it already without me realizing It.

Glancing over the previously observed readings such as the video “On Theosophy-Helena Blavatsky- Secret Teachings “, the author of “The mystery Tradition” James Wasserman states “She totally altered the spiritual landscape of western civilization by introducing those concepts.” (referring to the books written by Helena Blavatsky). Both Klint and Blavatsky introduced ideas which were radical and new to the spiritual aspect and the artistic one, although Blavatsky took a more direct route by publishing two books, they equally added a depth of perception to society which increased the connection of, the western world in Blavatsky’s case and of all artists in Klint situation, with spirituality-oriented mindsets. 

Likewise, Deepak Chopra, author of “You are the Universe” states “All of us live in a participatory universe. Once you decide that you want to participate fully with mind, body, and soul, the paradigm shift becomes personal. The reality you inhabit will be yours either to embrace or to change.” Klint used her art works to connect the people with their universes, their own spiritualism, awakened by physical representations of what this may be, pyramids of color and symmetrical connections displaying huge sun like obelisk at the top or bottom of said pyramid, all depending on the view of the watcher. An example of different views is my brother, a rather non-spiritual guy who took a little more than longer observing “No. 1, Altarpiece” of “Group X, Altarpieces”, to then tell me it looked like a Mayan temple, where they used to do the sacrificing rituals and how “No. 2, Altarpiece” seemed to be a continuation of the first pyramid. The perception of the artwork help builds the observer’s own universe, and it could be another goal which Klint achieved.

Group IX/SUW, The Swan.  The SUW/UW series; No. 9, 1915. Oil on canvas

Group X, Altarpieces. No. 1, Altarpiece, 1915.  Oil and metal leaf on canvas.

Group X, Altarpieces. No. 2, Altarpiece, 1915.  Oil and metal leaf on canvas.

Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 1. Oil on canvas

Myself, at the exhibit. (Photo taken by my younger brother, Fernando Diaz)