Soul Seekers: Interpreting the Icon provides an opportunity to reconsider the form, materiality and role of iconography. This revelatory collection of works by an international group of contemporary artists, can be seen to fulfill a broader view of what constitutes iconography within the wider social realm.
For thousands of years iconography has been an integral element of the human quest for spiritual fulfillment. Primarily associated with the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Christian Church, icons are holy pictures depicting aspects of biblical history. Icons bring together the vision of the artist and the perception of the viewer, in contemplation of daily life and future direction.
While icon making in its original form continues, what can be considered iconography today is open to interpretation. Our expanded cultural landscape offers infinite choices for the individual in terms of public and private examples of the iconic, running the gamut from traditional figurative emblems to expressions of the self, and ubiquitous pop-cultural symbolism.
Soul Seekers considers how we convey beliefs and values through the immense visual language of our age. These motifs and signs are what we often turn to in defining ourselves, just as we are also defined by them.
This exhibition is presented by Trinity Wall Street Music and the Arts & Phenomena Project. It is on view daily at Trinity Museum, inside Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street; 9am-5pm (closed during mid- day services, 11:45am-12:45pm)