Dr. Robert Whalen Presents on Religion and Modern Art - Queens ...

<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Whalen</strong> <strong>Presents</strong> on Religion and Modern Art
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 29, 2008) —
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Whalen</strong> presented "Langues of God: Modern
Art" to the Charlotte community in Queens' Sykes
auditorium. <strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Whalen</strong> considered how artists such as
Paul Klee and Arnold Shoenberg responded to the
horrors of World War Two. The question posed by the
war, <strong>Whalen</strong> suggested, concerns how one is to pursue a
meaningful life in the wake of the Holocaust and the
widespread destruction of historical European cities.
<strong>Whalen</strong> used slides of paintings to illustrate the despair
felt by many Europeans of the time and went on to
consider how painters such as Wassily Kandinsky
expressed hope in a positive future.
With regard to religion, <strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Whalen</strong> pointed out that
traditionally western art focused on religious
themes. However, the war and philosophical thinking
called this tradition into question as artists and
philosophers began to wonder how God could allow the
atrocities of war to occur. The question became, "How
could an artist paint lovely religious scenes in the wake of
such widespread destruction?" <strong>Whalen</strong> suggested that
even though modern art often does not contain religious
content, it too can be religious in the sense that it can
convey hope and a sense of the transcendent. As
Kandinsky wrote in his Concerning the Spiritual in Art:
<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Whalen</strong> discusses the
relationship between
music and painting
"Literature, music and art are the first and most sensitive
spheres in which [the] spiritual revolution makes itself
felt. They reflect the dark picture of the present time and
show the importance of what at first was only a little point of light noticed by a few ...
Perhaps they even grow dark in their turn but on the other hand they turn away from the
soulless life of the present towards those substances and ideas which give free scope
to the non-material strivings of the soul."

<strong>Dr</strong>. <strong>Whalen</strong> discusses
religion and the horrors
of war
<strong>Whalen</strong>'s presentation intrigued the audience and
sparked a discussion about the relationship between
moderrnity, art, and religion.