Suzi Gablik on Reinventing the Artistic Vocation

In yesterday’s Meditation we celebrated Thomas Aquinas’ pre-modern understanding of art as pertaining to all our work and professions and emphasized what a breakthrough such a consciousness elicits. 

Suzi Gablik’s book, The Reenchantment of Art

One artist and art critic whom I admire is Suzi Gablik, author of the ground-breaking book, The Re-Enchantment of Art.  She speaks about her journey of abandoning the modernist culture of art that she had grown up on in New York City to another vision of art, one that is about personal and social transformation.  In other words, of her moving from an ego dimension into the prophetic dimension of art.

Gablik grew up in New York City “in the salad days of modernism” and belonged “to a community of believers whose religion was art.”  Modern aesthetics she learned soon enough was “a small but doctrinaire religion.” 

What are its dogmas?  “I was trained to view art as a specialized pursuit, devoid of practical or social goals.  The concept of ‘art for art’s sake’ was primary.”   Its “patriarchal philosophy declared art to be self-sufficient and ‘value-free.’”

“Altar to the Black Madonna” by Suzi Gablik. From Matthew Fox’s personal collection; the image was used in Gablik’s class on Altars to the Black Madonna at the University of Creation Spirituality.

Individualism reigned and artists went out of their way to cultivate an image of themselves as “eccentric and disaffiliated loners.”  Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset was a guru of the movement who declared that modern art was “a thing of no consequence” with no social function to perform. 

Gablik fought against this philosophy and its “core truths of secularism, individualism, bureaucracy and pluralism—all of which in our society have reduced the mythic and the sacred to rags.”  Art succumbs to the values of the society at large which pursues “manic production and consumption, and the maximizing of profits.” Sadly, these become the “ultimate goals for the artist too.”  A “certain moral lapse occurs.”

Gablik abandoned this materialistic philosophy in favor of other values—a “sense of community, an ecological perspective, and a deeper understanding of the mystical and archetypal underpinnings of spiritual life.”  Art can actually be, she discovered, a “creative work in service to the whole, a philosophical framework for artists who see themselves as agents of social change.” 

Suzi Gablik, Tropism #121972, oil and photomechanical reproductions on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.17 

In The Re-Enchantment of Art, she declares that “the great collective project has, in fact presented itself.  It is that of saving the Earth.”  Time to make art “as if the world mattered,” she says.  Interconnectedness became an underlying new value. 

All this she recognized as a more “feminine” way of working along with developing groups for “deep listening.”*  Art can be service-oriented instead of self-oriented, she came to learn.


* See “Art for Earth’s Sake” by Suzi Gablik in Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine

See Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work, pp. 190-210.

Banner Image: Art as if the world mattered: ‘Paradise Lost’ Jim Vision Street art @ Hanbury Street London. Photo by Loco Steve, Flickr.

Queries for Contemplation


Do you agree with Gablik that modernity has “reduced the mythic and the sacred to rags?”  If so, what are we doing about it?

Recommended Reading

Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”

Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.


Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE or scroll to the bottom of the page.

Share this meditation

Facebook
Twitter
Email

Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox is made possible through the generosity of donors. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation

Search Meditations

Categories

Categories

Archives

Archives

Receive our daily meditations

4 thoughts on “Suzi Gablik on Reinventing the Artistic Vocation”

  1. Avatar

    To me this is a fascinating angle,
    And one that I have thought about for a very long time.
    I have always thought of my life as art…my art…my patronage to
    God…
    my dream is to carry this forward into my last years and transition gracefully by redefining my sorrows into rich full memories in order to meet the divine face to face.

    1. Gail Sofia Ransom

      Thank you for your message, B Del Santo. You remind us that aging is an art form in itself where ultimate meaning is excavated and applied. Both Thomas Aquinas and Suzi Gablik’s understanding of life as art can be artfully to the whole of our life span. Combine this with Otto Rank’s sense that our art is the gift we leave behind, and your life, mine, and many others’ are a gift to the ongoing evolution of Creation. I think that the gift aspect is important, that we live as creatives when we are offering what we do as service to the whole interconnected community of life. Slipping into death should not be difficult after that.
      Gail Sofia Ransom
      For the Daily Meditation Team

  2. Avatar

    Attended the most moving spiritual art show opening I’ve ever been to on All Souls Day.
    They were portraits of souls/lives lost to gun violence in Philadelphia created by artists with their families.
    This is the 4th year of the project. The portraits felt like Icons that were spritually present the night of
    the opening when you looked into their eyes. No words really for the experience with family members, the artists and the victims of a gun violence epidemic.
    https://www.soulsshotportraitproject.org

    1. Gail Sofia Ransom

      Dear Peggy,
      Thank you for sharing your experience of the Souls Shot Portrait Project in Philadelphia on All Souls Day. It is a helpful illustration of creativity expressed to bring about social change as Suzi Gablik advocates. That you experienced the portraits of the victims as icons points to the sacredness of this work. May the project achieve its purpose – and gun violence be eradicated in America.
      Gail Sofia Ransom
      For the Daily Meditation Team

Leave a Comment

To help moderate the volume of responses, the Comment field is limited to 1500 characters (roughly 300 words), with one comment per person per day.

Please keep your comments focused on the topic of the day's Meditation.

As always, we look forward to your comments!!
The Daily Meditation Team

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join us in meditation that supports your compassionate action

Receive Matthew Fox's Daily Meditation by subscribing below: