The current issue on Silence and Prayer (36, no. 4) features a wonderful article by Rodolfo Balzarotti on the work of the American artist William Congdon (1912-1998). Here is the issue’s editorial on the article:
Rodolfo Balzarotti, in “William Congdon: Action Painting and the Impossible Iconography of the Christian Mystery,” traces the hidden connections between William Congdon, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman. It is surprising to see how each of these three representatives of Abstract Expression was drawn, albeit for different reasons, to “religious” themes. Congdon was able to go further than his colleagues because in his paintings the tension between art and religion is taken up and sustained by the higher union of humanity and divinity in Christ, and thus the mystery of Christ’s “ultimate desolation and his greatest glory.”
Subscribe to Communio to begin with the Winter issue on Silence here. The previous issue on Money is here.
Related Communio articles:
Rodolfo Balzarotti. Art and Forgiveness (1997)
Massimo Cacciari. The Centrality of the Crucified Christ in the Work of William Congdon (1997)
William Congdon. The Birth of the Image (1997)
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