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SUSAN SWARTZ A PERSONAL PATH Herausgegeben von Published by WALTER SMERLING KOLLEGIENKIRCHE SALZBURG 2014 In halt Table of contents 4 Der Weg der Kunst in die Spiritualitat The path of art towards spirituality Walter Smerling, Karl Gollegger 8 Ausstellungsansichten Installation images 16 Dialoge mit der Kunst Dialogue with Art Jurgen GroBmann 18 Bildteil Illustrations 36 Susan Swartz -Natur und Interpretation Susan Swartz -Nature and Interpretation Dieter Ronte 44 Bildteil 1 llustrations 60 Verzeichnis der abgebildeten Werke List of illustrated works 62 Ausstellungen, Preise, Veroffentlichungen Exhibitions, Awards, Publications 64 lmpressum Imprint 3 The path of art towards spirituality Since the inception of the Salzburg Foundation, the relationship between art and the Church has always been of great significance. Even during its found ing phase the then board began elaborating plans to establish a museum with the objective of gran ting access of the ecclesiastical treasures scattered around the city's various monasteries and convents to a broader public. Salzburg is synonymous with the trove of priceless treasures it has for visitors to unearth, and which has earned it the reputation as one of Europe's richest landscapes. The treasuries and safe-rooms of its churches, monasteries and private collections have become the cultural high lights of the Salzburg region. Over a period of 12 years the Salzburg Foundation devoted special attention to "public art" and crea ted a unique urban sculpture park which the city has showcased to attract and invite visitors to em bark upon the Walk of Modern Art. Each of these public art works in Salzburg has been of enduring impact, stimulating private contemplation and pu blic discussion over the value and meaning of art in people's daily lives. With its largely classical and tra ditional but also contemporary offerings, featuring primarily music, opera and theatre, the cultural me tropolis of Salzburg is ideally positioned and enjoys worldwide acclaim. By the same token, the public visual arts must, of course, also find consideration. Yet their appreciation requires conscious percepti on, internal discourse and reflection. They always occupy sensitive sites -public space, in fact. Salzburg's unique character derives primarily from its famous churches. Over the previous centuries, 6 they and in particular the collegiate church, have shaped the face of the city. During the course of the Salzburg Art Project, we have collaborated intensi vely with representatives of the Church, above all with Archbishop Alois Kothgasser and the Prela te Balthasar Sieberer. And without the Church's sup port, the presentation of Christian Boltanski's work Vanitas and of the now internationally-feted "man on the ball" by Stephan Balkenhol would have been inconceivable. Consequently, we are delighted at the prospect of continuing our fascinating path of shared experience by staging our first exhibition, namely of works by Susan Swartz, in Salzburg's col legiate church. Built in the Baroque era, and located in the histori cal centre of Salzburg's UNESCO site of world heri tage, this university church is one of Europe's most striking and beautiful churches. It stands on the site of the former Frauengarten, and since its consec ration in 1707, it has also fulfilled secular functions, having served not only as a sacred space for chur ch services at the university, but also as a theatre, and even as a military barn during the Napoleonic oc cupation. A university church once more, it is now a venue for the Salzburg festival and an internatio nally-celebrated masterpiece of church architecture, and one of the most outstanding achievements by its Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. The magnificent front fac;ade, the main buil ding and the terraced annexes, uniformly in white and unadorned, combine to conjure an intensive sense of the majesty of the entire edifice and its in tegrated open chapels, which are dedicated to the faculties' patron saints; Thomas Aquinas, lvo, Lucas and Catherine. Here theology, jurisprudence, medi cine and philosophy congregate under the one roof of spirituality. It is this spirituality which forges an intriguing link to the exhibition A Persona/ Path. Susan Swartz's pre occupation lies in the spirituality of nature. Inside a church, this spirituality is experienced on a different level and opens up many new and fascinating di mensions. For a different perspective is required to appreciate the meditative radiance of these works, since obviously the paintings by Susan Swartz are no substitute for historical depictions and Biblical stories. Today, the reality of art, in common with the reality of our world and thus that of the Church is very different. The debates surrounding the con cepts of beauty and aesthetics are misleading: the medium and the message have changed. No longer are we concerned with the representation of histo rical or religious perspectives, or with the concreti sation of philosophical themes. The focus now is on spirituality and aesthetics, and on the impact of an artist who has elevated nature to the heart of her artistic output -perhaps in the endeavour to provo ke us to ponder our primordial origins and our very existence: How did it all begin? Where do we come from? How do we cope with our sublimated sensi bilities? Is this not the essential prerequisite for un derstanding the world around us, breaking through the isolation and conquering our anxieties? Particularly in a church one finds oneself as a belie ver, as a seeker or as a mere observer in a maelstrom of emotional states. And particularly in a church the se themes lend themselves more easily to discussion and reflection. And if by virtue of its emotive force, art is capable of rendering such issues experiential and describable, then where better to stage this ae sthetic presentation than in the collegiate church? Many artists have embarked and are embarking on the path to the Church through the agency of art, and regardless of whether they are designing new windows, creating installations or murals, in essence these artists are always endeavouring to fuse the body, mind and soul -be they a Matthias Grunewald, a Neo Rauch, a Markus Lupertz or a Gerhard Richter. In this sense, the works Susan Swartz is exhibiting in Salzburg represent a further contribution to the unification of art and the Church at this hallowed site. Here in the collegiate church, the quest for answers -to the meaning of life, to the value of life and death and its impact upon our own self-deve lopment and our ability to come to terms with fate takes centre-stage. And the saints, the patron saints of the faculties of theology, jurisprudence, medicine and philosophy are the ideal interlocutors. Whether such conscious-raising will take place on a purely ra tional or on a purely emotional level or as a synthe sis of both remains one of the explosive aspects of this exhibition, which perceives itself consciously as both a challenge and a stimulus for debate. The Salzburg Foundation regards this project in the university church as a new experience, which, should it prove successful, will propel us further along our common path towards a fascinating future full of exciting opportunities and new deeds. Walter Smerling Karl Gollegger 7 ' Next >