Welcome to Phantasm: spirituality & abstraction

This is a showcase of five women, Georgiana Houghton, Hilma af Klint, Agnes Lawrence Pelton, Emma Kunz, and Hilla Rebay, all abstract artists whose work was directly inspired by their own spiritual practices, some of whom predate those artists we typically see as the progenitors of abstract art. This exhibition is divided into five rooms, each section exploring the approaches of one artist and how she used her spiritual connections to create beautiful works of abstract art.

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From Theosophy and Christian Spiritualism, to Agni Yoga and Buddhism, to séances and radiesthesia, the beliefs of these women were wide-ranging and disparate, and these differences are reflected in their work. Today, we seem to be more and more divided every day along lines of religion and spirituality. But these five, who were all so different in their spiritual practices, all found an outlet for their inner selves in abstract art, bringing them together.

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The word “phantasm” here means something that is apparently seen, but that has no physical reality. As you peruse each section, think about your own spiritual life, whether that life is informed by religion or simply a belief that there is something more to the world around us that we can sense, but cannot see. How are these five women similar and different from each other? From yourself? Abstraction is perhaps the most subjective art form, so use your own experiences to inform your time with this exhibition and try to find something you have never seen or thought of before.