Day #30 - Art for Lent: Bill Viola's "Martyrs" #Lent2016

ART + RELIGION
By Aaron Rosen

"Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), 2014 by Bill Viola | USA. Colour high-defination video polyptych on four vertical plasma displays, (55x133 x 4 in.) duration: 7 mins 15 secs. Installation view, St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Viola was commissioned by St Paul's after church officials saw this exhibition The Passions (2003) at the National Gallery in London. The St Paul's commission was made possible by a practical but also symbolic collaboration between the cathedral nd Tate Modern, located directly across Millennium Bridge. The framing of the polyptych emphasizes the conscious homage that this cutting-edge video art pays to traditional altarpieces, and Viola hopes his works for St Paul's become 'practical objects of traditional contemplation and devotion'. [page 243]

Lent is the annual Christian preparation for Easter. "Today's Art for Lent2016" features artworks that illustrate the Christian "Battle between Carnival and Lent."