Spiritual Traces
Reflections and Conversations on Contemporary Art
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
Some of the most compelling spiritual insights today come from artists, both through their art and what they say about it. Yet interviewers and critics rarely ask artists searching questions about their spiritual interests, missing a key feature in the landscape of contemporary art. With a fresh, jargon-free style, Aaron Rosen--a leading scholar, writer, and curator--addresses this gap. He takes readers into studios, galleries, and worship spaces as he paints a compelling picture of art and spirituality today through essays and interviews. As the title suggests, Rosen pays special attention to places where spiritual traces might appear hidden, fleeting, or on the edge of possibility, which creates room for readers to ruminate on their own spiritual leanings and interests. Rosen focuses on close engagements with individual artists, from established names to emerging talents, drawing upon close relationships with artists from across the globe and many traditions. With more than sixty color images of works ranging from paintings to performances, this volume is essential reading for those looking to see art today in a new light.
Endorsements (3)
“Books from Aaron Rosen are always highly anticipated. One of this book’s key insights is the significance of ‘listening,’ both by Rosen as the interviewer and by the artists themselves, who are intuitive observers of the emerging, invigorating spirituality in their studios, works, and worlds. Another compelling theme is that of the relationship between art and ritual, especially when described by artists within the context of ‘art making.’ Spiritual Traces comes alive in a richly illustrated text, which illuminates the world of art and religion today.”
“Simultaneously ranging and precise, Spiritual Traces is an absorbing, expert, and uncommonly tender exploration of the textures, questions, and practices that yoke the making of art and the complicated project of living: in a body, with a soul, and in the world. This is a book of inquiry and communion, with something to teach us all.”
“By what wizardry Aaron Rosen manages to consistently find such attention worthy artistry, which he then engages with a supremely charitable eye, I cannot fathom; but I am so here for it.”
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