Cataumet Art Historian To Give Zoom Talk on Spirituality

After this unusual and challenging year in which death seems to hover so close, Elaine A. King was thinking that people would welcome a talk about spirituality.

The Cataumet resident is bringing her expertise as an art historian to the topic of “Spirituality in Contemporary Art,” an Art Talk on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:30 on Zoom.

In explaining her topic, Ms. King wrote, “The term ‘spiritual’ refers to a yearning to seek something superior than the self, the desire to search for the source of life and the nature of death, and the acknowledgment of elusive forces at work in the universe beyond materialism. Art and the theme of spirituality have had throughout time a firm union often entwined and reciprocally supportive.”

Ms. King clarified that the talk is not about religion. “Art that touches on spiritual essences is not automatically linked with any specific religion or dogma in the institutional formal sense of the meaning.”

While artists have been tackling the theme of spirituality perhaps since the first cave drawings, she wanted to have the talk focus on contemporary artists, including those working in the Boston area, that people may not know about. “Today numerous artists produce work that evinces the spiritual.” One artist in particular whom she plans to talk about is Emily Cheng, whose work “Two Thousand Points,” shows a Saturn-like revolving planetary shape hovering above what looks like the top of a rounded earth-like shape.

Ms. King, who lives part of the year in Maryland, is Professor Emeritas at Carnegie Mellon University where she taught the history of art, art criticism and museum studies. Her interdisciplinary Ph.D. in art history and theory is from Northwestern University. Her specialty is post-1945 American art and culture. Her writings have been published extensively and she has guest-curated shows internationally.

The talk is part of the Falmouth Art Center’s spring fundraiser, You ART What You Eat. Everyone who purchases a ticket to any of the four You ART What You Eat talks gets a gift bag from the Art Center containing a small weaving and a piece of pottery made by local artisans.

Also, as part of the event, the Art Center is partnering with local restaurants in order to support these businesses that are struggling this year. The Elaine King talk is paired with the Falmouth restaurant Osteria La Civetta, which has created a special prix fixe dinner that those attending the talk can purchase.

Tickets are $65 for each talk or $150 for all four talks and are available at the Art Center’s website, FalmouthArt.org or by calling 508-540-3304.