The concept of this painting came from a 1200-year-old prayer which suggests who will live and who will die, and those that die before their time succumb to a litany of possible deaths. The prayer ultimately suggests that repentance, prayer, and charity will temper the severe decree. The prayer started to resonate with the artist when he faced his own mortality and thought, Who by Fire, Who by Water, and Who by Thoracic Aneurism.
Tag: concept
Gilgulim Reunion and Fugue at Poussin Beach
Through the Kabalistic concept of Gilgul (im pl), which is the transmigration of souls through time, Fenton adapts Nicolas Poussin’s Rape of the Sabine Women and weaves it through a banal scene at Jones Beach. Fenton creates high drama just under the surface of an ordinary beach scene or lurking myth interacting with absolute reality. This fugue, with its psychological and musical meanings, becomes the focus of this work.