Bridging the Sacred

Bridging the Sacred stems from an extended research project developed by The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America at MoMA. Challenging dominant narratives that heralded secularism as a central tenet of modernism, the project explores how various spiritual traditions shaped artistic practice in the region. It addresses issues of coloniality, cultural exchange, and artistic agency, while contributing to broader conversations about exhibiting and collecting artworks embedded in contexts of spirituality. It also aims to highlight lesser-known artists, reframe interpretations of established figures in the histories of modern art, and discuss contemporary artistic practices engaged with spirituality. Initially featuring essays commissioned by the Cisneros Research Institute, this theme now spans regions across the globe.

The Americas | Bridging the Sacred

Female Approaches to the Divine: The Marian Representations of Norah Borges, María Izquierdo, and Miriam Inez da Silva / Acercamientos femeninos a lo divino. Las representaciones marianas de Norah Borges, María Izquierdo y Miriam Inez da Silva

“Mary is . . . a myth of a woman without a vagina,” proclaims queer theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid in Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender, and Politics. Moreover, Althaus-Reid declares that the adoration of the Virgin in Latin America in the…

The Americas | Bridging the Sacred

Catholic and Popular Mysticism in Brazilian Modern Art: The Quest for Maria Eugênia Franco’s Critique of Sacred Representations / Misticismo católico e popular na arte moderna brasileira: a busca da crítica de Maria Eugênia Franco às representações sacras

The following essay by art historian Talita Trizoli reveals the influence of a Catholic and spiritual pathos in the work of influential though relatively unknown Brazilian critic Maria Eugênia Franco. Taking as case studies Franco’s writings on artists such as Samson Flexor, Henri Michaux, and Mestre Nosa and artworks attributed to unrecognized Baroque artisans, Trizoli…

The Americas | Bridging the Sacred

Sacred and Agentic Landscapes in Peruvian Contemporary Indigenous Art / Paisajes sagrados y con agencia en el arte indígena contemporáneo peruano

This essay by art historian Gabriela Germana Roquez delves into the significance of landscape in the art of the Sarhua community in the Peruvian Andes and the Shipibo-Konibo people in the Amazon. Through her analysis, Germana Roquez illuminates how these artworks depict, embody, and summon the landscape, emphasizing the active role of the natural world…

The Americas | Bridging the Sacred

The Cosmos and the Spiritual: A Fabric of Beliefs in the Work of Manuel de la Cruz González and Luisa González de Sáenz / El cosmos y lo espiritual: un entramado de creencias en las obras de Manuel de la Cruz González y Luisa González de Sáenz

“In cosmic beauty, there is no place for degrees or locations in time and space: Cosmic beauty is infinite. Words like pretty, ugly, tragic, funny, and useful—the abiding limits in the brief race toward death—on the other hand, are part and parcel of sensual reactions.”1Manuel de la Cruz González, “El arte como integración cósmica” [1957],…

The Americas | Bridging the Sacred

Materiality Against the Grain: Conspiratorial Materialisms and Afro-Diasporic Arsenal / Materialidad a contrapelo: materialismo conspiratorio y arsenal afrodiaspórico

On Conspiratorial Materialisms Firearms, Molotov cocktails, flags, and banners are some of the objects in an arsenal of protests and revolts. Alongside clenched fists and enraged bodies, these objects form an imaginary of human gestures associated with the uprising. Art historian and curator Georges Didi-Huberman dedicated the exhibition Uprisings (2016–17) to this theme, assembling artworks…

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