Tom Block
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Artist's information
Artist Statement
“Conference of the Birds” explores the movement away from “classical mysticism,” the repressive vision of spiritual attainment offered by adepts from all religions, towards a contemporary spiritual response based in action only. This painting is inspired by the 13th century Sufi mystical treatise of the same name, by Farid ad-Din Attar (d. 1273), which is an allegory of the mystic's quest.
I based the painting on a series of images culled from Attar's tract. Then, refining a painting style that involves drawing, printing, collage, swaths of paint and tearing back into the image, I applied these symbols to the 25-panel piece. The process of applying the paint and images, and then tearing away at the work, then applying more collage and paint, and then tearing again, echoes my own quest, as I excavate the underlying, mistaken ideals of the classical mystical path – and replace them with a contemporary, post-religious conception of spirituality. "Conference of the Birds" stands as a testament to contemporary possibility — as well as historical error.
This represents the second massive painting in a trilogy of such works. The series investigates the intersection of the human spiritual impulse and our contemporary, pre-post technological era. The first piece, “Into the Singularity,” a 72-foot painting looks at the mistaken sense of “realization” of the classical mystic. I am hoping to paint the final work of the trilogy, “Manifesto,” when market forces and spiritual energies favorably collide.