Art and Spiritual Transformation

Finley Eversole, Ph.D., has lectured widely on the arts, philosophy, metaphysics, and creativity. He served as executive director of the Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture from 1966 to 1969, collaborating with Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, W. H. Auden, and Alfred H. Barr Jr., founder of the Museum of Modern Art. He is the author of Christian Faith and the Contemporary Arts and lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

SPIRITUALITY / ART Art and Spiritual Transformation presents a seven-stage journey from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination that is possible through the world of art. Finley Eversole introduces a meditation practice that moves beyond the visual content of an art form in order to connect with its embedded spiritual energy, allowing the viewer to tap in to the deeper consciousness inherent in the artwork and awaken dormant powers in the depths of the viewer's soul. Examining modern and postmodern artwork from 1945 onward, Eversole reveals the influences of ancient Egypt, India, China, and alchemy on this art. He draws extensively on philosophy, myth and symbolism, literature, and metaphysics to explain the seven stages of spiritual death and rebirth of the soul possible through art: self-loss, the experience of the dark night of the soul, the journey into the underworld, the conflict with and triumph over evil, the awakening of new life in the depths of being, and the return and reintegration of consciousness on a higher plane of being, resulting finally in ecstasy, transfiguration, illumination, and liberation. To illustrate these stages, Eversole includes works by abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko and modern visionary artists Alex Grey and Ernst Fuchs, among others, to reveal the powerful and liberating forces art Contributes to the transformation and evolution of human consciousness. FINLEY EVERSOLE, Ph.D., has lectured widely on the arts, philosophy, metaphysics, and creativity. He served as executive director of the Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture from 1966 to 1969, collaborating with Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, W. H. Auden, and Alfred H. Barr Jr., founder of the Museum of Modern Art. He is the author of Christian Faith and the Contemporary Arts and lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Acknowledgments Preface Introduction A Note on Viewing and Interpreting Art Part I The Overview 1. Dreaming the Myth Onward: Art Since 1945 2. The End of the Modern World 3. Creativity and the Extreme Situation 4. The Wisdom of Death 5. Seven Stages of Transformation Part II The Art 6. The Broken Center Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) 7. The Goddess of Death Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) 8. Deathwatch Tony Smith (1912-1980) 9. Nihilism or Pregnant Night? Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967) 10. Agony in the Underground Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) 11. Evil and the Mystery of Darkness Mark Rothko (1903-1970) 12. The Labyrinthian Search Walter Gaudnek (1931- ) 13. The Dance of Life Arlé Sklar-Weinstein (1931- ) 14. The Way of Regeneration Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) 15. The Spiral or Infinite Journey Robert Smithson (1938-1973) 16. The Way of the Transfigured Life Walter Gaudnek (1931- ) Part III The Creative Promise of the Coming Age 17. Unlikely Heralds of Spiritual Rebirth 18. Spiritual Foundations of the Creative Life Bibliography Art Credits Index