Five Artists Five Faiths: Spirituality in Contemporary Art
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> Stephen Antonakos
Helène Aylon
Kimsooja
Ahmed Moustafa
Pamela Singh



Stephen Antonakos
The artist’s Meditation Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul is conceived as a pure, white space defined by the glow of colored neon light. The spirituality of the Chapel emerges from Antonakos’ Greek Orthodox faith, and his interest in Byzantine icons - images of holy figures depicted in tempera paint and surrounded by gold. In the Meditation Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, a neon panel placed across the corner echoes the domestic shrines of his native Greece with their icons and small candles in red glasses (kandelia) placed in front. The chapel’s most overt references to his faith are the two gold-leafed panels dedicated to the saints and two panels in the form of Greek crosses. The cross motif appeals to the artist as much for its inherently abstract quality as for its symbolic associations.