Our Lady covered by Black Hole in Austrian Church. Icon of Stephen Hawking with halo

Lent: Giant Head and "Black Holes" - from 2024

Five art installations will be on display in Innsbruck's main churches during Lent. In Innsbruck Cathedral, an oversized bronze head by the artist Lois Anvidalfarei is on display, commemorating Father Franz Reinisch, a victim of Nazi persecution. The University Church focuses on "black holes."

The art projects, which associatively address the church's Year of Prayer focus, explore a broad artistic and thematic field.

Glettler: "Hawking was the expert on black holes"

The British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018, plays a significant role in Henry Jesionka's two-part installation "Black Holes." Aesthetically resembling an icon, a work of art featuring him as the subject stands in the church's entrance area, and a large, black metal disc recently adorns the high altar.

"Hawking is not meant to be idealized, of course, but he was the expert on black holes," Bishop Hermann Glettler explained the context. For the artist, who was also present, the installation is intended to have a powerful and emotional effect and also offer a perspective on what he sees as the problematic idolization of scientists.

The 180 x 180-centimeter drawing "The Gate of the Two Hands" by Innsbruck artist Rudolf Wach is on display in the Spital Church. Glettler also discovered ambivalence and complexity here: "In the drawing, one could see not only hands, but also lungs or even figures."

Somewhat more explicitly abstract, however, is the untitled oil painting by Herbert Brandl, which hangs as a Lenten veil in the Servite Church. The painting draws the viewer into a "suction upward," Glettler attested to the image's power and lightheartedness at the same time.

35 Years of Church Art Space

The sculpture in Innsbruck Cathedral lacks precisely that lightheartedness. The artwork, titled "Decapitated," commemorates the fate of Father Franz Reinisch, who was beheaded by the Nazi regime in 1942. Provost Florian Huber introduced the artwork: "The head is complemented by a kind of screen in front of the altar." This is intended to draw the eye entirely to the head, he added.

For Huber, this is the last edition of Church Art Space before his retirement. He recalls works that have certainly aroused discontent over the past 35 years. The criticism has led to a more intensive examination of the respective themes, and that certainly hasn't done any harm, Huber said.

Another artwork will be available starting Ash Wednesday. Under the title "Stations of the Cross - Looking Away? 8 Panels," Tyrolean artist Hans Seifert invites you to a personal Stations of the Cross meditation. The panels depict people who “carry a cross” in two respects, says Seifert.

Source