"Sin", National Gallery
18.10.2020
In christianity, sin is what originated humanity. It’s what kicked us out from the Garden of Eden and depromoted us to being human. In this view, there would be no humankind if it hadn’t been for the primordial transgression: we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t sin.
In a system where choosing is seen not as a free will act, as a decision by someone for a reason that concerns only them, but where every choice you make, be it a personality trait or a decision about which drink to have in the evening, is viewed not as an act that comes from inside you but as something that comes from an external God, it doesn’t make sense to feel guilt about anything. It was God’s decision, you had nothing to do with it. The primordial sin, as the first time we acted against God, was therefore not only the origin of humankind, but also of free will.
Opening powerfully with An Allegory with Venus and Cupid (Bronzino, 1545) sided by Tracy Emin’s It was only a Kiss, we are brought into a mischief zone, where there is no guilt, no remorse whatsoever about our acts, for they are what makes us human. The sexuality of Venus, condemned as unsuitable for the National Gallery’s standards of decency at the time, is shown as an unashamed metaphor for the modern forgiving of Lust. Immaculate conception no more. The exhibition goes on with marvelous works such as The Scapegoat (1854-5) by William Holman Hunt, which alludes to the jewish ancient ritual expression “scapegoat”, which means someone who is unjustly blamed for the mistakes of others, or Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery (1565) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, where we are again shown the sinning is not something only some people do, but that it lives in all of us.
Ending with Youth (2009), a sculpture by contemporary artist Ron Mueck, black power visibility intentions aside, the exhibition gives us the solution for sinning, for cultural and self remorse. As before Christ was the only one who could redeem us from being human and send us to our eternal heaven to rest, nowadays it is up to the youth to lead the stepping away from religious preconceptions that castrate our most human traits, the seven most human virtues we have. God has long been dead, and Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride aren’t hung in the exhibition walls as to teach us how we shouldn’t act, but to relieve us from the burden of shame.
18.10.2020
In christianity, sin is what originated humanity. It’s what kicked us out from the Garden of Eden and depromoted us to being human. In this view, there would be no humankind if it hadn’t been for the primordial transgression: we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t sin.
In a system where choosing is seen not as a free will act, as a decision by someone for a reason that concerns only them, but where every choice you make, be it a personality trait or a decision about which drink to have in the evening, is viewed not as an act that comes from inside you but as something that comes from an external God, it doesn’t make sense to feel guilt about anything. It was God’s decision, you had nothing to do with it. The primordial sin, as the first time we acted against God, was therefore not only the origin of humankind, but also of free will.
Opening powerfully with An Allegory with Venus and Cupid (Bronzino, 1545) sided by Tracy Emin’s It was only a Kiss, we are brought into a mischief zone, where there is no guilt, no remorse whatsoever about our acts, for they are what makes us human. The sexuality of Venus, condemned as unsuitable for the National Gallery’s standards of decency at the time, is shown as an unashamed metaphor for the modern forgiving of Lust. Immaculate conception no more. The exhibition goes on with marvelous works such as The Scapegoat (1854-5) by William Holman Hunt, which alludes to the jewish ancient ritual expression “scapegoat”, which means someone who is unjustly blamed for the mistakes of others, or Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery (1565) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, where we are again shown the sinning is not something only some people do, but that it lives in all of us.
Ending with Youth (2009), a sculpture by contemporary artist Ron Mueck, black power visibility intentions aside, the exhibition gives us the solution for sinning, for cultural and self remorse. As before Christ was the only one who could redeem us from being human and send us to our eternal heaven to rest, nowadays it is up to the youth to lead the stepping away from religious preconceptions that castrate our most human traits, the seven most human virtues we have. God has long been dead, and Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride aren’t hung in the exhibition walls as to teach us how we shouldn’t act, but to relieve us from the burden of shame.
