The New Worshipers and the New Pilgrims

The series entitled The New Worshipers and The New Pilgrims establish a parallel between the Christianization of Latin America and contemporary art, through the investigation of images of worship and spectatorship in spaces of contemplation.

During the Christianization of Latin America. At that time, Native craftsmen reproduced Christian iconography in order to fill the new churches of the continent. Among other things, Native workshops copied printed images of sacred objects such as sculptures or paintings of saints, which turned into miraculous objects in Europe. Most prints also depicted the surroundings of saint objects (candles, cloth, flowers, church decorations and architecture). Native craftsmen copied surrounding details with equal importance. This cultural difference generated new interpretations and subtly included native religion within Christianity. For example, natives represented the Virgin Mary’s corpse in the form of a triangle in order to include the shape of a mountain, which they considered a god and a symbol of mother earth.

The painted incorporation of spectators as worshipers and pilgrims establishes a link with the “Corpus” series from the School of Cuzco. The paintings represented scenes of the Holy Week with natives as part of the celebration. Natives were included in the paintings to show their incorporation within Christianity in order to convince other native crowds.

People went to church out of obligation. The history of Christianization in Latin America and The New Worshipers asks whether art is imposed over spectators. The New Pilgrims questions if people assume to be in front of art because they happen to be in a place made to that effect.

Before being a philosophical question or a political truth, the contemplation of art is an act of faith. Can art turn spectatorship into the experience of impenetrable truths? To what extent contemporary art reproduces the structure used under Christianization?

Sandra Gamarra, Madrid 2007.