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Lopez, David - VM - David Lopez
David Lopez: Bath
Bathed in Light
by David Lopez
Come all nations to the baptism of immortality. Who comes down in faith to the bath of regeneration, renounces the devil and commits himself to Christ, resists the enemy and confesses Christ as God, will come into liberty from slavery and will be endowed with adoption and rebaptism as splendid as the sun, and, the greatest gift, will become a child of God and heir of Christ. Holy Theophany of St. Hippolytus
Bath is a video installation of a baby being washed in the bathroom. It is three minutes long and is played repeatedly. It deals with a daily, simple act and its resonance, as though every gesture contains a deeper meaning that transcends its function. Thus we find an echo of the sacrament of baptism, the foundation of our life in Christ. ‘Dead with him, we resurface, we rise to an immortal life.’
In this video I reflect on the relationship between the body and the soul, between matter and spirit. It questions the way in which simple actions resonate and wonders what would happen if each daily gesture contained a profound meaning transcending its functional use.
‘An image is an impression of the truth to which we can turn the gaze of our blind eye,’ said Andrei Tarkovsky. Art has always been a weapon in the struggle of man against matter which threatens to devour his spirit. We are drowning in information, but the messages that could transform our lives no longer reach us. As stated by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan: ‘The situation that really upsets man is inside of him.’ In our times, however, we find it difficult to deal with an inside look. We prefer an external view or we turn our eyes to nature as a refuge of beauty and goodness rather than integrate their existence into our everyday reality. But ‘beauty is hidden from the eyes of those who do not seek the truth.’
Where should we direct our gaze?
To the face of God who loves us and wants to be our father, who gives us life, and what is bigger, eternity. Lord, I seek your face, do not hide your face from me.
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David Lopez: Bath, photo of video installation as shown at the Arte e Fe exposition in Caceres, Spain, 2012.
David Lopez: Bath, video installation as shown at the Arte e Fe exposition in 2011 in Madrid, Spain.
David Lopez: Bath, photo of video installation as shown at the Arte e Fe exposition in Madrid, Spain, 2011.
David Lopez was born in 1972. He lives in Valencia, Spain, where he recently presented his latest works at the Palace of Music of Valencia. He became Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Master in New Media at the School of Visual Arts of New York. He has developed his artistic work throughout the world: Madrid, Valencia, Paris, New York, working mainly with Nichido Gallery in Paris since 2001 and with Marion Meyer Gallery in Laguna Beach, California since 2008. Since 1999 he has also taken part in a project to renew the beauty of church art with an international group of artists, doing projects around the world: in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Finland, Poland, Israel, China, and the United States.
ArtWay Visual Meditation January 8, 2012