About your purchase...
- Purchases outside the continental US - please call for shipping rates
- New York state residents are charged sales tax
The work(s) of art is/are sold by the Seller and purchased by the buyer upon the following terms and conditions:
1. Except as otherwise provided herein or elsewhere agreed in writing, payment in full is due and payable on the date of the invoice.
2. This is an invoice only. Title to the work(s) of art purchased shall not pass until payment in full has been received.
3. All applicable sales taxes have been charged on this transaction. The payment and remittance of use tax is the Buyer’s obligation. Seller reserves the right to collect out-of-state sales taxes from the buyer after the sale if seller becomes assessed with them.
4. The Buyer’s sole remedy for breach of any implied or express warranty therein shall be an action for rescission and, in any event, the absolute limit of the Seller’s liability and responsibility hereunder shall under no circumstances exceed the total sales price and seller shall not be responsible for any special, incidental, or consequential damages or lost profits.
5. A non-exclusive right to reproduce the work(s) of art is reserved by the Seller.
6. Risk or loss of the work(s) of art purchased shall pass to the Buyer upon delivery by the Seller to the address specified by the Buyer.
7. In accordance with the UCC and the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Seller guarantees that the work(s) of art purchased is by the named artist. If such work(s) proves not to be of such authorship as described, Seller will accept the return of the work(s) and return the sales price in full.
8. Any disputes arising out of this sale shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its choice of law provisions, and shall be submitted to the American Arbitration Association for an arbitration to be held before a single arbitrator in New York City, New York. The prevailing party in such arbitration shall be entitled to its costs and attorneys’ fees in connection with such arbitration proceeding, and the costs of enforcement and collection of any resulting arbitral award.
EXCEPT FOR THE WARRANTY OF AUTHENTICITY SET FORTH ABOVE, NO WARRANTIES OR AGREEMENTS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE SELLER.
|
|
EXHIBITED
Josh Tiessen
The Kairos Stones
Oil on birch
18 x 40 x 2 inches
Signed
Provenance
Josh Tiessen
Rehs Contemporary Galleries, Inc., New York City
Notes
Sophia and her Arabian horse travel through time in this painting. Here, gravity is partially suspended and megaliths float. Time is paused; the past, present, and future are unified.
The Callanish Stone Circle, located on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, was erected in the Neolithic era 5,000 years ago. Scholars theorize that the standing rocks served as an ancient lunar observatory, and a place for ritual activity. Throughout history, megaliths and cairns (rock piles) marked sacred places and events. From many examples in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Hebrew prophet Samuel established an Ebenezer (“stones of help”) as a reminder to the people of the Lord’s favour.
In the pre-modern era, such as the medieval age, time was apprehended as multi-dimensional. A greater emphasis was placed on sacred days within the liturgical calendar, distinguishing this as holy “higher time” from the profane “ordinary time.” Sophia, like the ancient peoples, expresses her connection to the land––ecological wisdom––through celebrations such as the winter and summer solstice, equinox, new moons, harvest time, and sabbaths.
The floating megaliths in my painting symbolize these “higher times” where sacred events are often re-enacted and time stands still momentarily. A modern analogy is how black holes produce a “time warp” bending and flattening time and space. According to philosopher Charles Taylor, a casualty of our secular age is that time has been dis-enchanted and made purely “horizontal” (e.g. secularizing holidays); we no longer embrace the “vertical” dimension of higher times. [i]
In Greek antiquity, there was a distinction made between kronos (linear time) and kairos (a decisive moment in time). In the New Testament, kairos applies to the eternal realm we experience ‘in the fullness of time’ when God breaks into the profane and brings about a sacred moment. [ii] In essence, a kairos moment is when past, present, and future are gathered together to become one, a holy singularity.
Among varying theories on the meaning behind the Celtic triskelion emblem (located on the left foreground rock), it is generally believed that the triadic spirals represent past, present, and future, as well as the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is apropos to my kairos theme.
Considering the many ways in which secularism has shaped modern society, Sophia reminds us of the crucial need for the re-enchantment of time in order to become fully human––being in tune with nature and the Creator, for whom a thousand years is like a day.
Josh Tiessen
Artist
[i] Charles Taylor, A Secular Age, 57, 195.
[ii] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 3, 455-461.
|