Gordon Carter: Purgatorium

"Purgatorium" was a two man exhibition in July 2012, at the Raiko Aleksiev Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bogdan Alesandrov: Paintings, Gordon Carter: Video/Music, Desislava Moneva: Curator...In conjunction with "Yuzina Gallery", Sofia Bulgaria.

Gordon Carter, Bogdan Aleksandrov...

Purgatorium

Bogdan Aleksandrov/Gordon Carter

“ The concept of purgatory has existed in many cultures and religions throughout history, the most famous version in currency today being that of Dante’s Divine Comedy; in our modern and religiously cynical era we offer another view: the world we live in as a global society, and the individual lives we lead in that society are Purgatorium. As has become apparent in recent times with such happenings as the global financial crisis, increases in diseases and global warming; an unavoidable price will always be paid for our actions. In particular it has been interesting to watch how a global financial crisis has made such an impact in the lives of individuals. It easily is demonstrated from this event how the actions of the individual impact the society and how global events change the lives of individuals, the two are permanently entwined in a live or die relationship. In these times, a new spiritual crisis has emerged, a natural consequence of the magnitude of the problems now facing us; what is of interest here is that the crisis is both experienced by the individual and the global society simultaneously, as if the…”

I began to write this first draft of the concept for our exhibition “Purgatorium” in this rather descriptive manner, mainly from habit, when I realized that in this case, it was completely un-necessary. The concept of purgatory is extremely easy to comprehend in itself, and in terms of this exhibition the metaphor should be strikingly obvious for those who know the definition of the word purgatorium and of course, if we the artists have done our jobs well. The exhibition we present here is to be an intensely visceral experience that inherently gives the participant everything they need both to understand its meaning and for it to fulfill its conceptual purpose. Nothing more should be required.

Gordon Carter 12/6/12