Upcoming Exhibition | Art Committee

Call for Submission

Personal Histories: Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where Are We Going?

The Hart House Art Committee is inviting submissions of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional artworks for an exhibition at Hart House, running from January to March 2025. This semester’s theme, inspired by Paul Gauguin’s provocative painting, is “Personal Histories: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”

This exhibition seeks to examine the intricate connections between personal history, identity, and the possibilities that shape our futures. While Gauguin’s work has been celebrated for posing universal questions of existence, contemporary discussions also recognize his contribution to colonial mythology and the predatory male gaze of his time. By re-engaging with these questions, we aim to explore their philosophical roots that extend far beyond Gauguin—into ancient philosophies, religions, and cultural traditions.

We invite student artists to contribute to this ongoing dialogue, reflecting on how the places, people, and experiences that form our origins influence who we are today and who we may become. Your artwork will join a collective narrative displayed in the gallery corridor, creating a journey for visitors that questions and celebrates the complexity of our origins and aspirations.

Select stories and perspectives will also be featured on our website, fostering an online community that amplifies the reach and resonance of our shared histories. This is an opportunity to reimagine some of humanity's most profound questions and connect them to the diverse, personal stories of this generation.

Submit

Deadline: January 2nd, 5PM

Theme Origins

Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? , 1897-1898

Paul Gaugin was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist and writer mostly recognized for his post-impressionist and symbolist work. While he was only moderately successful during his lifetime, as many artists before him, he has been recognized for his experimental use of colour distinct from Impressionism. After his death his work would become highly influential for artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse ("Paul Gauguin").

Nonetheless, in recent years art critics and institutions have gone through re-examining Gauguin's work in consideration of his controversial depictions and relationships with Polynesian people. In the 1880s and 90s, Gauguin ventured to the French colonies Martinique and laterTahiti were he married two adolescent Tahitians girls and entered sexual relations with other girls fathering a number of children. Gauguin undoubtetly took advantage of his privileged position as a Western colonizer. Moreover, in his many paintings on Native peoples, Gauguin described his paintings' subjects as "savages" and "barbarian" as seen in other of his contemporaries' works marked by Colonialism, Exoticism, and Orientalism (Nayeri).

Today, art critics, artists, art enthusiasts are divided upon how we should treat controversial art from colonists. Some people believe the artists and the artwork to be separate. They argue one should not judge art and artists from a 21st century perspective out of fear of boycotting great art. Tate Modern's 2010 director said "The person, I can totally abhor and loathe, but the work is the work" (Nayeri). However, the other side believes museums and exhibits need to reconsider how and if artworks and artists presenting issues of gender, race, and colonialism shall be exhibited (Nayeri). In the end, it all comes down to one question: Can or should we separate artists and artwork, author and literature, composer and music?

In the Art Committee's upcoming student exhibition "Personal Histories: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?", we implore students to reengage with this ancient philosophical question to facilitate artistic dialogues and critically reflect on the legacy of Gauguin's colonial history. We invite students to share their personal stories and explore for themselves the nature of existence, self and the cosmos.

Philosophical Origins

Gauguin and Theosopy

Theosophy is a [spiritual and philosophical] movement with origins in the US during the late 19th century, and was officially introduced to France in 1883 (Godwin, 11). Although it is a study of God and the relation between god and human (Buser, 375), it does not preach any specific god. Rather, it praises the existence of the divine absolute instead, which is “the sum of all being, actual and potential” (Pace). The god it preaches can be interpreted as the synthesis of known religious figures, with those figures seen as metaphors of the absolute making it easier for people to compartmentalize. Further than that, Theosophy seeks to uncover universal truths that transcend individual religions, emphasizing the unity of all spiritual traditions and the interconnectedness of all life. Its principles include the law of karma and reincarnation borrowed from Hindu and Buddhist traditions, as well as spiritual evolution which teaches that humanity is evolving towards higher states of consciousness and being. The question of philosophical origin and existence is reflected in Theosophy's goal of investigating the unexplained laws of nature and powers of humanity.

According to Buser, by 1889, Gauguin was familiar with Theosophy, which is reflected in many of his religious paintings. For example, in his painting Exotic Eve, Gauguin “not only imitated the portrait of his mother, but also imitates Buddha from the frieze of the Javanese temple” (Buser, 377). It is highly likely, that in Gauguin was inspired by Theosophy's teachings when formalizing his work Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? and seeking answers to such existential questions.

Written by Yuehe (Leon) Zhang, Edited by Sophie Disch

Paul Gauguin, Exotic Eve, 1890

Ancient Greek Philosophy

Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle have famously grappled with the concepts of origin, identity, and purpose to answer the profoundly existential questions "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" Socrates' philosophy questions the nature of the self and its place in the world famously articulate with the phrase "Know Thyself." While Socrates did not question cosmological origins, he believed in an uncompromising search for an eternal set of truths. After the Athenian elite realized that he was totally serious, and not even kidding, they sentenced him to death. To Socrates "What are We" was central in his teachings on ethics as he believed that humans were not only physical beings but also moral and rational agents that need to cultivate virtue and wisdom. For Socrates the answer to "Where Are We Going" can ultimately be answered by seeking to pursue good and moral excellence.

Plato, being a student of Socrates, expanded his master's teaching by including questions on metaphysics, cosmology, and epistemology. In answering the question "Where Do We Come From?", Plato explores the matter of origins in a cosmological sense. For Plato, human beings existed before the physical as eternal souls and descend to the material world to achieve a purpose. Similar to Socrates, Plato believed human's ultimate goal, and thus answer to "Where Are We Going", was to recover the knowledge the soul once knew in the human's material time. Consequently, Plato viewed life and the movement of the human through the physical world as a progression towards enlightenment and achieving the "Form of the Good."

Aristotle, a student of Plato, approached the questions of existence in a more empiric and pragmatic way that his predecessors. His philosophy was marked by this observations of the natural world and causality. He explained that the four causes - material, formal, efficient, and final - explain the existence of all things. Particularly the

efficient cause (biological parents) and final cause (the purpose for which humans exist) were most important. For Aristotle, the question to "What Are We" was less ambigious. He reasoned humans were "rational animals" differentiated from other life forms to their capacity for reason and speech.

Eastern Traditions: Daoism and Confucianism

Daoism (or Taoism) is centered on the belief that the origin is not a singular moment of

creation but rather a process grounded in the Dao (Tao), often translated as "The Way"

or "The Path" which is the origin of the universe and everything within going beyond

simplified dualities such as life and death and being and not being (Laozi). Laozi, the

author of the Tao Te Ching, writes,

In the in-between of the naming and nameless dialectic lie the (non) answers to the

questions of existence. Humans are manifestations of the Dao. Rigid definitions such as

Aristotle's are the antithesis of Daoism. Rather, the fluidity of living in harmony with

nature and the cosmos are the goals of Daoism (Laozi). Essentially, there is no answer to

the questions "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" as for

Daoism there is only a continuous process of returning to the Dao, the source and end

of all things.

In The Analects, Confucius expressed that life should be handled carefully. He implored

to observe rituals, look to one's faults and correct them. This is also where the answer to the existential questions lies. According to Confucius, origins are not grounded in cosmology but rather in the connection to ancestors and the social order. The past - through a lineage of family, community, and tradition - provides the foundation for personal identity and future. He believed life is the art of interpreting, and attending, to even the smallest details. Despite placing great value on political matters, Confucianism is centered on the idea of cultivating the ren which was achieved through human heartedness, benevolence, and goodness in political and family life. Education serves as the key to moral betterment and answering existential questions. The ultimate goal of Confucianism is achieving a harmonious society. Notably, Confucianism focuses on a collectivist goal as opposed to individualist goals detailed previously in ancient greek philosophy (Confucius and Simon Leys).

"The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;

The Named is the mother of all things."

Tao-te Ching ch. 1, tr. Arthur Waley

Existentialism and The Absurd

For Albert Camus, the answer to "Where Do We Come From?" is rooted in the Absurd. In the Myth of Sisyphus he writes, "But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart"(7). For Camus, the Absurd is the first point of freedom as the human realizes that there is no ultimate meaning making. Reminiscent of Daoism, the absurd arises from the tension of humanity's desire for meaning and the universe's silence. For Camus, humanity is caught in a paradox as we seek meaning when there is offered none (Camus).

Camus uses the metaphor of Sisyphus pushing the boulder for eternity to describe the human condition. In The Stranger, Meursault, the protagonist (or anti-hero) is one of literature’s all-time classic characters—a French-Algerian, emotionally detached drifter who murders an Arab in a griefless rage. There is no reason for the murder, ergo there is no meaning to life. The ultimate goal and answer to "What Are We?" lies in the ability to confront the Absurd and life with defiance and awareness. There is no transcendent goal like Daoism or beliefs of Greek philosophy but rather the purpose of embracing life as it is. Camus, as the French are famous for, lives for the revolt against such questions "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"

Citations

Buser, Thomas. "Gauguin's Religion." Advancing Art and Design. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/775136?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 6 June 2021.

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. translated by Justin O'Brien. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Translation originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1955. Originally published in France as Le Mythe de Sisyphe by Librairie Gallimard, 1942.

Confucius. and Simon Leys. The Analects of Confucius. New York, W.W. Norton, 1997.

Dutra, Julian. “What Did Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Think about Wisdom?” Center for Practical Wisdom | The University of Chicago, The Collector, 12 June 2022, wisdomcenter.uchicago.edu/news/wisdom-news/what-did-socrates-plato-and-aristotle-think-about-wisdom.

Godwin, Joscelyn. The Beginning of Theosophy in France. Theosophical History Center.

Nayeri, Farah. “Is It Time Gauguin Got Canceled?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/arts/design/gauguin-national-gallery-london.html.

Pace, Edward Aloysius. "Absolute." Catholic Encyclopedia, en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Absolute. Accessed 6 June 2021.

“Paul Gauguin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Dec. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gauguin.

Plato, et al. The Dialogues of Plato. Random House, 1937.

Laozi. Tao Te Ching. Translated by Arthur Waley, Wordsworth Editions, 1996.

Teachings on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Daoism, Camus, and Confucianism by Dr. Gansky, Dr. Kugelmass, Mr. Aldredge at the Ross School, USA.