On view: September 22-28

Reception: September 23, 5-7 p.m.

“Does the sublime exist in the contemporary world, and can it be rendered in contemporary art?” Recent chaotic politics have divided America. The shock and awe of these events are but one example of the Neosublime. Other examples are the COVID pandemic and global warming. The Neosublime is a contemporary modification of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke’s description of the Sublime. These eighteenth-century philosophers spoke of events so horrific and unimaginable that the human mind could not grasp them completely. These events were the result of actions of nature or God. Whereas those that provoke the feelings of Neosublime are the result of the human will. The artwork of MFA candidate Kathy Varadi validates the viewers’ perception of the Neosublime in recent catastrophic events and offers them comfort and relief.