Heaven and Earth

Art from around the world with an emphasis on spiritual devotion is the focus of a new Lambertville gallery.

By:Susan Van Dongen
   If you own figurines of the Buddha, you might have noticed that "he" varies in appearance from country to country. Chinese Buddha figures are often rotund and smiling, offering abundant bellies to be rubbed for good luck. On the other hand, Thai and Vietnamese Buddhas are likely to be serene and slender, sometimes reclining.
   At Art of Eden tribal arts gallery in Lambertville, owner G. Axel Wieschenberg indicates a 19th century Burmese Buddha that resembles a beautiful young woman dressed in a golden gown. He tells a visitor that the femininity attributed to the Buddhas in Southeast Asia implies the receptive nature of the divinity as well as sensuality and youth.
   Something the Buddhas all have in common is their languid eyes. Are they closed and sleeping or half-open and meditating? At Art of Eden, one notices a similarity to the eyes of some of the god-like figures from across the globe in Africa, also on display.
   Those statues — from the Congo and Cameroon — were crafted as having half-open eyes to represent ancestors in the spirit world. They’re not closed, sleeping and focused in on themselves, nor are they open and receiving sense information in the mortal world. Rather, they’re somewhere between heaven and earth, and therefore able to see past, present and future.
   "I like to search for spiritual art because the craftspeople are worshipful, there’s an extra level of devotion," says Mr. Wieschenberg, who has been studying and gathering folk and spiritual artifacts almost since youth. "When you can combine artistic talent with devotion, you get a masterpiece."
   When the personal collection outgrew his home in Stockton earlier this year, he opened Art of Eden at Canal Studios on North Union Street. He says he’s been thinking about such a place since the ’70s.
   A contractor as well as self-taught collector and sculptor, Mr. Wieschenberg designed, built and laid out the gallery, modeled after the many museums and fine galleries he’s visited, nationally and internationally.
   The elegant space is filled with African, pre-Columbian, Native American and Asian art and artifacts. However, Mr. Wieschenberg has masterfully intertwined these ancient pieces with modern works by Joan Miró, Erté and Salvador Dalí. There are also a number of fine Art Deco lamps on view. The main focus at Art of Eden is tribal arts, though — especially things with a spiritual use.
   In the Asian section of the gallery Mr. Wieschenberg indicates a phurbha, a Tibetan tool of devotion. Although sometimes used as a "magical dart" for the ritual slaying of a human effigy of a foe, Mr. Wieschenberg says many Tibetan Buddhists carry small versions to help them focus or center their spiritual energy.
   "The big one would be kept at the temple to collect all the energy in the community," he says. "At 27 inches, this is the biggest one I’ve ever seen, and it’s constructed with five metals — copper, bronze, brass, gold and silver."
   This particular phurbha is adorned with the elephant goddess, Ganesh, as well as a makara, a mythical creature.
   "You sometimes see them at the base of the phurbha, with the blade coming out of its mouth," he continues. "Usually, the makara is mostly elephant and crocodile, but this one has a strong bird element as well.
   From the Fang people in Gabon, Mr. Wieschenberg has collected a 19th century reliquary guardian, which would have been placed near ancestral bones to protect them.
   "(Some of) the African tribes believe that you bury someone when they pass away and then six months later, you dig up their bones which are kept by the chief," he says. "Since he is in possession of the bones, he’s then able to be in touch with the spirit world, able to tell past, present and future."
   Other exquisite items on display include a whistle pot from Ecuador used in harvest ceremonies. It has the face of a goddess, her dress adorned with seeds and her hands cast toward the earth in a blessing. Mr. Wieschenberg’s happens to be 1,750 years old.
   The whistle pot is just one piece that has been carefully researched. Many of the items at Art of Eden have either been published, exhibited or scientifically tested and are guaranteed authentic as described.
   Mr. Wieschenberg has a couple of pre-Colombian whistle pots like this, musical instruments which, when filled with water, emit a haunting, birdlike sound, as though someone was blowing through them. His Inca whistle pot is decorated with jaguars — a powerful spirit animal to the Incas — each with another’s tail in its mouth, creating a circle, which represents the ceremonial procession.
   There are also twinkling stars around the base of the pot, which were very significant, Mr. Wieschenberg says. He speculates that the artifact was used in ceremonies honoring the enormous, ancient animal drawings that can only be completely seen when flying over the Peruvian Andes.
   Probably celebrated at night, each tribe member would hold one of these whistle pots, creating a symphony of otherworldly sounds. Also, as they lined up around the edge of the drawings, they held candles, which would make the drawings appear as a constellation, but only to those viewing it from high above — the gods perhaps?
   Perched on a lofty space near the front of the gallery is a kneeling goddess named Raksha — a creation/destruction figure from an aboriginal culture in Bali — noteworthy for her bright red color, voluptuous figure and bulging eyes. She’s especially frightening because out of her mouth comes a tongue as tall as she is, which culminates in spikes. Perhaps people kept her on hand to remind themselves to speak only kindness and truth or be vulnerable to punishment.
   In the gallery’s window, there’s a 2,000-year-old clay figurine of an athlete from Western Mexico, which holds a ball in its hands. Mr. Wieschenberg says "he’s" kind of the Meso-American counterpart of a Roman gladiator, since he’s a remnant of a culture that played a very serious ballgame — the losing athletes were sacrificed to the gods.
   "They were heroes until they lost," he says.
   Then there are two enormous wooden snake headdresses from the Baga culture in Guinea. One of the colorful pieces is almost eight-and-
a-half feet tall and would be worn in a procession marking initiation ceremonies of the youths in the community.
   From the Yombe people in the Congo is an early 20th century figure, made of wood, animal bones and skin, rope and an assortment of metal objects. The fierce-looking protector of the community is also like a legal document, in a way — it comes between two parties to ritualistically solidify a treaty or deal.
   "(Africans) believe that metal has magic — but so does wood," Mr. Wieschenberg says. "One person, an artist, would sculpt a figure like this from a tree, a living thing that possesses a spirit. Then another (tribe member), usually a witch doctor, would entice another spirit to move in. When the tree dies it’s a vessel for another spirit to move into. That’s why they put bones and skin on it.
   "But then, when two people need to make an agreement, each one sticks a piece of metal into the figure and that evokes the power of the spirit," he continues. "If someone reneges on the agreement, the spirit of the figure will come and kill that person. So the figure keeps the peace in the community."
   Appropriate for a gallery with so many figures honoring ancestors, Mr. Wieschenberg has devoted a corner of the space to his late father, Klaus, an international businessman who traveled abroad frequently and sparked his son’s interest in things foreign and ancient.
   "I was born with art in my blood, and grew up in a house with everything from pre-Columbian art to Russian icons to modern works," Mr. Wieschenberg says. "With Art of Eden, I’m finally enjoying an opportunity to channel my experience and love for art."
Art of Eden is located at Canal Studios, 243 N. Union St., Lambertville. Gallery hours: Thurs.-Sun. noon-6 p.m. or by appointment. For information, call (609) 397-7787. On the Web: www.artofeden.com