Fr. Paul Anel Reflects on Paul Jenkins' Spiritual Abstraction and Chapel of Meditation

Fr. Paul Anel, the Art Director of Heart’s Home USA and exhibitions curator for First Things magazine in New York, reflects on the legacy of abstract artist Paul Jenkins, who passed away five years ago. Anel's first exposure to Jenkins' art occurred in the fall of 2014 at the Robert Miller Gallery, where he viewed the exhibition Thresholds of Color, showcasing around 25 works from the 1960s to the early 2000s. He was particularly captivated by Phenomena Timbuktu and the Chapel of Meditation installation, which featured pieces such as Phenomena Himalayan and Phenomena Entrance Portal. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Jenkins drew spiritual inspiration from the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and friendships with Gutai artists like Yoshihara Jirō. His works, known as Phenomena since 1960, embody a search for deeper meaning, as expressed in his 1945 letter and the monograph Anatomy of a Cloud. This summer, one of Jenkins' pieces will be part of the Intuition exhibition at Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. Anel also met Jenkins' wife, Suzanne, and discovered the artist's East Village studio and his favorite dining spot, Japonica. Jenkins' work is characterized by a focus on light, color, and form, with his watercolors likened to a bell resonating in the depths of the ocean.