Laura Jeanne Grimes, artist
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Anachronism: The Contemporary and the Eternal Intersect

4/26/2011

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Anachronism: "something or someone that is not in its correct chronological time."

The crucifixion of Christ did not become a popular subject for artworks until two things occurred: First, Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD.  And, in time, the memory of the gruesome reality of crucifixion, which was death by slow torture, faded.  We are all familiar, I think, with the image of the crucified Jesus, hanging from the Cross, the only sign of trauma on his porcelain skin being drops of blood from His hands and feet, and a trickle of blood from the wound in His side.

Let's look at two paintings on the subject of this pivotal event in history. 

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Consider this masterpiece:


Rogier van der Weyden
Crucifixion (center panel of triptych)
oil on panel
1445


Early Netherlandish artist, Rogier van der Weyden, includes in the scene the couple who commissioned the painting. They kneel at the Cross, and they wear the clothing of their own time, while Mary and the Apostle John wear clothing the artist thought  appropriate to their own time.  Jesus' mother and His friend are distraught.  She clings to the Cross in sorrow.  The apostle comforts her as he stares, stunned, at the death of his Teacher.  In contrast, the husband, kneeling, his hands in prayer position, looks directly and calmly at his Saviour.  The wife, her hands clasped, seems to gaze somewhere out of the picture.  Rather than sorrowful, the couple appear to be in a state of contemplation.  In the far background, see a city.  I haven't done the research, but I suspect it is the city of Brussells, since Rogier was the official painter of the city. 



Of course, the artist knew Jesus was not crucified outside of Brussells.  And that  this couple were not present at Golgotha.  The past reverberates into the present.  The present looks back into the past. 

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Now, let's consider a painting from the 20th Century.

James B. Janknegt
Crucifixion at Barton Creek Mall
Acrylic on canvas
1985

On Wednesday, February 6, 1985, an article appeared in the Austin American-Statesman.  I will quote the first paragraph: "For the second time in less than a month, art exhibited in the lobby of a downtown office building has been removed because of the objections of the chairman of the board of First City National Bank."  The artwork that chairman John Scurlock objected to was titled The Crucifixion at Barton Creek Mall.  Mr. Scurlock said of this painting, "It was kind of like a crucifixion hoax.  It might be a very meaningful picture.  I don't know."  

The title of this exhibit was Contemporary Altarpieces: Art for Religious Places.  Mark Smith, the curator of the exhibits held at this building quit in protest and moved the exhibit to a gallery.  "Nobody with any integrity at all is going to operate a censored program," he said.

"I certainly did not paint that painting to offend anyone, I wanted to transpose the traditional Crucifixion into a contemporary setting."   In explaining the painting to sympathetic columnist Mike Kelley, he said, "'Eat here" refers to transubstantiation, the wafer, the body of Christ.  "No vacancy" is sort of like there's no room here for someone the stature of Christ: the whole basis for the Crucifixion.  "Open 24 hours" is the idea of God's omnipresence.  It's pretty traditional ideas being expressed in a non-traditional way."  

Mike Kelley ended his column: "If you are afraid you might see something controversial and are quite content with fields of bluebonnets and Western landscapes, well, you're smart enough to figure out where to find those, aren't you?"

I have an art history degree, so I was astonished at the ruckus!  I remember explaining to a friend how this work fit into the history of Christian art.  She was astonished.  "But, I thought it was making fun of the Crucifixion!"  

Americans have little sense of history in the first place.  And the history of art is almost a total blank.  I blame the state of art education in our schools.  That is to say, the lack of art education.  Alas, I do not expect it to improve.  Budget cuts hit the arts first.   

And, o how I wish people would not reflexively take offense without checking things out.  Perhaps we should all take this verse from the New Testament to heart:  "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath..." (James 1:19, KJV).  

To learn more about James B. Janknegt and his works, click on this link:
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~janknegt/religiousindex.html










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The Christian artist and nudity

4/20/2011

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In our hyper-sexualized yet puritanical American culture, many assume that all depictions of the unclothed human body are, by definition, pornographic.  What is the Christian artist to do?  

First, let's go to the Bible.

"So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (NIV)

The words from Genesis strongly suggest that every human being is created with inherent dignity and worth.  The verse from the New Testament proclaims that God Himself, in Jesus Christ, "became flesh" -- that is to say, was, in a particular place, in a particular time, born a human being. 

And, let's consider a book from the Bible: The Song of Songs. Both Jewish and Christian scholars have been  so profoundly uncomfortable with this text, that they have interpreted it as metaphor.  For many Jewish commentators, the book speaks symbolically of the love of God for His people, Israel.  For many Christian teachers, it reveals the love of Christ for His Bride, the Church.  But, to anyone who approaches the text at face value, it very forthrightly and enthusiastically expresses erotic love between and man and a woman.  Yet, there it is, a book of the Holy Bible.

Now, let's look at two images.  One, from a Victoria's Secret catalog.  And one from a masterpiece of Christian art, the Ghent Altarpiece, by the Van Eyck brothers, completed in 1432.  Which one best fits your definition of pornography?


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Victoria has never had very many secrets, has she?

The underwire push-up bra.  About as comfortable to a woman as a tight necktie is to a man.  It could be worse, tho.  We could still be wearing corsets.  

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A detail from the Ghent Altarpiece.









At the top of this piece, see the Sacrifice of Isaac.  The angel will appear any moment to stay Abraham's hand.

Below, see the woman.  Her name appears on the arch over her head.  Eva. She holds a fruit in her hand.  Any moment, she will take the first bite.

To the modern American eye, she appears to be pregnant.  Not the case.  In the Northern Renaissance, the ideal female body type had small, high breasts, a long torso, and a large stomach.  Ideals of feminine beauty are, after all, cultural.  

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The Ghent Altarpiece is also known as "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb."  Here is a detail from the lower front panels.  






















I have only shown two details of this amazingly complex work of art.  To explore this masterpiece more deeply, go to Belgium (and, I would so love to go with you!).  Otherwise, google the words "Ghent Altarpiece" and click on images.  You will be blown away.


 For almost 2000 years, we have had Christian art, the earliest examples found in the catacombs.  Below, see Adam and Eve, after eating the fruit:
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Jumping ahead a few centuries:
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This dome mosaic (above) in the Baptistry in Ravenna, Italy, dates from the 5th Century A.D.  It depicts  the baptism of Jesus.  John the Baptist, on the left, the Holy Spirit as a dove above Christ's head.  In the right background, we see a figure holding a garment.  He has been interpreted as the personification of the river Jordan, ready to offer the naked Jesus clothing when the baptism has been completed
.

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I'll conclude with a question.  Do we really want to equate the Sistine Chapel with a Playboy Magazine?

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You decide.

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Michelangelo's Three PIetas

4/11/2011

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Pietà
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Michelangelo’s first true masterpiece, his sculpture of the Pieta, is a familiar image to many, whether they have traveled to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to see it, or not.  A proud, young man in his early twenties at the time, the artist carved his name down Mary’s sash to prove that he indeed was the sculptor.  Here, Mary gazes down at the body of her son, lying in her lap, as if he were a little boy who fell asleep in his mother’s arms.  Her face is youthful and serene, devoid of sorrow.  Michelangelo obviously did not intend to portray the intense anguish of a mother’s grief.  Instead, he presents an iconic image of the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Heaven, presenting to all the body of her Son, sacrificed for the sins of the world.  

As an older man, Michelangelo returned twice to the theme of the Pieta and each time brought a more and more human interpretation to the story.  (A fourth statue has been attributed to him, but is in doubt, so I will not bring it into this discussion.)

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His Deposition, in Florence, presents the body of Jesus being removed from the Cross.  Four figures carry him: his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and a figure who is either Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea.  Michelangelo carved a self-portrait for the man’s face, making himself an active participant in the scene.  Fifty years older than he was when he carved his first Pieta, he now demonstrates a personal connection with Christ.  He intended this sculpture for his own tomb. 

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In the last years of his life, he returned to the theme of the Pieta, working on the sculpture until shortly before he died, at the age of 89.  It remained unfinished and is known as the Rondanini Pieta.  Find this work in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.

I have had the privilege of viewing all three of these sculptures.  His final Pieta, in its unfinished state, moved me more profoundly than the other two.  Why?  I saw such tenderness in this work. In the first Pieta, Mary gazes down at her son with no sign of sorrow.  But now Mary struggles to lift up Jesus.  He is a dead weight, sagging in her arms.  Michelangelo presents us with a truly human mother, drawing her son as close to herself as she can, before his cold body must go to the tomb. I perceive an acute awareness of mortality and grief in this, the artist’s last masterpiece. The long years have taken him from youthful bravado to the humility of old age. 

Let us close with a quote from a poem by the artist himself:

“Ma che poss'io, Signor, s'a me non vieni coll'usata ineffabil cortesia?”

(“But what can I do, Lord, if you come not to me with your inexpressible kindness of old?”)


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