Religious art is about being human

[rug]

Launching two new books earlier this year, Sister Wendy Beckett said that, after 30 years of studying religious art, she has written "as a Catholic" for the first time, previously "never using religious language so as not to put off the atheists and the non-Christians". Having interpreted Christian art for a popular audience for decades, Beckett says she has finally "come out of the closet" to emphasise that these artworks can draw everyone to "something beyond, something other, and that something is God". Meanwhile, last week Pope Benedict espoused a similar view, speaking of the power of art to "express the faith and call us to a relationship with God". It seems that for these two Catholic thinkers, at least, the atheist has missed something fundamental if they fail to be inspired to faith by the religious art of the Christian tradition.

In the case of the subject matter of Beckett's book The Iconic Jesus, they may be on to something. The eastern icon is esoteric in its stark and naive style, but it is also alienating to the nonbeliever in its devotional function. As Beckett says "The whole point of the icon was that it was true" – it made the invisible divine visible through what was meant to be a wholly faithful physical representation. But further to this, in the tradition of acheiropoieta ("not made by human hand"), the ultimate "true" icons were believed to have been miraculously made – they were not simply representations, but rather holy objects to be treated as the very person they depicted. Icons of Christ were tangible evidence of the Word made flesh, and this is a spiritual meaning, which is redundant to the atheist.

However, Beckett's other recent book suggests the relevance religious art can have for us all, irrespective of faith. In The Art of Saints we encounter saints who are far from being unobtainable exemplars, but rather were individuals who, as the French novelist and lapsed Catholic Lucie Delarue-Mardrus wrote of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, suffered like the rest of us and battled "the little everyday dragons, more difficult to fight than the wild monster that Saint George defeated only once". Such portraits of holy people can lead us to reflect on the universal human experience – the common experiences that we all share – and this function can also extend to other genres of religious art.

A current exhibition at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp underscores the universal reach of religious art. Featuring a group of 16th- and 17th-century altarpieces commissioned by trades guilds for the cathedral, here we find depictions of birth and death, joy and sorrow made for people bound together by the most earthly of concerns – work. Here the profane and sacred are intertwined. The Altarpiece of the Bakers shows the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, significant to Christians for showing Jesus as provider and as "the bread of life" but, as a tray of loaves takes centre stage and people eat hungrily in the background, this is an image that can also speak of physical want, the tyranny of bodily appetites, and the everyday struggle to put food on the table. That this is expressed through the religious tropes, which were the cultural language of the time, makes it no less pertinent to the non-Christian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/sep/05/religious-art-human-nonbelievers

[bluerum]

1. All art is about being human.

[Deep13]

2. Pretty much. nt

[rug]

3. Glad you agree.

[edhopper]

4. As an artist and art lover

I am often deeply moved by religious paintings. Seeing the Sistine Chapel is nothing short of awe inspiring.
But I am equally moved by a Turner or Moran landscape, or a Rothko or Pollack.
It is the accomplishment of the very human artist, not the spiritual trappings of the subject, which moves me.
I would say that I have felt the same "spiritual intensity" that religious friends have described they feel in church, while I am at an Art Museum.

That is one of the reasons I conclude that this sense of awe (or whatever we call it) comes from the nature of our humanity and not down from some mystical being on high.

Also I have felt that many great artist were using the religious art, that was the only vehicle to make a living as an artist, to pursue their artistic ideals, much more than their religious ideals

[immoderate]

5. Religious art gets a pass from me.

Because it's art, not religion.

I grew up in a mostly Jewish neighborhood. But there was a Baptist church that great music came from.

It inspired us -- to jazz and rock n' roll.

If not for religious art, there might be no surrealism!

--imm

[rrneck]

6. That was then

This is now. As soon as artists got a chance to hang out their shingle they jumped ship and became competition.

From Joseph "artist as shaman" Beuys to Andre Serrano religion has its knickers in a twist about the competition artists represent for for their ability to describe the human experience and help people to stand up and look around - and look inside themselves.

Of course all art is about being human. And the best art today either ignores religion or eviscerates it. The real question is when did religion stop being about humanity?

[rug]

7. It never did.

BTW, enjoy your jar of urine. I prefer this.

[edhopper]

8. That does nothing for me

In fairness, neither does the Serrano.

Now this:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pKA34P4zFyw/THQJF3kCAHI/AAAAAAAAAMI/lW_iKoXSmjM/s1600/Matisse+-+Vence.jpg

[rrneck]

10. I wouldnt have the Serrano in my house either.

But I appreciate its quality as a work of art. It's sort of the difference between Stravinsky and Christian rock.

[edhopper]

11. It's okay

But I find it rather shallow and obvious. It is art, but a lesser piece without much depth. It is 90% shock value.
Far from Stravinsky. I would say it is The Sex Pistols.

[rrneck]

12. Lots of shock value indeed.

Piss Christ jumped the shark in that body of work for That reason.

It appears to be a crucifix suffused with golden light. He has to tell us that it's urine in the title. If he hadn't told us how it was made there would be a print of that work in millions of devout homes. He could make Thomas Kincaid look like a piker. So why give up the secret?

If I'm not mistaken this was made prior to the revelations regarding preists in the Catholic church. Seranno was raised Catholic and he clearly has an axe to grind.

Formally, a crucifix suffused in gold has layers or metaphorical meaning as well. Is the gold of religious practice true gold, or is the church just pissing on peoples fairs with its desire for profit? I'm typing one fingered on a phone here but you get the idea. Great art doesn't offer us a place to stop. It gives us a place to start.

[rrneck]

9. Like i said

the best art is not religious. Artmaking is cultural research and development. The R&D department moved its offices out of the church a long time ago and religion has done nothing but attempt to appropriate whatever trend it can to stay profitable. Surely you don't think your example, while quite lovely, breaks any new ground either formally, intellectually, or emotionally. Actually, the generic simplification of a tired motief is more appropriate for a corporate lobby. Which is exactly where it is.

The bulk of religious activity is a profit oriented corporate enterprise. The demise of religion sponsored art that inspires and challenges us is a symptom of money changers in the temple.

Why aren't towering geniuses like Michealangelo working for the church now? It can't be because they can't afford to pay them. The only geniuses the church hires now are marketers, spin doctors, and accountants.

[rug]

13. Michelangelo is a rarity in any culture.

But there are still spectacular pieces of religious art being made.













Évry Cathedral

[rrneck]

14. Picture thread! Damn and I'm on a phone.

Its nice but it doesn't really distinguish itself formally from a concert hall, stadium, or corporate headquarters. Early cathedrals were meant to be a physical manifestation of heaven on earth in a culture where people understood their world through faith. Your example is a large structure in a culture where people understand their world through systems. And it shows it. The striped walls topped by rows of elongated windows around a systematized grid of triangles reads like a shrine to the Almighty Spreadsheet - because that's what is. It embodies what is important to us today in a culture that has long since put its faith in materialism and capital. Whoever approved the design for that structure isn't showing us the light, they're showing us a capital investment.

Given what we know about what we're doing to the planet and to ourselves, how could any religion justify such a structure? It seems a somewhat facile appropriation of nature to create a "softer, gentler crown of thorns" to double as a nod to God's command for us to be good stewards of his creation. Corporate logos are efficient that way.

As I walked through St. Mark's basilica in Venice a few years ago I turned around for one last look behind the altar as I left and there was J C staring straight it me. I am a jaded sarcastic iconoclastic artist and I know how to make an image do that. It's still gave me chills. Evry just gives me the creeps.

[darkstar3]

15. Oversized basic geometry is unimpressive at any level.

[rrneck]

16. To be fair

I should offer what I think is an inspiring churhc.



To my mind a church should facilitate fellowship with people who know each other personally, not the organization that put up the building.

It should use local, simple materials if not the approperation of an existing structure.

The decorations should be made by the parishioners or a local artist.

Small, simple, personal, grounded in the relationships of real people for real people - it's the only way for religion and the human race to survive.

[rug]

17. I agree.

But I still that that cathedral kicks ass.

[trotsky]

18. Yes. Much more impressive than oh, I dunno, feeding people.

Jesus is pleased, I'm sure.

[rug]

19. How many people did you feed today?

[trotsky]

21. I could always give them some of your plentiful red herring, I suppose.

What do you think of an institution that claims to glorify a person who had no possessions, no riches, and advocated giving everything to the poor, but builds glorious structures for itself?

[darkstar3]

22. That thar's a hippo critter!

[rug]

23. Oh, you like it.

Glorious indeed.

[trotsky]

25. No answer for the question, eh?

Didn't think you would be able to answer that one.

[rug]

26. You haven't answered mine.

[trotsky]

29. I fed 10.

Your turn.

[rug]

30. 11

[trotsky]

31. Now answer my question. n/t

[rug]

32. Only because you asked nicely.

"What do you think of an institution that claims to glorify a person who had no possessions, no riches, and advocated giving everything to the poor, but builds glorious structures for itself?"

If that was all there is to it, not much. But as you well know, there is much more to it than that.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=gsis%2Ci18n%3Dtrue&cp=32&gs_id=3k&xhr=t&q=catholoc+programs+for+the+hungry&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=catholoc+programs+for+the+hungry&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=74e371c96a48f4b&biw=1280&bih=921

[trotsky]

33. You did not answer.

Is it OK if the bully down the street hands out full-sized Hersey bars on Halloween? Should we overlook his bullying because he does nice things once in a while too?

[rug]

34. Depends. Are they with or without almonds?

[trotsky]

35. Alright, I know what the answer is now.

And it's exactly what I expected.

[rug]

36. Must be almonds.

[rrneck]

20. There are many ways to feed people.

I would rather the church stay out of the ocias services business. That's why we have a government. But I hear what you're saying. Religion seems to be doing everything but what its supposed to do.

[onager]

24. My kind of religious art...

Manuel Ocampo, "Untitled (Burnt Out Europe)"

[rrneck]

27. Now yer talkin'. nt

[rug]

28. I would think this is more your style.

Maybe you just like swastikas.

[onager]

37. Nope, I like the Raptor Jesus. But since you mentioned swastikas...

German Army "Atheism Is With Us" military buckle...



(Pedants - spare me the Googles to prove this belt buckle design pre-dates the Nazi era. Yes, I KNOW that. But if the Nazis were as anti-Xian as modern Xians often try to portray them, why didn't they simply change that design?)

This guy apparently loves swastikas, too - that's Bishop Ludwig Muller...oops, Reich Bishop Muller, Berlin 1934...obviously an atheist. I can tell by that thing hanging around his neck: