I saw this painting on Matthew Paul Turner’s website and just had to post it here. It’s called Jesus Broke Out the Lamb Chop Puppet and Hired an Angel to Try and Cheer Up a Clinically Depressed Paul McCartney.
Kata Billups, “Jesus Broke Out the Lamb Chop Puppet and Hired an Angel to Try and Cheer Up a Clinically Depressed Paul McCartney,” 2000. Acrylic on canvas, 5 x 7 ft.
(That’s Jesus on the left—the one in the black bathrobe and flip-flops.)
Artist Kata Billups describes the painting on its eBay page: “Jesus likes Paul, so he hired an angel to tidy up his apartment. . . . Jesus’ expression is slightly mischievous. He knows that Paul doesn’t want to communicate directly—so he moves the puppet’s little lambswool mouth and uses a silly falsetto voice in an attempt to cheer Paul up.”
Billups said that she wanted to say something about Jesus that hasn’t been said before. . . . Mission accomplished, I’d say. (Read David Shapiro’s interview with Billups on fuse.tv.)
This is only one of several similar paintings from her oeuvre, all of which depict pop culture icons in various odd situations. Billups acknowledges the humor present in her works but says that she wants people to see their deeper, more serious meaning as well: that Jesus is involved in human life, that “no matter the tribe or tongue we come from, Jesus sees, cares, and is ready to become the type of friend we need Him to be”—whether that’s a fellow pool partier, a dress-zipper-upper, a protector from bullies, or a backstage motivator (protestor?).
Believe it or not, of all Billups’s Jesus paintings, the one above actually makes the most sense. Browsing through her eBay gallery, I found each painting more puzzling than the next.
- Jesus Posed as a Delivery Boy So He Could Spend More Time with Her
- Jesus Tries to Get Ozzy Osbourne’s Attention, But He Is Caught
- Jesus Put on a Fat Suit to Rescue the Sad Heavy Gal
- Jesus Retched When He Saw the Little Children Trying to Attack a Homeless Man
. . . Huh? The deeper meaning is lost on me for these four.
What do you make of them?
These paintings are exorbitantly priced ($177,000 for the Lamb Chop one), but they’re all up for bid, if you feel so moved to place one.
The Jesus Question 
read my THESIS and maybe ya won’t be so puzzled. you also failed to mention that Sarndon, R.E.M., Willie Nelson etc. – (my work has a list of celebrity collectors as long as WARHOL’s ) ALL found my work worthy of their hard earned bucks!!! I CHALLENGE you to read my THESIS to find out why- AND THEN WRITE AN ARTICLE —-now that’S AN IDEA??? A REPORTER WHO digs SOME….WHAT A novelty!
your information gathering about the whole body of my work was forfeited by your initial response of criticism and hatred. I suggest you read the book Engaging Unbelief by Curtis Chang. Read Francis Schaeffer. This generation needs to have the gospel in a way they can “see”- and relate to.