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Category Archives: Popular Art
Roundup: Jesus balloon, Oprahdoxy, minimalist Bible, Augustine, cave churches, and sugar sphinx
– Did you hear about the giant World Cup Jesus balloon that online gambling company Sportsbet floated over Melbourne two weeks ago? Resembling the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, the balloon showed Jesus wearing an Australian soccer jersey … Continue reading
Posted in Popular Art, Theology, Western Art
Tagged kara walker, rob bell, world cup jesus
3 Comments
“Faith in Drag” podcast: on the role of images in Christianity and Hinduism
Encounter is a Sydney-based radio documentary feature program that seeks to explore the connections between religion and life. Two weeks ago they aired an episode, hosted by Allison Chan, that includes interviews with religious gift shop workers, Christian and Hindu … Continue reading
Jesus optical illusions
. . . for your viewing pleasure. The last one is being sold as a cross-stitch pattern and, believe it or not, has been tattooed on at least two arms that I’ve seen (click here and here for photographic evidence).
Posted in Jesus Kitsch, Popular Art
1 Comment
Tap-Tap Art in Haiti
Last month a friend of mine, Rachel, told me about how when she visited Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2010, she found Jesus’s name and face painted all over the city’s public transportation vehicles, known as “tap-taps.” Tap-taps are privately owned and … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Western Art, Pop Culture, Popular Art
Tagged christianity in haiti, haiti art, jesus haiti, jesus tap tap, tap taps
2 Comments
Thomas Kinkade’s Portrait of Christ
Popular Christian artist Thomas Kinkade passed away this month at age 54. Known for his soft-focus paintings of country cottages, lighthouses, churches, and main streets, Kinkade is one of the most collected artists in America, with his paintings hanging in … Continue reading
The Dagger Project
Hebrews 4:12 describes the Bible as sharper than any two-edged sword, in that it pierces the heart with its raw truthfulness, exposing our insides. If we were to transpose this verse into a modern idiom, “dagger” might be the more … Continue reading
Posted in Popular Art, Western Art
Tagged gideons bibles, jim houliston, rose from the dead
2 Comments
Jesus Is My Homeboy: The Story That Started It All
The “Jesus is my Homeboy” T-shirt is a fashion trend that peaked in the mid-2000s, when celebrities like Jessica Simpson, Pamela Anderson, Ben Affleck, Ashton Kutcher, and Brad Pitt could be spotted wearing it. I remember seeing classmates in high … Continue reading
Posted in Popular Art
Tagged jesus and gang violence, Jesus is my homeboy t-shirt, Van Zan Frater
11 Comments
Happy Jesus, Part 1: A Newish Conception
“There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.” -G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (1908) Many people—like Chesterton, apparently—think of … Continue reading
Gethsemane, Part 2: Hematidrotic Jesus
(If you’re not familiar with what happened in Gethsemane, the story is chronicled in three places: Matthew 26:36-45, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:39-46. I will be referencing only bits and pieces at a time.) “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow … Continue reading
Posted in Popular Art, Theology
Tagged agony in the garden, Fred Carter, hematidrosis, sweat blood
3 Comments
The Jesus Question 