Found at PALcampaign.com.
“Eternal One,
Silence from whom my words come;
Questioner from whom my questions arise;
Lover of whom all my loves are hints;
Disturber in whom alone I find my rest;
Mystery in whose depths I find healing and myself;
enfold me now in your presence;
restore to me your peace;
renew me through your power;
and ground me in your grace.”
—Ted Loder, “Ground Me in Your Grace,” in Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle (San Diego: LuraMedia, 1984), p. 5
Walter Habdank, “Noah,” 1979. Woodcut. Published by Pattloch in “Die Bibel” in 1995.
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.) Continue reading
Last August I wrote about Scottish artist David Mach’s much acclaimed “Precious Light” exhibition, a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. (His crucifixion sculpture, Die Harder, is one of my favorite crucifixion sculptures of all time.) Well, over the next two weekends, Mach will be offering about 100 of his works for sale at his studio in London.
The dates are May 12–13, May 19–20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Address: Studio 16, 21 Wren Street, London, WC1X 0HF. And on Saturday, May 19, Mach will be presenting a talk on his work at 6:30 p.m. at FH Space, 9 Havelock Walk, London.
Mach has said that he is not religious, but that he is “struck by how much the King James Bible is about how we speak now.” The 70+ collages that made up the exhibition last year, and that will be exhibited in his studio this month, address the biblical/universal themes of love, faith, fear, suffering, and sacrifice. Destruction and judgment also factor heavily in his work—in his several depictions of the flood, Egyptian plagues, the Battle of Jericho, and hell, for example. Thirty-two of the collages from this series can be viewed on Mach’s website. Continue reading
This past weekend, my husband and I watched a 1953 film called The Robe, directed by Henry Koster and starring Richard Burton, based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but its real claim to fame is that it was the first film to be shot in widescreen (using CinemaScope technology).
The film is about a (fictional) Roman tribune named Marcellus, who lived during the time of Christ. At the beginning of the story, he is transferred to an undesirable military post in Jerusalem, where he stays for only a week before being summoned to Capri. But before he leaves, Pilate gives him the order to carry out three routine crucifixions. . . . I think you know where this is going. After crucifying Jesus, Marcellus wins Jesus’s robe in a game of dice, but his slave, Demetrius, runs off with it. On his way to Capri, Marcellus has recurring nightmares about the crucifixion, and begins to think that the robe is bewitching him—so he decides to return to Palestine to find and destroy it. While there, he meets some of Jesus’s followers (the time is presumably post-ascension) and is amazed by how great is their love and joy, especially in the face of oppression. He wonders if maybe there was something to this Jewish man’s teachings.
Here’s the trailer:
Found at newegg.com.
Whenever I meet people and they learn that I’m an art fan, they instinctively ask me who my favorite artist is. I can’t say that I have just one; I have many, and I’ve compiled them into a list, which you can access by clicking the “Artists” tab in the bar above.
This list has been a year in the making, and I assure you that it will grow, as I’m always discovering new favorites. I’d love it if you’d share yours with me!
Here’s one in belated honor of last week’s Boston Marathon.
Found at zazzle.com.
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 an estimated 10 million American homes. Kinkade had said that it was his mission to bring peace and joy into the lives of others; “I’m trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel,” he said.
Despite (or perhaps because of) his immense commercial success, his work is often derided by art critics as nothing more than sentimental kitsch, devoid of truthfulness. It’s the sort of work that inspires spinoffs like this combo nightlight–music box…
Since Kinkade’s death on April 6, newspapers have been reflecting on people’s diametric opinions of his work, asking questions like what makes art art (does being commercially focused make you less of an artist?), and what is the artist’s role in society (to make people feel good? to challenge them, or move them to action? to shine a light on reality? to display beauty?).
I’m going to sidestep all these questions for now (though please feel free to comment on them below if you wish) and instead focus on one of Kinkade’s paintings, one that hangs in my grandmother’s piano room and in my parents’ hallway. It’s called The Prince of Peace. Continue reading
The Jesus Question 