Show, don’t tell: Round 1 9 July 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and faith, Christianity, Criticism, Illustration, Painting.4 comments
Round 1 in the Show, don’t tell showdown: Patty Wickman versus ubiquitous Christian painting hanging in most every American baptist church.
Above is Patty Wickman’s surreal A Thief in the Night. Wickman, an art professor at UCLA, is a master (in my opinion) of turning beautifully simple subjects into powerful metaphors.
Which do you think is more powerful imagery? Which is more likely to cause the viewer to more deeply engage the subject matter? Which one employs imagination? Which one tells and which one shows? And (ironically) which one is more likely to change a person’s attitude or worldview?
Christians in the past 100 years seem to have forgotten how to be creative, use our imaginations, when communicating visually. For some reason we feel the need to reduce the Gospel (and any other theological tenets we hold dear) to what is more or less propaganda. We obviously aren’t reading our Gospels very closely. The parables are a prime example of using art — storytelling — to show people an idea or principle rather than just saying it out loud. Granted, the culture was different then than now, and we may not be able to do exactly as Jesus did, but the point remains: People won’t respond to a direct statement in the same manner as they will to something that is illustrated, painted, drawn out.
And, for what it’s worth, the painting of Jesus knocking at the door (of your heart as so many mistakenly believe) is based on a verse, as far as I know, that’s almost always taken out of context. The imagery is generally used to appeal to non-believers. In reality, the verse is speaking to the church of Laodicea in the context of repentance.
Rust, restore 26 June 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Found objects, Mixed media, Painting.add a comment
The following is an entry to a show at Fort Drum titled Reflections of Generosity. This is an older work, probably done in 2006.
Entropy and restoration are two recurring themes in my process, and thus my sculptures. When I use the word entropy I’m referring to the inevitable deterioration of both the physical and social world around us. I most often observe this phenomenon in the built environment. Buildings crumble, mailboxes rust, roadways buckle and gape with potholes.
Restoration, conversely, implies the ability to rectify or reverse impending decay. In my sculptures this usually takes the form of found objects, repurposed as a canvas (as with Rust, restore) or sculpture. Some of the time these salvaged items serve as raw materials, sometime as accessories so to speak.
Rust, restore comments directly on both entropy and restoration. Whlie the use of text seems, at first, very blunt, symbolism remains. My hope is for the viewer to begin considering both the inevitability of decay and hope with the possibility of restoration.
Kenyan painters and stations of the cross 10 June 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and Missions, Art and faith, Christianity, Painting.add a comment
Kenyan painters were somewhat recently tasked with painting the stations of the cross in the Lodwar Cathederal (Kenya). See the results on this website. The grouping is titled “Through Nomadic Eyes.” My favorite one of the bunch is below, with the storefront in the background, a little post-modern disconnect in artistic terms.
Via MissionsLaunch.
Painter puts down brushes, mission trips 11 May 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and Missions, Art and faith, Artist profile, Christianity, Painting.2 comments
Painter and graphic designer Kendra Baird is putting down her paintbrush to participate in an eleven month mission trip according to the Charlotte Observer. Baird began painting a few years ago after forays into graphic design and photography. She turned to the brush while taking pictures of geckos with a friend. Her first painting “turned out really well,” so she thought, “Why don’t I try to sell these?” She talked to Green Rice Gallery in NoDa, which took three of her paintings. Two of them sold.
The Observer article implies that Baird is giving painting up in order to go overseas as a missionary. “Baird will leave for the World Race in August, carrying only a backpack. She’s packing a small sketch pad and watercolor palette, but she’s prepared to leave the rest of her art behind — forever, if God asks her to.” My question — to Baird and to the missions community — is this: Why did she have to give up painting to be a part of Adventure’s in Missions’ World Race? Baird should be made aware of opportunities (as new and few as they may be) that put her God-given talents to use. Operation Moblization’s ArtsLink offers mission trips designed specifically for artists.
Baird believes she can sell paintings after returning from the World Race, but that’s beside the point. Sacrifice is an important part of character, and giving up her craft for a year may be entirely intentional on the part of the artist. However, if a person is gifted in a particular craft that shouldn’t be ignored. God doesn’t gift each of us as part of the body just so we can say we are good at this or than and then box it up and put it on at shelf.
Image from Kendra Baird’s Etsy store.
LinkLuv: Hitler, R.C. Sproul and Obama in art news 28 April 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and faith, Christianity, Criticism, Painting, Portraiture.1 comment so far
Hitler paintings sell for combined $143,000 at British auction house. Yes, Hitler was an aspiring artist before he was a cruel dictator. I’m still surprised at how many people don’t know this bit of trivia. The watercolor below went for $10,000 and is believed to be a self-portrait.
R.C. Sproul talked about how Christians perceive the arts in 1986. Not a terrible or terribly fascinating article, but the source and the date combined made the case to post this link.
A new painting of Obama scheduled to be unveiled in New York City on the 100th day of the new president’s term has now been canceled. Apparently this image caused an uproar similar to that of Serrano’s Piss Christ, Cavallaro’s Chocolate Jesus, Brack’s Bearded Orientals etc etc. People seem to forget that one valid function of the arts is to raise questions about culture. They also seem to forget that, per the childhood platitude, “you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
Churches need to learn to trust their artists 19 April 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and faith, Christianity, Imagination, Painting.4 comments
A few years ago a friend offered to create a work of art for his church. The church accepted the proposal, and the over the past few years they’ve slowly worked on the idea. Recently the church — without the artist — decided on an image as a basis for the project.
It’s not unusual for the pastor (and a board of elders behind him) to want to control the content of artworks in their building. I regularly come across similar tales which evidence an obvious lack of trust in the artist heading up or contributing such a project, especially if the artist is a part of your congregation.
A visual artist — a painter or sculptor or printmaker — is more than just a craftsman. At it’s most basic, art is two things: Craft and concept. What the pastor-slash-board did in the aforementioned circumstance largely takes away the imaginative creativity, the concept, of an artwork. Hopefully an artist is gifted with ideas as much as with a particular craft. Further, they often communicate (i.e. interpret their surroundings) in different ways than than non-artists, which is part of their gift to culture.
In one sense, I can understand how the shepherd of a flock would want to protect his congregation from, well, unsightly or worldly things (as if they aren’t exposed to said things on a daily basis via other media or venues). The elders might want to avoid anything that would cause controversy; heaven forbid we be moved out of our comfort zones by a brutally honest painting of certain Scriptures.
Another scenario could be that the leadership already had an idea in mind and wanted to play artist from behind the scenes. Regardless, the way the project unfolded was disheartening to the artist, and I can certainly sympathize. Would it have been so bad for church leadership to look at a sketch of the artist’s idea and give their feedback based on that?
Below is Jim Jangket’s most recent work titled Last Judgement. I can only imagine how horrified some church leaders would be if the thought of this creative commentary hanging in their building.
Modern Christianity is much too sanitized for our own good, which is another idea for another time but also effects decisions about what kind of art is or isn’t allowed into a church building.
Easter Morning 12 April 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Abstract art, Art, Painting.add a comment
a painting titled Easter Morning, by Jim Jangket, for Easter morning
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
— John 5:24
The Mona Lisa as pen holder 3 February 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Painting, Sculpture, Siloam Springs.3 comments
The past couple weeks I’ve been suffering from dizzy spells on and off. After realizing this morning that the problem seems to be in my shoulder, I wandered into the massage parlor in downtown Siloam Springs to see if a few minutes in their chair would do me some good.
On the desk in the office rested the Mona Lisa, whose skullcap had been lopped off (a la House, M.D.) in order to accommodate a covey of pens. I immediately thought of Betty Spackman’s book A Profound Weakness: Christians and Kitsch — which I’m still working my way though — and captured an image of it with the trusty cameraphone.
Interview with Etsy founder 2 February 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Business of art, Ceramics, Craft, Etsy, Handmade, Painting, Realism, Sculpture.add a comment
Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, and tech blogger Robert Scoble interview Etsy founder Robert Kalin.
Some interesting tidbits from the interview, 97% of Etsy’s user base is female, thus the largest segment of sales comes from jewelery. Etsy did almost $100 million in sales in 2009. An average sale on the site includes two items and totals $15.
See these new shops for some nice works:
Megan Chaney Studios for ceramic sculpture.
Old World Swine for still lifes and landscapes.
Bruegel in poetry 17 January 2009
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Painting.1 comment so far
I’ve been a fan of Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac for a number of years now, and was glad to begin hearing it a year or two ago on our local Public Radio Station early in the afternoons. I was disappointed, though, when the show was moved to the mornings, when I’m less likely to be listening to the radio. Furthermore, I retain a certain nostalgia for an afternoon broadcast of the program, as I heard it every day for an entire summer as I drove to work at 3p.m.
All of that to say I added the website to my feed reader late this week after hearing Keillor read a particularly nice poem, Peaches or Plums by Alan Michael Parker. Checking the feed this morning, I was greeted with a work titled First Cutting by Susie Patlove. The poem is about the cutting of hay, and happens to mention Bruegel about a third of the way through in this excerpted sentence:
How does the taste of my sweat take me
down through the gate of childhood,
spinning backwards to land in a field
painted by Bruegel, where the taste of salt
is the same, and the same heat
rises in waves off a newly flattened field.
