Italian Museum Refuses to Remove Crucified Frog
August 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Despite the Pope’s protests.
Archive for August, 2008
Saatchi Shows 5 Middle East Artists Online
August 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Story from Art Radar Asia. Here’s the only religious part:
Even at the beginning of Islamic art, you can see that abstraction was a clear component. But what is really interesting in Middle Eastern art right now, is that we have many different schools and trends, all gaining attention at once.
“We don’t worship the icons; icons are things we pray through”
August 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Says Rev. John DeZorZi, “The role is to see the image (of the person) to which we pray … to represent that our savior is always around us.” Story here, and info on the festival which includes DeZorZi’s work here.
Australian Jewish Artist Competes for Prize
August 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Val Landa’s “Is He Coming?” is a finalist for the Blake Prize.
Can You Write a Short Story on Extreme Deadline?
August 27th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
If so, you can win a book. Details here.
Interview: Tom L. Freudenheim
August 27th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Tom L. Freudenheim (site here) is a museum consultant, writer, and lecturer, with extensive experience at Jewish and cultural institutions, including serving as: deputy director/COO at the Jüdisches Museum Berlin, executive director at YIVO, several positions at the Smithsonian Institution, director of the Worcester Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art, and director of programs at the National Endowment for the Arts. (Image from: http://www.jpr.org.uk/)
MW: You have done a lot of writing, lecturing, and curating on art made by Jews and about Judaism. How, if at all, do you define “Jewish Art”? Is it a helpful concept?
TF: I don’t define “Jewish art” or any other kind of art. Art tells me what it is; I don’t tell art what it is. It’s an issue that also arises in regard to so-called “craft” — and my generic response is “if I like it, it’s art; if I don’t like it, I don’t care what you call it.” “Jewish art” means different things to different people, which is OK with me — art by Jews, art about Jews, “My grandmother’s noodle kugel” (as Harold Rosenberg once characterized the term), art relating to Jewish subject matter (whatever that is), and I don’t have a problem with that. Definitions aren’t especially useful in this sort of discourse. I use “Jewish art” as sparingly as possible, but it can mean different things depending on when and where I’m using the term.
MW: Do you think art history scholarship has given Jewish art the attention it deserves? What about scholarship on religion? Religion and art journalism? Religious Sermons?
TF: Conventional mainstream western art history scholarship used to be uncomfortable about handling anything Jewish. That was because many of the pre-eminent art historians were Jewish (or “of Jewish origins”) and they lived in a world that was more overtly anti-Semitic than ours, and there may have been professional risks in dealing with Jewish anything. (Not a problem, of course, for Yale’s Erwin Goodenough, whose magisterial 13-volume study of Jewish symbols in the Greco-Roman world opened up many new worlds of Jewish and other scholarship.) I don’t think that’s a problem anymore. Lots of scholars (Jewish and non-Jewish) work on art issues that relate to Jewish subject matter in various ways. Journalism deals with Jewish issues as appropriate, but Jewish journalism does it less than other major publications. But that’s about the lingering uncertainty that “art” (vs. Israel or fund raising) will be “good” for Jewish continuity (whatever that is). I don’t hear too many sermons, but they probably reflect what’s in the press — except when the clergy decides that art is a good hook with which to grab some marginally-connected constituency.
“Michelangelo and the Jews”
August 27th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Richard McBee reviews “The Sistine Secrets.” Review here.
Here’s a selection:
Perhaps the most grievous problem with The Sistine Secrets is that it’s fundamentally a popular and, therefore, superficial presentation of rather complex artistic, religious and cultural issues. The lack of an index, footnotes and primary and secondary sources makes many of their claims almost impossible to substantiate. Several of their arguments suffer from lack of sufficient quality reproductions. The introductory chapters and many other sections are rife with an endless banter about secrets, hidden messages and forbidden meanings that would have considerable more substance if original sources and documents had been quoted to illuminate the claims.
Pope Benedict XVI: “Christian art is a rational art”
August 21st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The Pope added, “the more that we ourselves succeed in living in the beauty of truth, the more that faith will be able to return to being creative in our time too, and to express itself in a convincing form of art.”
Interview: Bill Wilson, Christian Art vs. Kitsch
August 21st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
A little while back, I heard an interview with Bill Wilson (site here) on The Infidel Guy radio show (my interview with the host here), in part promoting his book “How to Get Rich As a Televangelist or Faith Healer.” Toward the end of the interview, Wilson discussed the Jesus kitsch industry, which inspired me to reach out to him for more information.
MW: You mentioned the Jesus junk industry in your interview on The Infidel Guy show. Can you describe a few of the really egregious examples of this sort of kitsch?
BW: Probably the silliest example I’ve ever seen was a poster of an anonymous teenage boy standing on the shore holding a surfboard. The ad copy said that the photo portrayed Jesus as he would have looked had he chosen to come to earth as a surfer. The picture was titled “Jesus the Surfer” and retailed for $9.95.
Recently I noticed that Wal-Mart is selling toy figures of biblical characters, alongside ones of Batman and Iron Man. The local store carries Jesus and the Virgin Mary, both of whom spout scripture if you press the “secret action button” under their clothes.
In terms of simply being offensive, there was a student in Bible college who sported a tee shirt that showed the Buddha crucified. Underneath the image it read “What’s wrong with this picture?” and spouted something about non-Christians burning in Hell.
MW: How much of a role, if any, do you think religious art and visual propaganda are playing in the marketing of faith, whether to believers or outsiders?
BW: There used to be a time when religious advertisements were relatively tasteful. I recall road trips in the 80s and 90s during which I would spot a trio of crosses, identical sets, spaced along the highway every 50 miles or so on privately donated land. They struck me as a respectful way to express a spiritual concept. In my high school days Christian students would carry a small Testament with their school books - again, a sincere, low key way to share what was for them a vital part of their lives.
Then the church discovered modern marketing concepts, and modesty and taste were discarded in favor of tacky imitations of secular trends. Now you see baseball caps sporting a logo similar to that of myspace.com, with the words “Jesus died for myspace in heaven” stenciled in. I’ve seen Christians wearing tee shirts with the words “God’s Gym” styled like the signs for Gold’s Gym. They have a drawing of Jesus straining to do a push up. Stretched across his back is a cross with the phrase “the sins of the world” written on it.
Crass products like these are ubiquitous among evangelicals. They treat faith as if it were a hamburger or an MP3 player - just something else to be peddled to the public. They reduce spirituality to the level of a big Mac: “Do you want fries with your eternal salvation?”
Continue reading ‘Interview: Bill Wilson, Christian Art vs. Kitsch’
Chassidic Surfers And Psychedelic Judaism”
August 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article on Daniel Weinstein’s art here.
“Indian art has been ignored for a long time as it was always thought to be religious”
August 19th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
“Now it’s been given a new perception,” says R. Jeganathan, whose work appears in “Sacred Structures: An Exhibition of Artistic Renditions of Indian Temple Architecture in Malaysia.”
“Interfaith intersection: Muslim group shares space with Ashburn shul”
August 17th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Article here.
“Chicago Jewish museum cancels show of Israeli and Palestinian maps”
August 15th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article about the Spertus Museum’s show “Imaginary Coordinates” appears in The Arab American News. Here’s a selection:
An exhibit of Israeli and Palestinian maps of the Holy Land was designed to further the Spertus Museum’s mission of “addressing questions of contemporary relevance.” But after shutting the exhibit down twice, the museum is raising questions not about the exhibit’s content but about its own legitimacy and relevance.
“From Russia With Love”
August 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of “Past Imperfect: 318 Episodes from the Life of a Russian Artist” by Grisha Bruskin (see here) appears on JBooks.com. Here’s a selection:
Throughout the book, Bruskin approaches his topics, which range from tragic to absurd to comedic, with a deadpan and often ironic manner. He remembers a girl Sofa telling him of another peer, Isak, “There are Jews and there are Kikes. You and me, Grisha, we’re Jews. But Isak is a Kike.” Elsewhere, he tells of his mother crying when she remembers witnessing a Cossack cut off her aunt’s finger to obtain a snugly-fit gold ring.
The night after his works sold for $500,000 in the 1988 Sotheby’s Russian art auction that launched him to success, Bruskin and his wife Alesya found five rubles in the street. “Should we pick it up or are we already rich?” Alesya wonders. Bruskin tells her, “Take it just in case,” and indeed, “the Soviet State would think up some way to appropriate such a large sum of money.”
Read the entire review here.
INTERVIEW: Rush Vizette and “Bloody Madonna”
August 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Iconia solicited some quotes from Rush Vizette, who created “Bloody Madonna” (see here). NOTE: I have cleaned up the grammar and spelling a bit (English is not Vizette’s native language), but I have left some other parts where I did not feel comfortable editing for fear of changing the meaning. Both images are courtesy of Vizette.
MW: A lot of religious people will respond to this work by being offended. What would you say to them to assure them you did not intend to be offensive?
RV: When I painted “Bloody Madonna” I did not want to hold back the essence of what makes Madonna. I think purely on my response toward her attitude, her religious Catholic background, and how she rebelled against it. The love/hate relationship with herself and her religion throughout her life. I simply translated that mean into my language. Whether that is offensive or not depends on each individual’s view. I certainly do not think it offensive. This work is not designed to do that.
MW: The bible often called for shedding both human and animal blood, and indeed cows were often sacrificed. How, if at all, does that figure into your work?
RV: Yes, perhaps that sacrifice thought was on my subconscious. I used cow blood since cow was mentioned in one chapter in the bible as “False God” and also an animal of importance in one of my closely studied religions, Hinduism. I think it references the whole idea of the two ways of looking at Madonna, one can be viewed as “False God” as far as the celebrity culture is concerned. And the other as the real and an absolute icon, who challenges all aspects of idealism on womankind and the way we think about human sexuality. Blood and fertility seemed perfect to express my thought on this subject.
MW: Given some of the violent (both literal and verbal) responses controversial religious art has received from the Danish cartoons to the Piss Christ to the Chocolate Jesus, are you are all worried about how your show will be received?
RV: I had no doubt that this series of works will raise some eyebrows. But I will say that as an artist I cant not afford to be untrue to myself when creating work. I cant not worry about how it would please or upset others. Great art, in my view, should reflect the honest and direct response from the artist to the the subject and the judgment is up to its audiences.
MW: Why did you include a bible in your work? How would the piece have been different if the bible did not appear?
RV: The bible has given the series the depth it requires in order to sum up what Madonna is all about. Her existence without her faith in her religion would be like my painting George W. Bush without mentioning the war.
MW: How, if at all, does the experience of creating a work that pays homage to an icon (especially one of Madonna’s stature) differ from creating art that speaks just to you and to your own experiences?
RV: I don’t think it separate at all. I’m obviously not into painting someone I don’t like or subjects that do not interest me. Although I must admit that needs challenging. On the whole, my works are all very personal, and creating what is true to myself and how I see it is vital. So the experiences are all the same to me when seen in a public space, its euphoria!
“Bloody Madonna” to Celebrate Madonna’s 50th Birthday
August 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Courtesy of artists Rush Vizette and Susan Annette-Laing (see here), “Cow’s Blood, the Bible & Madonna: The New Controversial Pop Art” hangs at Red Gate Gallery in London. Vizette hails the show, which combines condoms, cow blood, cigarettes, graffiti, and the Bible, as “homage to the world’s biggest and most controversial icon in a no holds barred attitude to idealize her edgy and her extreme individual self.” Vizette might be correct in evaluating Madonna’s narcissism, but I wonder why someone so “edgy” and extremely individual needs homages. Would that not make her, gasp, pedestrian? (More info here.)
Interview with Vizette to follow.
“The Jewish People” Get 125 Photographs
August 11th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Care of the Israel Museum, reports the Jerusalem Post. The losers on the donation were finalists: the Metropolitan Museum and MOMA, though Harriette and Noel Levine could have very easily justified donating the works to a New York venue and still having plenty of Jews see it.
MISSING: Caravaggio’s “The Kiss of Judas”
August 11th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
A.k.a. “The Taking of Christ.” It was stolen from the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa (see the NY Times story here). Hopefully the painting will be discovered with only minor wear and tear soon, but we have to be thankful, I think, that we get to experience the work online even though it has been stolen. It’s a really moving painting; especially note Christ’s clasped hands as Judas kisses him. Image: Artdaily.org.
Religious Art Comes to SAAM’s Luce Center Cases
August 11th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Specifically, according to Eye Level, Alexander Bogardy’s Garden of Eden and Howard Finster’s ST LUKE 5-20. You can see the images via Eye Level; note the dinosaurs in Eden (an interesting interpretation), and the border around the quote from Luke which resembles some illuminated manuscripts (albeit with a very different style).
Jonathan Jones Refuses to Plug Ofili
August 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, one of my favorite art writers, tells how the days he would promote Chris Ofili (remember Giuliani and the Sensation show?) gratis are gone.
So how did Jones free himself from the time when he argued, “Hirst is the artist we deserve but Ofili is the artist we need”? He went to see Upper Room (pictured above from the Tate web site), which sort of depicts the Last Supper with monkeys, and trusted his eyes:
I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I could see nothing in this work to justify the ostentation of its display, nothing to vindicate my own theoretical claims. I thought maybe I was just alienated by the private view crowds. I went downstairs, came back. Still nothing.
And as if that admission didn’t already take a whole lot of guts, Jones continues:
I just don’t care what the Upper Room means because it is so cold and so pretentious. It is decorative, and it is calculated. It is so artfully poised, so determined to surf contemporary culture, that in the end it’s just a set of effects and mannerisms. Where is the personal, hard-won, inner journey that painting can be?
Read Jones’ great column here. I’d add the following points, which might be worth pondering:
1. Monkeys, in religious art, symbolize base (animalistic) human nature.
2. For a more inventive (yet just as kitschy) painting using monkeys dating more than three centuries before Ofili, see Teniers’ “A Festival of Monkeys” and “Apes in the Kitchen.”
Interview: Rolf E. Stærk
August 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Rolf E. Stærk is the creator of Biblical Art on the WWW, which aims “to provide a helpful assistant in the search for biblical art on the Internet. I hope that my contribution will prove helpful to people working with preaching, teaching etc.” According to his biography on the site, Stærk is also a “Norwegian theologian and schoolteacher, born 1967, and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway.” He spoke with Iconia about the site and about religious art in general.
MW: When and why did you start the site?
RS: As I state on my site, it is a result of a process in several stages. I started making the division into biblical subjects back in the late 90s, and around 2000 I launched the first web pages with links to images. I then started building the database, which was programmed by my wife, and in 2001 it replaced the original pages which had proven hard to maintain.
In the beginning, I was downloading and sorting images for my own use. I spent a lot of time on this, and I was sorry that I was the only one to benefit from it. This is why I decided to make a website. I did not find any existing sites that matched my idea.
I have always liked collecting things and putting them into a system. I was very happy to have found a way to cherish this, and a way that could also be helpful to others.
Following a death in my family, I went through a personal struggle after the year 2000. I was unable to attend my regular job, and so I had a lot of time to work on my project.
MW: What sort of feedback have you received?
RS: I have received all kinds of feedback. Many people write just to say thanks. This is very encouraging, especially when they add information indicating that my site is being used according to my intention.
I also receive messages from people who want my expert opinion on some piece of art, often to get help estimating its value. Generally I must disappoint these people, since I’m no art expert at all. Neither do I know about copyright law, and so I can’t help people who ask questions connected to this. (I have only made sure that I do not break any rules myself!) Finally, many people think that I am in a position to give permission for all kinds of use of the images, not realizing that the images I link to are actually hosted elsewhere.
I am very happy to receive messages from artists who want me to include their art in my system.
Unfortunately, we have had some site trouble from time to time, and when it is down, people start writing me to ask what is happening. They are usually very polite and kind, but I remember one time when a user made it clear that I had to hand my site over to a competent person if I was unable to maintain it myself.
Queen Rania Al Abdullah on YouTube
August 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
See the Jordanian queen’s channel here (her site is here). Story from The Arab American News. The queen hopes to dispel Western stereotypes through her online projects, which is very commendable. (And of course if she wants to discuss religion and art, she would always be welcome on Iconia.)
“Listening To The Paint’s Music: Marilyn Banner’s Encaustics”
August 6th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review is in this week’s Jewish Press. Below: Banner’s “Listening” 2008. Encaustic on wood, 12×12.”
“Jewish Women Artisans around the World”
August 5th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The new calendar from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. (Release here.)
“The whole focus is on the message behind it”
August 4th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Says Christian artist Donna Crabbe. “Lots of people don’t go to church but maybe they’ll come to look at the murals and see and want to know the message behind them.”
Islamic Art vs. Samuel Huntington
August 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The former seems to be the safer bet, writes Carla Power.
Was Rembrandt one of the 131 Christians Everyone Should Know?
August 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Here’s the argument. Others evidently think he was a Jew. (See here.)
“Using the arts as a way to spread the gospel and message of Christ”
August 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Nine American Christian artists visit Indonesia.
Examining the “Fabric of Jewish Life” with Compassion
August 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Richard McBee reviews Zvi Malnovitzer’s art.
Murals in Baghdad that are not Political
August 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Which offer “a bit of hope and a splash of color to a city whose signature hue is oatmeal brown.”