Here are some of my paintings. They measure about 3 ft square sort of thing. They are painted in acrylic on board. They are trying to breathe some sort of sincerity into modern Catholic Art which, I am sorry to say (I am a Catholic myself) in Anglo-Saxon (but not Hispanic) countries is actually pretty mediocre and samey.
The current Pope hads written an excellent book on the New Testament which has digested all the modernist German theologians in detail. At the end he has come to the conclusion that we can take the New Testament writers pretty literally.
I want to translate this surprisingly fresh fact into the world of painting.
In this painting, the three wise men no longer look at the star. they are too busy debating religion!
As always, people walk away from Jesus.
I was really angry when I painted this totally unreligious picture! Our Free School had just been hijacked by the beastly DfE and this is how I saw bureaucracy. It always gains smiles of recognition from people from eastern Europe in my English classes.........
You must know Caravaggio's painting about the road to Emmaus when Jesus casually lifts his hand to bless the bread, the innkeeper looks on and the man on the right does theatrics with his extended hands.
I thought a lot about that and decided to have a go from the point of view of the Easter!
Daring or foolhardy?
Both.
Lazarus struggles back to life out of the tomb.
I have always found the Last Discourse in St John's Gospel really boring and difficult to understand. Here Jesus gives the discourse while SS Thomas and Peter look on, one worried and rather withdrawn, the other bursting to interrupt with his own ideas (Seen "Any Questions" recently?)
What I would love to do really is to let people see these paintings ideally in a setting where they could be used for meditation and perhaps some prayers?
I am not after money so much as usefulness. On the other hand, you have to get them framed and pay the postage!
Please tell me what you think.
ReplyDeleteI admire your work,my friend.We travel the same roads but search out different aspects of God in this imperfect place we live in.I know the Lord has led me this far and I know He blessed me with this talent and I have just to wait..............and listen.I have been painting art since I was seven with large breaks of time scattered about.Anyway,really enjoyed your work.
ReplyDeleteMy art is different,of course.More realist and more portraiture in my collection .I never would have thought of myself as a portrait artist and I do other things.Well,take a look,Mike and tell me what you think.http://www.rcgarts.com
I am happy to see some of your work, Mike, We chatted a while back about so-called 'religious art' and I remember some of your ideas that made me chuckle. In a good way. I've been doing some commissioned works lately for the Chaldean Catholics - emanating out of war-torn Iraq- and I always find a very interesting tension between portraying biblical/religious ideas/stories in a respectful manner while wondering about the loaded nature of the images...despite my best efforts to take it seriously. Your work, on the other hand, takes the approach to a whole new level of humanity. Which I find ballsy and impressive. Take a peek at some of my recent things at http://www.trinity2011.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteSee you at "What is Art for".
Wow Mike, Your work is provocative and makes one think. I like how your people are present day not 2000 years ago. We are all this day having to answer" Who do you say that I am?"
ReplyDeleteI am also a Catholic Artist and seek each day how the Lord wants me to use this gift. It seems in this busy culture one need a picture to bring the mind around to stillness before one can here the Lord. I try to paint moments in time that help people stop and wonder... and listen and be touched. Most of my work is on www.mnartists.org/zylla if you want to take a look