Being an atheist myself does not prevent me from seeing the anti-Christian bias that runs rampant in our beloved art world. At times I have sat back and witnessed this bias play itself out in rhetoric** from artists that has been distasteful at the very least and has bordered on hate speech in its extreme; and somehow this is allowed to go unchecked by our cultural overseers. What we progressives need to remind ourselves of every now and then is that Religion by way of Christianity has played and continues to play a major role in our culture (and not necessarily for the worse) as many detractors would have you believe. So here are just a few examples of heavy hitters who have sincerely channeled the (Western) God quite successfully in their works and have given us some cultural gems: John Milton, Johnny Cash, Dostoyevsky, Bach, William Blake, Sister Corita, Hermann Hesse , John Coltrane, Arvo Part, Vincent van Gogh, Nikos Kazantzakis, Rouault, Kierkegaard and even the divinely wrought minimalist pieces done by the Shakers. Of course there are the many more who have used Christianity as their springboard*... figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Robert Gober, Andres Serrano, David Wojnarowicz and R.Crumb come to mind, Christ, even the Pixies front-man Frank Black was heavily influenced by the Christian songwriter Larry Norman and as it turns out our own beloved art critic extraordinaire David Hickey graduated from the Texas Christian University back in 61'. With all this being said, I now offer an interesting and unbiased article written for e-flux by my -very secular- good friend and art theorist/ critic/philosopher Boris Groys that touches on the relevance of religion (specifically Western religion) within contemporary Western art...so sit back and enjoy the ride:
http://www.e-flux.com/journal/the-weak-universalism/
*The reactionary influence that Christianity has had on a vast number of great thinkers and artists must be considered and reckoned with. In other words, the departure from Christianity must be seen as a base or catapult from which an intricate thought process emerges. This departure from the original source has been an impetus for an enormous body of Western works and if absent, the very works in question would not have come into being as they stand.
** One example of this rhetoric is a post on Jerry Saltz's FB page by artist Ashley Bickerton (in regards to the death of Thomas Kinkade):
"While I try to approach the work with equivocation, I cannot help but notice that most of the hundreds of pro Kinkade comments on the Huffpo memorial come from people who are 1. Decidedly Evangelical and/or outspoken in their Christian faith, 2. Have no clear functional command of either grammar or spelling, and 3. Invariably talk about being soothed and calmed by this 'realism'. I am truly shocked by the amount of extraordinarily positive emotions this work has been able to draw out of people. This is the most compelling argument I have seen to date for 2 separate species of Homo Sapiens sharing the planet today."
Two more examples from Jerry Saltz's FB page: 1.Artist Lucas Tiberius Sams (in regards to the death of Thomas Kinkade): "Is it a bad thing that hearing he was dead was the best part of my week?"
2.Artist Mike Cockrill: "I like wearing my fuzzy slippers when I look at my Thomas Kinkade...and my catalog lingerie. I imagine myself in a little cottage in the woods, electric lights burning phosphorous yellow as the hands of the angels decent upon me and I feel the warm breath of Jesus on my neck....my husband is at the trade show and won't be back for hours. Jesus loves me....I desire Him. I shift to a better position, and await "The Master Touch."
http://www.e-flux.com/journal/the-weak-universalism/
*The reactionary influence that Christianity has had on a vast number of great thinkers and artists must be considered and reckoned with. In other words, the departure from Christianity must be seen as a base or catapult from which an intricate thought process emerges. This departure from the original source has been an impetus for an enormous body of Western works and if absent, the very works in question would not have come into being as they stand.
** One example of this rhetoric is a post on Jerry Saltz's FB page by artist Ashley Bickerton (in regards to the death of Thomas Kinkade):
"While I try to approach the work with equivocation, I cannot help but notice that most of the hundreds of pro Kinkade comments on the Huffpo memorial come from people who are 1. Decidedly Evangelical and/or outspoken in their Christian faith, 2. Have no clear functional command of either grammar or spelling, and 3. Invariably talk about being soothed and calmed by this 'realism'. I am truly shocked by the amount of extraordinarily positive emotions this work has been able to draw out of people. This is the most compelling argument I have seen to date for 2 separate species of Homo Sapiens sharing the planet today."
Two more examples from Jerry Saltz's FB page: 1.Artist Lucas Tiberius Sams (in regards to the death of Thomas Kinkade): "Is it a bad thing that hearing he was dead was the best part of my week?"
2.Artist Mike Cockrill: "I like wearing my fuzzy slippers when I look at my Thomas Kinkade...and my catalog lingerie. I imagine myself in a little cottage in the woods, electric lights burning phosphorous yellow as the hands of the angels decent upon me and I feel the warm breath of Jesus on my neck....my husband is at the trade show and won't be back for hours. Jesus loves me....I desire Him. I shift to a better position, and await "The Master Touch."
Dear Gottahandit, My satirical comment about Kinkade is Not meant to be anti-Christian. What I am mocking is religion as sentimental kitsch - which is rampant in Kinkades work. I've made thoughtful, non-ironic work about The Stations of the Cross for instance. What I am making fun of here is the Jesus-in-a-snow-globe sappiness.
ReplyDeleteYou can spin it anyway you want Cockrill. There is an underlying note of condescension coming from your camp that would not be used against say a Muslim, a Jew or even an African American "Christian". What might be sentimental kitsch to you and your enlightened group is in fact a non-ironic(symbolic)icon to many, many others. This is not about ones viewpoint as much as it is about delivery. and again, let us not downplay the underlying intolerance coming from your pack. and in many cases this has manifested itself as a sanctioned display of overt aggression. "Jesus-in-a-snow-globe sappiness" - Why not write a nasty little poem about a young girls infatuation with Bambie?...oh wait, you kind of go that route with your own work already don't you...lol
DeleteThis is the aforementioned quoted artist Lucas Tiberius Sams. I hope you are well. I must say I am flattered to be quoted and appreciate your love of the art world. BUT I AM SORRY (HAHA!) I am not an athiest, I actually think athiests are clearly misguided because I cannot fathom anyone can exist in this world and not be awed by the beauty of this world in all its incomprehensible intricacies and could sincerely believe it could exist without God. Jerry Saltz might agree with me, even though he is probably as jaded with religion as he is with the art world. Kinkade..........His works are pretty. They don't make people think. And I really cannot respect a guy who uses his "faith" as a pretext to sell more art. HE SELLS HIS ART IN MALLS, AND PUTS HIS WORK ON COASTERS AND TRAVEL MUGS AND ON CALENDARS AT STORES ACROSS AMERICA, PLACING SAID CALENDAR NEXT TO PUPPY CALENDARS. Who can resist that?
DeleteI am so glad I was bored and found this. This post made my night. Keep writing about art and artists! We need this discourse and I love engaging in it. Live long and prosper.
Addendum to my statement: Kinkade makes people think...about happy nostalgiac longing for a nonexistant world populated by cottages, in a bizzare Rockwell meets Tolkein (in Hallmark-Impressionist style), distinctly American, and unfortunately so, parareality that has no relationship to, and cannot comment on, our actual world, or, for the sane: how and why people actually like this and theorize about all the myriad applications its existence and popularity, and its condemnation, has in our postmodern world we have theorized ourselves into, and declared Art as dead as God. One may recall an artist created himself into a corner and...behold...a door. Also "cultural overseers" sounds so creepy. Like...Orwellian creepy.
ReplyDeleteHey Lucas, All that is fine and I have given 3 examples of secular artists that are sanctioned by the art world who are just as culturally and aesthetically irrelevant. Romero Britto, Erik Parker and Hunt Slonem.
ReplyDeleteThe main point here is a reflection on the viciousness inherent in many of the comments from art world types regarding the death of another artist and where this stems from and why it is allowed to pass.
If Kinkade was a pedophile or a mass murderer I could understand some backlash. Kinkade was a white, middle aged, Christian male and THIS combination is ripe (it seems) for rhetoric that would be seen as extreme in most any other context.
You posted about Kinkade's death: "Is it a bad thing that hearing he was dead was the best part of my week?"
If you were to post that of the U.S. Consulate killed in Benghazi, you would be chastised by the art community. In fact, if you said that of Bob Ross the result would be the same.
Bob Ross is a saint. As an artist, I have a connection to a family of dead bastards and beauties who made art and died. It is a solemn thing and I do not consider it lightly. But for kinkade I feel, as an artist, why not toast with revelry, you know. The "momento mori" keeps on keeping on. I had the pleasure of being centimeters from Rothko today. He knows he's immortal. His brushtrokes know. Pollock's last splatter painting was on a windshield. I love Kinkade as much as I hate him. I found recently a set of his oils and love them. And I must confess I have a night-light of his in my studio. My real problem is...you might be right. I'll go with my father's quote, "I don't care for the hobbit houses but the guy works magic with purple and green"
ReplyDelete