Modern Christian Art in Churches

Seems like the days when the greatest of contemporary art resided in churches are long gone.  I for one think we need a revival.  And from what I hear, there are pastors who feel the same way.

I am hearing rumblings that it’s not easy to source relevant, modern christian art to decorate church buildings.  This is a disaster, actually.

What we tend to forget, and what Christians traditionally knew, is that a picture is worth a thousand words.  You can talk yourself black and blue in the pulpit, but for many people the best route to the memory and understanding is through the eyes.  The wonderful, soaring, majestic architecure of the old cathedrals was designed that way for a purpose – to uplift the worshipper and impress upon him or her the wonder and majesty of God. Not to mention the impact on secular passers-by. Likewise the wonderful mosaics, icons, stained-glass windows and altar trappings commissioned to decorate the inteiors of these impressive churches.

Worship these days often takes place in modern buildings – many of a bland, contemporary design, lacking any impact in their interior and exterior decoration.  Some small churches do not even have their own buildings and meet in local halls.

My local church  meets in a school hall.  For some weeks we enjoyed a children’s art project that mounted beautifully designed and colored paper images on all the windows. When these designs were removed recently, we missed the ambience of this lovely stained-glass effect.

Don’t get me wrong – the presence of the Holy Spirit is the number one ingredient in any service.  But let’s not overlook the surroundings altogether.

We’re losing out, people!  Christians of all levels of maturity would benefit from having some contemporary, relevant art around them as they worship.  I believe it would also help with christian outreach if churches looked less plain, reserved and stuffy on the outside.  How about some murals or sculpture??

Relevant comments on this post most welcome!

Peace,

Patricia

NZ’s Greatest Artist Suffered Rejection

Colin McCahon (1920 – 1987), arguably New Zealand’s greatest artist, was described by Gordon Brown as “a powerful and unique force in New Zealand painting.”  Yet for many years he suffered from misunderstanding and rejection.  Many still miss the point of his work.

McCahon has also been referred to as “The Prophet”, and it’s not unusual to find prophets being rejected, because they are speaking into the future and from a deeper insight than most of us.  In addition, what they have to say is often the very last thing people want to hear.

Mockery and indifference often arise from lack of understanding.  They are opt-outs, too, for those who want to carry on doing just what they are doing.  Easier and more pleasant than being forced to accept that physical and moral consequences may lie ahead.

The two central themes of Colin McCahon’s work were the land and his Christian faith.  These two themes were closely intertwined in his personal experience and he used both of them to convey his concerns about what he saw going on.  His paintings were in a very real sense letters addressed to the world.

Because many people still do not understand what Colin McCahon was doing, and because his works are important (not only to Christians), I’m going to look at and explain some of them as this blog progresses.

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art, artist, modern. Colin McCahon, New Zealand, christian, prophet

Modern Art Speaks in the Daily Kansan

A student at Kanses University describes in The University Daily Kansan how for the first time he made a connection with a piece of modern art, and how that experience led him to a better undrstanding of what modern art is about.

Nicolas Roesler, almost as an afterthought, decided at the end of a day’s visit to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City to walk into the Modern Art hall, and what he saw there connected with him so strongly, that he went on a journey of exploration to find out just what makes modern art tick, and why modern artists paint what they do.

For a worthwhile look at how Nicolas started himself on the road to gaining some understanding of modern art, visit Modern Art Makes A Stand.  Worth taking a look at – especially if you struggle sometimes to appreciate what modern art is all about.

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art, modern. appreciation, Kansas Univertity, artists

Saint Francis – Art Compared

Right now there is an exhibition of Spanish Painting and Sculpture on at the National Gallery in London featuring religious works from the 17th Century Spanish Golden Age, including Spain’s remarkable polychrome sculptures.

It is interesting to compare  one of the exhibits – a polychrome sculpture of the Saint created by Pedro de Mena (1628 – 1688) with the two modern Michael Smither paintings of Saint Francis posted on this site -Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata and Saint Francis in Ecstasy

Carved in wood and then colored, the polychrome sculptures were designed to produce a highly lifelike effect, as can be seen in the image below.   See “The Making of A Spanish Polychrome Sculpture” on the National Gallery site for more information about the process.

In spite of the huge difference in time, concept and materials, the ‘feel’ and likeness between this work and the two Smither paintings is noticeable.  It’s interesting to note that in both cases, the aim of the artist was to make the subject as real as possible to the viewer.

The 17th Century sculptor used a kind of super-realism to gain this effect, while the modern painter uses the setting of the scene and a style of vision that humbles the subject while at the same time emphasizing the spirituality of the events depicted : quite an achievment.

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Michael Smither: St Francis in Ecstasy

This second painting of Saint Francis by Michael Smither depicts the patron saint of ecology – Smither’s favorite saint – in a state of ecstasy in the presence of nature. Like many NZ artists, Michael is strongly influenced by the landscape.

This painting is the second half of a diptych that also features Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.  In both of these paintings, the saint is under divine influence, brought about in the first image directly by the deity, and in this painting by the lush presence of nature that surrounds him.

Once again, Saint Francis is placed in an oversized background.  Behind him rises a luxuriant growth of reeds, and at his feet are some enormous lily pads.  Once again, he is depicted lovingly but entirely without sentimentality – he is a small figure almost overwhelmed by his surroundings, his sandals lie beside him on the pier and his fingers and toes are culrled up in delight.

The pier on which Saint Francis sits in this painting is at the Brooklands Bowl Lake in New Plymouth, NZ.  There was a reason for that, and for the appearance of other elements of NZ landscape in Smither’s religious works.  The artist made it clear he was  “concerned with expressing a point of view, of painting into my own personal terms subject-matter that had already been done.”

This matter-of-fact depiction of the saint illustrates once again, Smither’s concern that these paintings should draw near to the local people viewing them:

“But I feel rather uncomfortable about the tradition of saints now in the Church because I feel they’re elevated to such a level that people think they can’t achieve the same levels.”

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art, christian, modern, Michael Smither, artist, Saint Francis, ecstasy, New Zealand, environment, conservation