Contemporary Art

Art Needs the Church, 1956

Paul Hebblethwaite — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:47:52 -0700

I periodically search Google for evidence of growth in the relationship between the visual arts and the Church. On my most recent search of "Art in Church" I discovered an article published in Time Magazine called "Art Needs the Church". The article highlighted a decision by the National Council of Churches to establish a Department of Worship and the Arts. If I hadn't been paying attention I might of missed that the article was dated February 13, 1956. That's right, 1956. Take Google at face value and you would think not much has happened with "Art in Church" for over 50 years (other than the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and an article by Alfred J. Freddoso at University of Notre Dame).

The article "Art Needs the Church" seemed to parrallel many of the conversations I have overheard or participated in, with quotes like "The church should have a vanguard of men and women qualified to interpret the significance of contemporary art for the believer ... in terms of Christian criteria." or...

"The church must also "challenge and expose the unexamined errors of our contemporaries in all that concerns their values, loyalties, way of life and assumptions in connection with the novels they read, the plays and films they see, the music they play and hear, the buildings in which they live, work and worship, the social symbols they revere, the dreams and fables, indeed the myths they feed upon." or...

"reassume its ancient and proper responsibility and productivity with reference to all the arts," an undertaking that "it could well begin by purging its own arts [of the] insipid or precious or esoteric or sentimental."

However, this is a 50 year discussion that many visual artists are moving beyond; starting to look at how missional and emerging church ideas impact their role as artists who are Christian. Many are interested in moving INTO a more dynamic role as extensions of the Church's cultural contribution to and critique of contemporary culture. This desire for a more integrated geography of presentation doesn't mean the abandonment of exhibiting art in churches, but that a singular focus on the empty walls of a church overlooks the opportunity to fill empty walls in society.

Image by Georges Roualt, Celui Qui Croit En Moi, Fut-Il Mort Vivra, 1956

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I See the Promised Land

Paul Hebblethwaite — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:52:37 -0700

In the early eighties Tim Rollins began working in the Bronx as a school teacher, teaching emotionally handicapped and learning disabled students. Art-making provided a teaching strategy, and the collaborative process of Tim Rollins and KOS (Kids of Survival) grew out of this pedagogical model.

I See the Promised Land is a printed copy of the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. with a black triangle painted over the text.

Tim Rollins and K.O.S., "I see the promised land (after the Rev. Dr. M. L. King, Jr.) Triangle" (2008)

Panopticon

Paul Hebblethwaite — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:25:56 -0700

I returned yesterday from a conference in Chicago. During a morning break I walked down the street to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, were I spent considerable time with an installation by Fiona Tan.

“Fiona Tan has arranged six video screens in a circle as a reference to eighteenth-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham's prison model that he termed the panopticon, which means "all-seeing." Bentham's circular building divided into cells allowed guards to anonymously survey inmates from a central tower, suggesting that the threat of being observed would keep prisoners under control. In Correction, this powerful gaze is reversed as prisoners and guards seem to watch viewers sitting in the center of the installation.” www.mcachicago.org

I spent fifteen minutes being looked at quietly by a changing crowd of prisoners and guards. My staring audience blinked, shifted weight, breathed, and otherwise silently watched me. It didn’t take long before their unrelenting gaze sparked a personal reaction. What was my relationship to the prisoners? What did I think about our justice system? What did I think about each person who gazed at me? The installation sparked some serious personal reflection on our justice system and my relationship to individuals imprisoned in our country. The prisoners were no longer out of sight and out of mind, but quietly watching me consider what comes next.

Horse Screws and Apocalyptic Lambs

Paul Hebblethwaite — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:52:43 -0700

Art can get tiring. Sometimes it seems like there is nothing that stands out from my crowded experience. During times like this a visit to a gallery or museum becomes like a quick walk around the block. God forbid I visit with someone else who spends time with the art because I will blow through an exhibition like wind coming down from Canada onto the plains of Indiana and end up waiting in the café until they are done. I sometimes wonder if these artistic droughts will never end, leaving me wilting away in front of American Idol having forsaken the visual arts forever. Of course every time I get close to the edge, something pulls me back.

Something like the work of David Adey. Adey’s work was recently highlighted at an exhibition for Biola University’s Art Symposium. Several of his craft collages of advertising images and some sculptural pieces were included. The intelligence and craft of his work is an excellent example of an artist’s visual synthesis of concepts and construction. From rearing horses made of black screws to apocalyptic lambs, Adey is an artist and Christian in a way that defies the pigeon holes those two words take cover in when combined.

Looking at his work also pulled me from the abyss and reminded me why I love the visual arts, and why I want the fruit of their gifts to be integrated into my life and work (and in the church). I will never look at a screw the same way again.

Very Hungry God

Paul Hebblethwaite — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:04:28 -0800

The Serpentine Gallery in London England is currently exhibiting a collection of contemporary Indian art, Indian Highway. Included in the exhibition is "found object" artist Subodh Gupta. Using cooking pots and pans and other assorted objects, Gupta creates sensational installations that form a complex visual language that remixes cultural legacy and meaning.

When I was growing up a bronze plate from India rested on wooden legs in our living room. An ever present pot of tea could be found resting on its metallic surface. These everyday objects take on a deep meaning constructed from endless memories. Gupta's transformation of these simple objects, with our deep attachments to them, into monuments of glittering perspective is a good example of the global contemporary art movement's growing value. From China to India, exciting new forms of artistic expression are providing visual points of reflection for meaningful cross cultural dialogue.

One particular piece, Very Hungry God, is a challenging piece that digs deep into our religious convictions and challenges our definition of God. We are faced with a massive shinning skull of pots and a title that invokes a combined image of death and glory. It reminds me off the physical reality that every meal leads to our eventual death, with the metabolic process slowly degrading our cellular structure. In our living we are dying.

Gupta offers us a physical synthesis of the ordinary hidden within delightful composition.

MOCA and the (Debt) Collector

Paul Hebblethwaite — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:09:53 -0800

The art world in Los Angeles has spent the last two months watching the unfolding financial crisis at the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). In a nutshell, the museum outspent revenue for several years and borrowed from its endowment to cover expenses. With a recent drop in donations and the endowment depleted, the museum could have run out of money in the spring of 2009.

Like much of the country, MOCA was living on credit. The good intentions of significant exhibitions ran into the reality of fiscal irresponsibility. In theory, the museum’s blockbuster shows should have attracted new donors to cover the additional cost. In reality, the donations never materialized and the bills kept coming.

In response to the financial crisis, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has offered $15 million in matching funds to replenish the museum’s endowment, and an additional $3 million annually for the next five years to cover operating costs. In exchange, the museum will restrict the annual budget to $13-$16 million per year (versus $20 million) and has established an advisory group to monitor the museum’s financial recovery.

I have watched the news with mild curiosity. As an artist turned administrator, the multilayered debate surrounding responsibility to mission, financial stewardship, and the value of contemporary art has been a fascinating journey. On the other hand, the entire episode is a sad indictment of how far our consumer culture and debt spending lifestyle has worked its way into every facet of society.