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Post by Séamus on Aug 26, 2020 12:11:12 GMT
I'm not particularly a fan of Francis Bacon, but somehow he came to mind on St Bartholomew's day on Monday and not because his images might remind one of the dead bodies of Catherine Medici's victims. The apostle has been skinned again and again by artists throughout history who found that making Bartholomew hold his own flayed skin was either artistically challenging or spirituality edifying or both. At least two of the Vatican's archbasilicas have depictions like this,Michelangelo probably painting his own face onto the spare skin in his almost-surrealism-prefiguring Last Judgement. The rest of the Saint is equally unflattering,large nose,horrid beard,shaved head...and yet he's deemed important enough to float closer to Christ that nearly every other figure. It's hard to find two more opposed spirits than Christian martyrdom and Bacon's more nihilistic vision,but the macabre is present in both,if used in diametrically different ways. Somebody reminisced last week to me about an office they worked in during the early 2000s. The building was on a large block which was home to a dugite,which,on top of being a snake and venomous, seems to be a rather ungainly type of snake,neither impressive like a cobra or nicely patterned like some of the species that used to end up as designer boots. I could understand his appreciation of the thing in virtue of it's control of rodents,but was amazed when he also found beauty and grace in it, especially when it caught the sunlight. An article I read some time before mentioned that many of the young people who have taken to buying vinyl records in recent years actually don't own a record player. In other words, they're more likely to hang the things on the wall. More recently I read that in Britain, in the first half of 2019, cassette tape sales had increased to 35,000. For art's sake also? Truth and beauty can't be completely relative to what every crazy person might think, but it might be good every August 24th to see a different perspective in the uglier things,whether flayed skin, reptiles or even,if there's one around, a 1x1foot image of a set-table covered with seaweed (maybe with some far-from-ugly band members lurking in the background).
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 26, 2020 21:50:04 GMT
I'm not particularly a fan of Francis Bacon, but somehow he came to mind on St Bartholomew's day on Monday and not because his images might remind one of the dead bodies of Catherine Medici's victims. The apostle has been skinned again and again by artists throughout history who found that making Bartholomew hold his own flayed skin was either artistically challenging or spirituality edifying or both. At least two of the Vatican's archbasilicas have depictions like this,Michelangelo probably painting his own face onto the spare skin in his almost-surrealism-prefiguring Last Judgement. The rest of the Saint is equally unflattering,large nose,horrid beard,shaved head...and yet he's deemed important enough to float closer to Christ that nearly every other figure. It's hard to find two more opposed spirits than Christian martyrdom and Bacon's more nihilistic vision,but the macabre is present in both,if used in diametrically different ways. Somebody reminisced last week to me about an office they worked in during the early 2000s. The building was on a large block which was home to a dugite,which,on top of being a snake and venomous, seems to be a rather ungainly type of snake,neither impressive like a cobra or nicely patterned like some of the species that used to end up as designer boots. I could understand his appreciation of the thing in virtue of it's control of rodents,but was amazed when he also found beauty and grace in it, especially when it caught the sunlight. An article I read some time before mentioned that many of the young people who have taken to buying vinyl records in recent years actually don't own a record player. In other words, they're more likely to hang the things on the wall. More recently I read that in Britain, in the first half of 2019, cassette tape sales had increased to 35,000. For art's sake also? Truth and beauty can't be completely relative to what every crazy person might think, but it might be good every August 24th to see a different perspective in the uglier things,whether flayed skin, reptiles or even,if there's one around, a 1x1foot image of a set-table covered with seaweed (maybe with some far-from-ugly band members lurking in the background). It's quite a fascinating question. Objective criteria for beauty obviously exist, as experience shows. But "new" forms of beauty also seem to disclose themselves-- whether that's through innovative artists, or simply through social acceptance over time. It's funny to think that trains were once considered loathsome, and are now viewed as picturesque. Or that it took Romanticism to show people the beauty of wilderness (if that is indeed true).
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Post by hilary on Aug 28, 2020 9:30:28 GMT
Or that it took Romanticism to show people the beauty of wilderness (if that is indeed true). [/quote]
One of Cato's recent posts led me to discover that the "Dublin mountains are getting a makeover". I think it's Coillte decluttering a few trees. I'm sure they'll do a good job but the language used didn't sit well with me!
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Post by Séamus on Sept 28, 2020 0:21:45 GMT
As covid closures has led to rumours that at least one institution in England was considering selling a Michelangelo piece to save jobs (sell to whom? a gallery in some nation that has little safeguards for employment or minimum wages anyway?) and as sculptures are also being removed or defaced worldwide,a new John Paul II catching a meteorite was possibly the last thing expected right now. There seems to be an abundance of existing statues of the subject of all shapes and sizes,from a Roman piece said to resemble Mussolini to Our Lady of Guadalupe 'wallpapered' over the pontiff to a double bronze with Ronald Reagan,but the photos of this meteor-catching blood-drenched John Paul seem to depict a an aged, suffering and extremely strained face, perhaps not always something you can judge from photos these days,but maybe the whole image is less flippant than first glance. Journalists are claiming that it's a reply to an earlier image where the (still living) pope was shown hit with a meteorite, as if in Divine retribution,but seeing that that image was made in the last millenium it would seem that the inspiration went further than a simple kneejerk reaction. I kept thinking of Jackson's third Hobbit film, containing pieces that were either non-Tolkien or were inspired by the trilogy appendixes. Christopher probably didn't approve of it all,but once we saw the usually graceful Galadriel showing quite a bit of strain and exhaustion from battling Sauron- battling powers-that-be doesn't leave you looking personally graceful. Maybe in the new Polish artwork we see more of the 'St/man' and less of the 'Pontiff/superstar'.
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Post by Séamus on Nov 12, 2020 12:01:29 GMT
I became aware of (lesbian) sculptor Maggi Hambling's new sculpture to honour Mary Wollstonecraft today in a newspaper opinion piece. The artist once depicted Oscar Wilde as a coffin with a head. One might think that this could represent the self-destructive health risks of men who live swinging gay lifestyles,but I'd suspect not. The particular journalist remarked strongly on Wollstonecraft being depicted as a held up trophy shaped as a young woman sans fig leaves. "Hambling was asked about the nudity and said this: she is naked because clothes define people...and so there she is a standing woman ready to challenge the world" (selective quote was the journalist's) The writer went on to comment "you know what else defines a person? Nudity. Try strolling into your work tomorrow in your birthday suit and see how ready you are to challenge the world"cf kate emery,west australian We know George Washington didn't wear Roman togas as depicted in one of his most important depictions(no doubt it suited the man's stature more than the reality of holding a pair of wooden dentures) but, regardless of the history of realism (and nudity) in art, many of the feminists in London may have a few (bare) bones to pick here.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Nov 12, 2020 13:25:00 GMT
Even if everybody was nude I suspect there would be a lot to define us in our common nudity. Condition, weight, tattoos, scars, etc.
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Post by Séamus on Nov 13, 2020 9:39:07 GMT
Even if everybody was nude I suspect there would be a lot to define us in our common nudity. Condition, weight, tattoos, scars, etc. ...and in most cases,flab- the very thing artists rarely,if ever portray. It's hard to speculate whether the 'pure' nudity in many of the scenes in Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy is one of the reasons that it's never become another Lord of the Rings or Narnia in modern culture. Ironically it's arguably even more 'Christian' and traditional than either of those even. I'm sure there are imaginative ways to 'cover' this in films,plays, TV production, whatever. There is, admittedly, a fair catalogue of book covers created for the books through the decades. And toy Perelandran dragons would sell well. I was struck by something in a newsletter today: "on January 20 1539 he (the man now known as John of God) heard the sermon of St John of Avila on the glory of St Sebastian,the martyr being celebrated that day... John (of God) ran through the streets screaming 'mercy!mercy!'...he was locked up in the Royal Hospital of Granada...this caused him to understand that his vocation was to spend the rest of his life helping the kind of people among whom he lived at the Royal Hospital." Etc The article is actually about St Benedict Menni,a member of John's congregation who died before the First World War. Some individuals can only be called legendary,even when their existence is indisputable. Sebastian, Cecilia, many locally culted Celtic saints...known by an ancient sermon,a chapel dedicated to them,in the case of Celtic saints,a holy well-tober,many traditions,either coherent or incoherent, pointing to a life story... And,in the case of some, definitely Sebastian,many artworks throughout the centuries. There is,in the story of John's conversion, an intrinsic example of one of the 'art-muse-type saints' inspiring through the ages to the Counter-Reformation and one of the two Doctors proclaimed by Pope Benedict through to saints of our own troubled time. Long live sacred arts.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Nov 13, 2020 13:19:21 GMT
When it comes to the Space Trilogy, I must admit I find Perelandra the weak entry-- rather monotonous, for my taste. The portrayal of Satan as a spiteful and petty sadist is good, but I much prefer the other two books. I've read them both several times, Perelandra only once.
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Post by Séamus on Nov 15, 2020 9:09:14 GMT
When it comes to the Space Trilogy, I must admit I find Perelandra the weak entry-- rather monotonous, for my taste. The portrayal of Satan as a spiteful and petty sadist is good, but I much prefer the other two books. I've read them both several times, Perelandra only once. I actually like Perelandra for it's psychological tensions and(paradoxically for science fiction)it's realism- details like aching arms, lingering wounds,hunger,thirst,self-doubt,finding unmitigated darkness depressing, temptation to disbelief despite talking to angels all make it seem more believable than current writers who claim to be historical. Sometimes contributor to Irish Independent Sarah MacDonald has recently written an article about Sr Mary Kenneth Keller,an American religious who died in the 80s and the second person in that country to earn a degree in computer science. (incidentally,her congregation seems to be uniquely founded in US by a group of Irish-born women). The university centre she founded for this subject is still functioning. I heard a minor news story a day after reading this about a streaming service sponsoring Sydney's and the Southern Hemisphere's largest mural in advertisement for a current drama. Far from masterpiece status perhaps,but,while we look at ancient times when monks and nuns of the past illustrated manuscripts, it's good to know that modern technologies can also look at a foundation that includes peoples dedicated to Christianity, while the computer age's subcultures can contribute to the art culture of the future also.
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Post by Séamus on Jan 2, 2021 6:50:45 GMT
The Irish Times has a nice-enough article marking Raphael's 500th anniversary, including an image of the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. His Transfiguration is often described as one of the greatest works produced by mankind...in times when many of the faithful are cut off from Sacrament, or even entering a church in some places, it's notable that the painting is unique also in showing the dark side of the event- confused apostles feeling left with the situations of life while three people only attended the apparition. The confusion of the demoniac boy and his family actually makes up a greater part of the image; the tired and tried peoples pointing to the heavenly Christ from a distance.
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Post by Séamus on Jan 16, 2021 11:50:31 GMT
Reports that the conservation of Asiatic lions in India is slowly making progress must be welcome to a country that uses three the animal as it's national symbol. Can comparison be made to a +€3 million price tag for an original Tintin artwork? It happens to be one where he cowers before a Chinese dragon. Regardless of whether Hergé's comics are what we'd consider polotick today, nobody can fail to admire the optimism personified by the blond,fair,young Belgian, happy to engage and embrace the world (China in this case)- how do we stereotype Belgium today? Confidence of youth or Euthanasia? Truly outward in a positive way or the HQ of EU officials deciding whether worms are beneficial to European diets? So powerful in it's own identity that migration, for arguments sake welcome, won't damage who the peoples are (despite divisions in language etc) or concerns that the birth rate and religious practices seem to be things from the Islamic communities only? And yet the cartoonist lived in the events and aftermath of the World Wars and was born shortly after the government forcibly removed Congo from the hands of a brutal king and would have been well aware of the shame of this,yet his Tintin marched on,dog at side,a young man who didn't need to deny who he is to admire the great cultures of the Earth.
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Post by Séamus on Feb 25, 2021 14:07:23 GMT
Happy 180th birthday to Pierre Auguste Renoir. The man who taught us that light doesn't always shine (or not shine) in it's entirety but filters through in a dappled form, something that's probably as true in a metaphorical way through life's panorama, as it is for a painter. His works can also remind us of that, despite Paris' 'wicked' tag,even then, the upper-middle class of France could certainly enjoy pleasures that today seem innocent and simple in the extreme. I particularly like the seated fellow with the top-hat in Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, who philosophically chews on something like a toothpick and seems to manage a complete detachment from the crowd. I'd probably attempt the same
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Post by Tomas on Mar 26, 2021 11:58:05 GMT
Here is a modern painting, based on abysmal event in the Jordan desert:
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Post by Séamus on May 30, 2021 12:39:10 GMT
The Vatican post service has found itself in some trouble for unauthorised use of Roman 'street art' on it's Easter issue stamp. As there's no lack of contemporary Christian art throughout the world,one image that comes to mind is of a white- or clerical-collar-worker who'd torn a leg muscle and found it painful to hobble any further than the local back lane with his camera. The Resurrection image might have been half-inspiring in it's own way had it not been part of the artist's pan-religious programme- she indescriminatly draws Mary, Buddha and Hindu gods,all, like her Christ, labelled with Just Use It- it's assumed the postal authorities knew what the heck she actually means by that;by the way... isn't she almost infringing copyright herself?
Not rubbishing street art entirely. Or other beliefs. I was helping someone move house last Thursday. The area seemed depressingly mundane,close to an endless main road of wholesale businesses and locked in with utilitarian homes. Yet at one stage,turning a corner I was able to focus past the urbanism on a modern Protestant church (dedicated to St Michael and All Angels) with it's glass steeple and cross that lit the night,an old fire station that was probably servicing the area when a small out-of-town village (looked like it might be a home now but a preserved vehicle is concreted in position out the front),a quaintly small war memorial park; even a Buddhist women's monastery seemed welcome next to the practicalities of the council/government gym-library-schools-etc. Next to a lit-up bridge over a nondescript brook a wall was emblazoned with a joyful frieze of urban art- the creatures one might expect to find in the small body of water- nothing extraordinary: a turtle,a frog, whatever,but somehow making the these residents seem legendary.
Boris Johnson's wedding in Westminster Cathedral might serve as reminder of a comment made by a secular humanist critic while describing an event at the same church: "the Catholic church used to give us Titian, now it's gives us Susan Boyle" I'm sure Susan has done more than most people to add tasteful-ness to the world,but is there sometimes a point in this scathing critique of the modern Church & The Arts?
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Post by Séamus on Jun 27, 2021 11:43:56 GMT
Beyond all the media hype about who will or will not be at the unveiling of the Princess Diana sculpture this week,I just can't wait to see what the darn thing is going to look like.
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