<<The work is "beautiful," said Tammy Hindle, who viewed the exhibit,
including the work of 94 contemporary black photographers. "She's
celebrating the part of God that is woman."
<<Everton McIntyre, a Pentecostal Christian and a middle school art teacher,
disagreed. "The Lord's Supper means a lot to me. And her being nude bothers
me. Jesus was never nude," he said.>>
(AP, the Los Angeles Times, Saturday, 2/17/01)
I think Rudy is launching a campaign focusing on his life after Gracie
Mansion, and this subject area is getting him a lot of press (and we all
know that the only bad press is no press).
Tammy Hindle finds the photograph "beautiful." Everton McIntyre finds the
photograph offensive because its effect contradicts the image he holds in
his head and his heart and because the Jesus figure is portrayed nude (and,
McIntyre tells us, "Jesus was never nude"). It is interesting that he does
not say that the problem is that Jesus is shown as a woman, and that
Pentecostal beliefs holds that Jesus is a man (as in Adam and not Eve).
I'm at least agnostic and probably an atheist, yet I am intrigued, moved,
inspired, in fact, quite overcome, by the connection between the creation of
transcendent works of art and religious convictions. In fact, I'm about to
spend 10 days in Rome and much of that time I expect to be in churches
absorbing 2000 years worth of Christian art in the settings they were
intended to occupy (well, at least 1,000 or 1,100 years for my friends who
are precise about such things... :-) )
And what I find most fascinating is the discomfort of many modern (late
20th-century), often Protestant, Christians with art that makes their God
larger, truly omnipotent, truly unknowable. After all, is He not the God of
the Jews Who cannot be called by name. (Exod.3, 13-14, 16: "Then Moses said
to God, "If I go to the Israelites and tell them that the God of their
forefathers has sent me to them, and they ask me his name, what shall I
say?" God answered, "I AM; that is who I am. Tell them that I AM has sent
you to them.... This is my name forever.")
As I studied art history, I realized that iconography was not merely a
discipline intended to drive students like me insane; I discovered that it
was a way to appreciate artists' and cultures' recognition that they could
only hope to understand this huge concept called "God" a tiny bit at a time.
Inherent in the notion of iconography was the belief that there are an
infinite number of portrayals possible because of God's infinite-ness. And
these portrayals, of course, beg for the inclusion of symbolism, of
mathematical expression, and even of pure, non-objective abstraction.
Now, as for Arnie Lehman: he's a master showman. Brooklyn hired him to
raise their public profile and bring in visitors, and that is exactly what
he is doing. He's cagey, he's wily, and I don't personally happen to agree
with much of his artistic judgment, a judgment that often is governed (in my
opinion) by a sense of material rather than intrinsic values, but I can't
fault him for achieving the tasks set before him.
So, Rudy's ravings don't bother me overmuch. I do wish, however, that art
institutions and organizations, and religious groups, would take advantage
of these moments to bring about thoughtful, respectful, even soul-searching
discussion. You know, spend some time looking at art and talking about what
each individual sees and how that affects the way s/he feels. I would like
to hear more about the "whys" behind the thinking of people like Tammy and
Everton, and spend less time shuddering at the soundbites.
Ellen B. Cutler
LNB Associates: Writing, Editing, Proofreading, Research Services
Aberdeen, MD
----- Original Message -----
From: Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 7:29 PM
Subject: Giuliani's At It Again!
> Read the following article in the Los Angeles Times on
> Saturday about Rudy and his "Decency Panel" to review
> public art.
>
> LA Times doesn't keep its articles up long, so, if it
> doesn't work, it may have been taken down.
>
> http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20010217/t000014419.html
>
> =====
> Indigo Nights
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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