![Untitled by Weiko [CCL] http://www.flickr.com/photos/gotcoffee/2344589874/](https://i0.wp.com/farm3.static.flickr.com/2168/2344589874_69e4136e2b.jpg)
An example from Valladolid - not from this exhibition
![Magdalena by Another VLL [CCL] http://www.flickr.com/photos/another_vll/2352314562/ Magdalena by Another VLL.](https://i0.wp.com/farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2352314562_5133403cca.jpg)
St Mary Magdalene - 17th century (Pedro de Mena)
![Ron Mueck - Woman in Bed (10) by Kratzy [CCL] http://www.flickr.com/photos/kratzy/3143771308/ Ron Mueck - Woman in Bed (10) by Kratzy.](https://i0.wp.com/farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/3143771308_23d226e1bc.jpg)
Woman in Bed - 20th century (Ron Mueck)
![Ron Mueck - Woman in Bed (17) by Kratzy [CCL] http://www.flickr.com/photos/kratzy/3143774454/ Ron Mueck - Woman in Bed (17) by Kratzy.](https://i0.wp.com/farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/3143774454_0fe64a41ee.jpg)
Detail
If you are a Catholic, I suppose, this is less of a revelation. You are used to seeing coloured sculptures: in your local church, at Lourdes, in the public processions that take place in many parishes, and perhaps on your mantelpiece. They may not be the most aesthetically pleasing images – but they are attempts to embody the sacred, and to connect daily life with the transcendent.
It was strange walking through the front door when I got home this evening. There, in the lobby of the seminary, is a bust of ‘Blessed Thomas More’ that I hardly ever notice. It’s a painted sculpture, about 3/4 life-size; a little faded, but still very much alive. An example of how this tradition has not faded in Catholic culture.
It’s fascinating to connect the culture of these 17th century Spanish images with our own. The Holy Grail of modern cinema technology is to create a genuine 3D experience – witness the recent attempts of Up and Avatar. However successful this proves, it will always mean us travelling to the cinema and entering into the world of the film. The magic of these polychrome statues, when they are brought out of the museums and into the streets, is that they allow the embodied reality to spill over into our world.
Here is one more beautiful photo of a Ron Mueck statue:
It’s about time the Church started commissioning artists to provide imaginative work. Let’s face it, the art in most churches is pretty dreadful.
I agree. Sadly, too much art in Catholic churches is in artistic terms, infantile and kitsch…although it may serve other spiritual purposes more successfully. I sense a return to a particular religious aesthetic that some believe can strengthen Catholic identity (something that Fr Wang has explored in an earlier blog) but which is of dubious artistic quality. Contemporary art and architecture is viewed with suspicion and in some quarters is regarded as being a decadent rupture with our Catholic artistic heritage. A consequence of this neurosis is that the Church becomes reluctant (for fear of negative reaction, incomprehension and the possiblilty of censure) to commission artists for fear that they may create works that are startling, surprising and profound, rather than a safe regurgitation of stock religious iconography of the most banal type…fine for a tattoo on David Beckhams midriff but not to visually inspire the men and women of our age to approach the Mystery of the Triune God.
If the “idea” of this exhibition is that these sculptures have been overlooked by critics and art history, then the question arises “Why?” Many religious art forms have long been recognised by the art establishment as containing the highest forms of artistic acheivement known to civilisation, why not these sculptures? Are the figures and images in my Hayes & Finch catalogue (that are not so far removed from many of the images in this exhibition) works of art? Do all religious images and sculptures qualify as being works of art just by the sheer fact that they endeavour to “connect daily life with the transcendent”?