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Defenders of the faith, listen up!
We are now taking orders on our new line of limited edition t-shirts. These shirts will be shipped at the end of October and are expected to go quickly. Order today and get a start on your Christmas shopping! The cost for each is $19.99 plus shipping (and tax if you are a California resident.) Get yours here!
Both lion and eagle, the Gryphon is the master of two worlds, the earth and the sky. According to legends the Gryphon guards tremendous treasure and guides souls to heaven.
To the ancient Christians the Gryphon was a symbol of the dual nature of Christ, human and divine. He guides souls to the treasure of treasures, the reward of heaven.
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Amphisbaena takes its name from a Greek word meaning “one who walks on both sides.” The ancient Roman nturalist Pliny the Elder described the creature in the 1st century as a snake with a head at either end of its body. According to the old tales the two heads are at constant war with each other.
Mystics and theologians of an earlier age saw here an allegory of the war between good and evil, light and darkness. To emphasize this interpretation the Amphisbaena was depicted with one head white and the other black. The white head, ever the victor, symbolized the ultimate triumph of good over evil, Christ conquering death and sin.
This design places the fabled serpent over an eight pointed cross, symbolizing the eight beatitudes that show us the path to overcome the world.
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An ancient symbol of Mary incorporating the A and the M as both an abbreviation for “Mary” and the words of greeting spoken by the angel Gabriel, “Ave Maria!”
The crown signifies Mary’s role as Queen of Heaven and the roses are a symbol of her beauty and purity.
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha – The Book of Saints
“Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. Shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Escaped through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. Took a vow of chastity in 1679. Known for spirituality and austere lifestyle. Miracle worker. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. First Native American proposed for canonization, her cause was started in 1884 under Pope Leo XIII. The Tekakwitha Conference, an international association of Native American Catholics and those in ministry with them, was named for her.” from the Patron Saints Index
The “Lily of the Mohawks” Blessed Kateri’s virginity is represented by the lilies that are her attribute in art. Within her halo, feathers are fanned into a circle, a Native American symbol of eternity.
The Function of Art
In 1952 Pope Pius XII addressed a group of Italian artists he received in audience. The entire address is only 15 very short paragraphs but of great value for artists struggling in the darkness of the secular world looking for a light to guide them. The Function of Art
“The function of all art lies in fact in breaking through the narrow and tortuous enclosure of the finite, in which man is immersed while living here below, and in providing a window on the infinite for his hungry soul.” – Pope Pius XII
Work of Art: The Next great Artist – A Review
If you are at all interested in art you are probably aware of the Bravo TV reality series “Work of Art.” While I appreciate the fact that it may lead to “water cooler” discussions of art, the show exemplifies everything that is wrong with the gallery oriented view of art.
The purpose of the show, of course, is to entertain. The art is merely a backdrop for the human drama that the producers hope will make “good tv.” Even so, it serves to to demonstrate just how far art has been removed from its proper role.
The show follows a format that has become pretty much standard, a group of contestants are given a challenge based on different criteria each week. Each week one contestant is eliminated until the last person standing is declared the winner. In this case the winner receives $100,000 and a solo exhibit at a presumably prestigious gallery, oh and the dubious distinction of being declared Bravo TV’s “Next Great Artist.”
So from the start it is made clear to us that this show and by extension the world of high-end gallery art, is all about the artist. The judges moved from piece to piece almost as if it were a puzzle they had to figure out. We heard terms that have become almost parodies of themselves. They spoke about what the artist was trying to say and how a great work is completed by what the viewer brings to it. In the end they declared the winning piece not by its’ own merits but by what they knew of the artist and their assumptions based on that knowledge.
The winning artist was Jaclyn. Her winning piece was a series of photographs of men walking by a Volvo showroom and looking at Jaclyn who was in the showroom taking their picture. She then obscured the faces of the men with big globs of white paint and interspersed some mirrors in the exhibit (to make the viewer part of the work of course.) The judges praised the work for Jaclyn’s ability to turn the tables the voyeurs and make them the object of attention.
So this choice raised several questions. Jaclyn is an attractive woman and so it was apparently assumed that that the only reason men would look into a Volvo dealership window would be to “ogle” the woman in the window, not to look at the cars, or to wonder who the person was taking pictures of them. I am sure some of the men were admiring her but the whole attitude towards Jaclyn and her art was one of a victim becoming a victor (hey attractive people are victims too.) One of the judges even referred to the men as “leering,” that’s a pretty big leap seeing as how the judges were not there and all the faces were covered with white paint. But the big question was if you saw this work hanging in a gallery, and did not know anything about the artist or the context of its’ creation, would you even give it a second look? Art is a visual medium, if you have to have it explained to you before you can understand it, then it is bad art.
There was a lot of talk about art challenging the viewer, and how happy the artists were to be able to “paint anything they want.” But there was no mention of beauty. There was no mention of how these artists are using their gifts elevate the hearts and minds of the viewers. There was no transcendence.
You may think that I am expecting too much from a reality show but I’m not really. I don’t expect anything at all from it. It is a symptom of a disease.
Artists are not privileged any more than anyone else. All of us have been given distinctive gifts to elevate peoples hearts and minds. The concepts of “art for art’s sake” and the celebrity artist who cannot be told what is and isn’t art, are relatively modern concepts that have only been around for a little more than a hundred years.
So the problem is that art has become all about the artist and not at all about the art or the community it should serve. Young artists are drawn to this because we have made celebrity status and its’ accompanying wealth the pinnacle of achievement.
We should be better than this. How?
One of our greatest modern philosophers, Jacques Mauritain put it this way in referring to the view of art that dominated the world for thousands of years:
“He did not work for the rich and fashionable and for the merchants, but for the faithful; it was his mission to house their prayers, to instruct their intelligences, to delight their souls and their eyes. Matchless epoch, in which an ingenuous people was formed in beauty without even realizing it, just as the perfect religious ought to pray without knowing that he is praying; in which Doctors and image- makers lovingly taught the poor, and the poor delighted in their teaching, because they were all of the same royal race, born of water and the Spirit! Man created more beautiful things in those days, and he adored himself less. The blessed humility in which the artist was placed exalted his strength and his freedom.” – Art and Scholasticism
“blessed humility” there’s a cutting edge, counter-cultural idea for today’s artist to embrace.
Saints Francis, Lawrence, Wenceslaus, Clement
Saints Francis, Lawrence, Wenceslaus, and Clement.
The skull held by St. Francis is a common attribute and denotes a detachment from worldly concerns.
St. Lawrence as a deacon is a minster of the Precious Blood and hold a chalice.
St. Wenceslaus holds a staff signifying his authority as duke of Bohemia.
St. Clement holds a book of Gospels on token of his role as our fourth pope.
The Christian Artist and Rejection
Rejection and failure are facts of our existence. When an artist’s work is rejected he is often told “don’t take it personally, they are not rejecting you, just your work.” I don’t think that advice has ever helped anyone.
As Christians we have been sent out into the world to preach the message of the Gospel, the message of Christ. We have each been given different gifts to accomplish this. We are taught that we are to become the Word to such a degree that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. A properly formed Christian will preach Christ in all his words and actions.
This means that the properly formed Christian artist will always produce work that reflects that message whether it is a portrait that shows us the light of God shining on and emanating from an individual, or a cartoon that brings us joy which is also from God. To a Christian artist who has discovered his true vocation there is no separation between himself, his work, and his mission.
So when we do encounter rejection we have to consider that we have failed in our mission to convey the Truth. And so it is our responsibility to develop our talents to the highest degree. The gifts we have been given by God are merely a starting point it is our obligation to learn and study and return to God the gifts He has given us a hundred times over. We cannot let rejection settle into our hearts, for then we will allow ourselves to be content with less than we are capable of. Rejection is simply a way to let us know we still have work to do.
Even so, after we have studied, and trained, and practiced, and developed our gifts to their fullness, we may still encounter rejection from people who reject the message and the messenger. And in that case God has told us what to do, shake the dust from our feet, and move on.
Interview with David Clayton
Head of the Art Department at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and founder of their “Way of Beauty” Program.
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
The Vocation of Beauty
“Those who aspire to a life of beauty, must, in the first place, strive to be truthful and good. If life is true it will automatically become beautiful, just as light shines forth when flame is enkindled. But if they seek after beauty in the first place… in the end everything will become nauseating and loathsome.”
“Beauty eludes those who pursue it for its’ own sake, and their life and work are ruined because they have sinned against the fundamental order of values. If a man, however, desires to live for truth alone, to be truthful in himself and to speak the truth, and if he keeps his soul open, beauty – in the shape of richness, purity, and vitality od form – will come to meet him, unsought and unexpected.”
Romano Guardini The Spirit of the Liturgy (Milestones in Catholic Theology)
