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    Art That Dares
    Art That Dares
    Art That Dares
    Ebook154 pages58 minutes

    Art That Dares

    By Kittredge Cherry

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Art that dares to show Jesus as gay or female has been censored or destroyed. Now for the first time these beautiful, liberating, sometimes shocking images are gathered for all to see. Packed with full-page color illustrations, this eye-opening collection features a diverse group of eleven contemporary artists who work both inside and outside the church. They present the gay Jesus, the woman Christ, and other cutting-edge Christian images. Their art respects the teachings of Jesus and frees the minds of viewers to see in new ways. Here the artists tell the stories behind their art. A lively introduction puts the images into political and historical context, exploring issues of blasphemy and artistic freedom.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn R. Mabry
    Release dateFeb 12, 2016
    ISBN9781944769055
    Art That Dares

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      Book preview

      Art That Dares - Kittredge Cherry

      Contents

      Introduction

      Jill Ansell

      F. Douglas Blanchard

      Alex Donis

      Becki Jayne Harrelson

      Robert Lentz

      Janet McKenzie

      William Hart Nichols

      Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin

      Edwina Sandys

      Gary Speziale

      Sandra Yagi

      List of Illustrations

      Annotated Biography

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Introduction

      Two dramatic new visions are coming into consciousness: the gay Jesus and the woman Christ. They break gender rules and gender roles. Their very presence stirs controversy. These radically new Christ figures embody and empower people who are left out when Jesus is shown as a straight man. They can free the minds of everyone who sees them.

      Artists who dare to show Christ as gay or female have had their work destroyed—if they can find a way to exhibit it at all. Now for the first time these beautiful, powerful, sometimes shocking images are gathered together for all to see.

      Where there is no vision,

      the people perish.

      —Proverbs 29:18

      Art That Dares features the work of eleven brave, visionary artists who portray the gay Jesus, the woman Christ, and more. Here they tell the stories behind the images, including the controversies that erupted when the art was exhibited. In some cases the artists faced censorship, hate mail, violence, death threats, and/or vandalism that destroyed their work. Many were accused of blasphemy. Religious freedom clashed with freedom of expression, raising important legal issues. The most virulent opposition came from the religious right, but some were also criticized by feminists and queers for being too Christian.

      The paintings, photographs, and sculpture selected for Art That Dares were done over the last thirty years by a diverse group of artists. Most work was done independently, in isolation from the others. Each arrived at the revolutionary images in a unique way. They run the gamut from well established to emerging artists. They are women and men of various races and ethnicities who come from both the United States and Europe. They are among the best of a growing number of artists all over the world who do queer or female Christ figures. (Comparable images from Africa and Australia could not be included due to limited resources.)

      The artists in this book stand both inside and outside the institutional church. Their religious backgrounds include Buddhism and Judaism as well as Christianity. Some still claim those traditions, while others decline to label their current spirituality. A few hold official church positions. All tried to portray Jesus in a way that honors his life and teachings. The profiles in Art That Dares are based on the author’s interviews with the artists, their written statements, and/or news reports.

      Two thousand years ago a man named Jesus befriended prostitutes, lepers, and other outcasts in Palestine. He taught love and justice and was killed for it, leading to the formation of Christianity as a religion. Images of Christ as queer or female are now popping up around the globe with increasing frequency in political debate, historical research, artistic expression, and spiritual contemplation.

      The images are arising now

      because the conventional Jesus

      is no longer adequate.

      The images are arising now because the conventional Jesus is no longer adequate. They’re here for a reason: to heal and empower people, just as Jesus did when he walked the earth. The new images come at a time when hyper-sexual commercialism is ripping apart sexuality and spirituality. They arrive in a politically conservative period when Christian rhetoric is used to justify hate and discrimination against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The gay Jesus and the female Christ are not a reaction—they’re a revelation.

      The new images grow out of humanity’s age-old desire to see ourselves mirrored in the divine. Countless versions of Jesus Christ have been created, each adapted for a particular audience and era. For example, European artists generally picture a white Jesus, and Asians tend to make Jesus look Asian. Artists are the dreamers who can articulate an idea before any community is ready to accept or expound it. They are free to mix religious iconography with their own experiences and imagination. They can rectify the past and transform people by creating new images out of contemporary life.

      Appreciation for the gay Jesus and woman Christ images is not limited to LGBT people, women, or even Christians. Many others are also turned off by dogmatic, male-dominated religions and the wars they fuel. Such people may welcome the sacred feminine and the gay-sensitive reassessments of Christ. On a deeper level, the new images aim to heal the painful split between body and soul introduced by patriarchy. Without that basic wholeness, humanity is likely to continue down the destructive path of war, economic exploitation, and ecological destruction.

      legal and financial issues: blasphemy

      Jesus himself was charged with blasphemy. It was one of the charges that led to his crucifixion. The stories in Art That Dares are just some of the latest examples in the long history of religious censorship. Men with authority have tried to regulate religious imagery at least since Moses announced the Biblical commandment against

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