Theology in Modern Irish Art

Gesa E. Thiessen's Theology in Modern Irish Art is a fascinating read. The book is divided into four sections with the first summarising the image theologies of Paul Tillich and Horst Schwebel. Tillich was chosen because of his foundational role in the contemporary development of image theologies and Schwebel because of "his extensive examination of abstract art and of the image of Christ in modern art."

Section two summarises the life, thought and work of ten modern Irish artists - Mainie Jellett, Jack Butler Yeats, Louis le Brocquy, Gerald Dillon, Colin Middleton, Patrick Collins, Tony O'Malley, Patrick Scott, Patrick Graham and Patrick Hall. These do not necessarily profess a Christian faith or paint using biblical imagery but all engage with the spiritual through their art and reveal Christian influences in the styles or imagery chosen.

In section three Thiessen analyses three paintings by each of these painters before summarising "the theological currents that are evident in the works as a whole. Thiessen then concludes by exploring issues that arise from her discussion of image theologies, painters and their paintings. These include: "the contemporary situation of pluralism in which the theologian and artist find themselves, consideration of a hermeneutic for a theology through visual art, the vital importance of the imagination in theological and artistic work, and the sensuous nature of art and its implications for a theology based on the image." Throughout the book, Thiessen draws relevant parallels between the perceptions of these painters and their works and themes explored within contemporary theology.

One of the the ideas that is common to several of the artists whom Thiessen discusses is that of being a co-creator with God through identification of the essence of create things. Her description of the method of le Brocquy is typical: "He views the artist as a 'watcher'; who by stirring the surface waits for something to happen until, by way of accident, an image emerges. Le Brocquy points out that he strives for the quidditas, the 'whatness' of things ... it is always a reaching towards essence." Thiessen rightly links this to Gerard Manley Hopkins' idea of 'inscape', "the characteristic form of a species or a thing, an 'objective reality' which exists independent of the beholder." The act of revealing what is already there - which is the task of artists, as several of these artists see it - can be seen as an act of creation. Creation is revelation and vice versa.

In an outline theology of work I have also written about the possibility that we can act as co-creators with God in and through our day-to-day work. The Biblical creation stories in Genesis suggest that God intended humanity for a collaborative task together with him, that of developing the possibilities inherent in his creation. God created humanity in his image i.e. as a creator (Gen. 1. 27). He gave humanity responsibility for the world and all that is in it (Gen. 1. 26-28) and asked humanity to work it and take care of it (Gen. 2. 15). Paul Ballard has maintained that “human beings can enter into a creative partnership with [God] in terms of [our] own powers over creation” and that the “power to work is a God-given power that finds its place in relation to the service of God and man’s place in creation”. The collaborative nature of this work can be seen particularly in the story of Adam naming the animals (Gen. 2. 18-25).

Finally, Thiessen's book is another vivid reminder of the extent to which spirituality characterises both modern and contemporary art despite the common perception of modern and contemporary art as being relentlessly and boringly 'secular'.

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Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child.