Another brief thought that occurs in reflecting on last night's presentations and discussion concerns the use of Christian imagery and narrative by conceptual artists such as the YBAs, Damien Hirst, Mark Wallinger, Chris Ofili and Sam Taylor-Wood. I said about this that we have moved from the illustration of Christian doctrine and story (from the Early Church onward) to its use as a critique of contemporary life including politics and culture.
This I think is what such artists are generally doing with Christian imagery and narrative. But the interesting aspect is the extent to which they understand the imagery, narratives and doctrines correctly and then use this understanding in their critique of different aspects of human being and doing.
For me, this is an encouragement. We tend to think that, although Christian doctrine, imagery and narratives have permeated Western culture in the past, that permeation is now being irretrievably lost. Here are artists, however, who are not creating from the perspective of Christian belief but who, nevertheless, understand Christian doctrines, images and narratives and work with those 'Christian' understandings in the way they use these doctrines, images and narratives to critique contemporary life. Maybe our culture actually retains more of its Christian heritage than we tend to give it credit for?
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The Velvet Underground & Nico - I'll Be Your Mirror.
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