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Thursday 23 January 2014

A rough guide to Christian Art

Years ago I discussed at some length with a publisher the possibility of an A-Z directory of the Christian contribution to twentieth century Arts; in essence a Rough Guide to modern ‘Christian’ Art.

This was a hugely optimistic suggestion for two reasons. Firstly, there is no consensus as to what constitutes ‘Christian’ Art in the modern and contemporary periods and no consensus on whether there is any value or possibility of defining ‘Christian’ Art. Secondly, the Christian contribution to the Arts of this period is broad and significant but is far from having been comprehensively documented. Dealing with both issues in a directory would have been a challenging undertaking.

The A-Z never happened but this blog has become a place to post some of the material that could have been included in it - particularly with my ‘Airbrushed from art history’ series but also in a number of posts on literature and music. More recently, my co-authored book The Secret Chord has explored aspects of the interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly).

To explore this contribution is important because the story of modern and contemporary Arts is often told primarily as a secular story. To redress this imbalance has significance in: encouraging support for those who explore aspects of Christianity in and through the Arts; providing role models for emerging artists who are Christians; and enabling appreciation of the nourishment and haunting which can be had by acknowledging the contribution which Christianity has made to the Arts. 

Periodically I have opportunities to speak about this issues and ideas as with my talk about the work of commission4mission given last Saturday to the Friends of Chelmsford Cathedral. In my talk I used commission4mission’s name and aim to explore understandings of art in mission, perspectives on commissioning and debates about definitions of Christian Art. Within this framework I shared the following summary of the Christian contribution to modern and contemporary visual art (which is explored in expanded form in ‘Airbrushed from art history’):

Roman Catholic artists played prominent roles in Post-Impressionism, the Nabis, Fauvism and Cubism. Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism and the Thomistic Study Circles which met at his home influenced many artists. Expressionist artists frequently painted Biblical narratives while Futurism developed a strong strand of sacred art. Abstraction was viewed by many as the best means available to artists for depicting an unseen realm. Suprematism and Abstract Expressionism were both influenced by the underlying principle of icons. Dominican Friars and Anglican clergy alike called for the great artists and architects of their day to design and decorate their churches. A revival of traditional icon painting occurred with centres in Greece, Russia, Europe and Scandinavia. Visionary artists abounded within Folk Art while many mainstream visionary artists also used Christian themes and imagery. In response to the growth of Christian Art on the Asian continent, the Asian Christian Art Association was founded in 1978 to encourage the visual arts in Asian churches. Australia encouraged contemporary religious art through the establishment of the Blake Prize in 1951. Polish Art in the 1980s was marked by a profound interest in the whole question of the sacrum in art and many exhibitions were held in Roman Catholic churches. There has also been extensive use of Christian imagery by BritArt artists with such iconography and narrative often used as a frame for the artists’ critiques of contemporary life including politics and culture.

In March I will be one of five speakers inputting to the Lent Course at Chelmsford Cathedral on Christianity and music. I am the only one of the five to be speaking about popular music. By focusing specifically on Van Morrison’sSummertime in England,’ I will explore our understandings of movement and stasis in music (themes also explored in The Secret Chord) as well as touching on the spirituality of folk music.

As background and as an equivalent to the visual arts summary above, here is an outline summary of the Christian contribution to rock and pop music:   

Rock ‘n’ Roll merged blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black Gospel. For both, their gestures and movements were adopted from Pentecostalism. Some, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Cooke, felt guilt at secularising Gospel while others, like Johnny Cash, arrived at a hard earned integration of faith and music. All experienced opposition from a Church angry at its songs and influence being appropriated for secular ends. This opposition fed a narrative that, on both sides, equated rock and pop with hedonism and rebellion. The born again Cliff Richard was often perceived (both positively and negatively) as the only alternative. Within this context the Biblical language and imagery of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison was largely overlooked, although Dylan spoke eloquently about the influence of scripture within the tradition of American music on which he drew. 

With the majority of Soul stars having begun singing in Church, many of the most effective integrations of faith and music were found there with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and the Gospel-folk of the Staple Singers being among the best and most socially committed examples. Gospel featured directly with Billy Preston, Edwin Hawkins Singers and Aretha Franklin’s gospel albums. Mainstream use of Christian themes or imagery in rock were initially either unsustained (e.g. Blind Faith’s ‘Presence of the Lord’ and Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’) or obscure (e.g. C.O.B.’s Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart and Bill Fay’s Time of the Last Persecution). 

However, this changed in three ways. First, the Church began to appropriate rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith. This led to the emergence of a new genre, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), with interaction between CCM and the mainstream. Mainstream artists such as Philip BaileyDavid Grant, Al Green, Larry Norman and Candi Staton developed CCM careers while artists originally within CCM such as Delirious?, Martyn Joseph, Julie Miller, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sixpence None The Richer and Switchfoot achieved varying levels of mainstream exposure and success. Second, the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen began to be understood and appreciated (helped to varying degrees by explicitly ‘Christian’ periods in the work of Dylan and Van the Man). Third, musicians such as After The Fire, The AlarmT. Bone Burnett, The Call, Peter Case, Bruce Cockburn, Extreme, Galactic Cowboys, Innocence Mission, Kings X, Maria McKee, Buddy & Julie Miller, Moby, Over The Rhine, Ricky Ross, 16 Horsepower, U2, The Violent Femmes, Gillian Welch, Jim White, and Victoria Williams rather than singing about the light (of Christ) instead sang about the world which they saw through the light (of Christ). As rock and pop fragmented into a myriad of genres, this approach to the expression of faith continues in the work of Eric Bibb, Blessid Union of SoulsCreed, Brandon Flowers, Good Charlotte, Ben Harper, Michael Kiwanuka, Ed Kowalczyk, Lifehouse, Live, Low, Neal MorseMumford and Sons, Robert Randolph and the Family BandScott StappSocial Distortionand Woven Hand.

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The Brothers and Sisters Gospel Choir - All Along The Watchtower.

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