Movement 105

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Ellie Mensingh went to see the National Gatlery's new exhibition Seeing Salvation which exptores how Christ has been represented in visual art. Blood from a stone SrsNe SRrvRrron: THr luncr or CHntsr National Gallery, London 26 March - 7 May 2000 (free enty, nearesttube Charing Cross) trreflect on the christian 3 WE Et{lEn fflE llil century, the art world is giving us an opportunity to beings. lt also considers how these paintings were perceived by audiences at the time and what purposes these paintings serve. We tradition and spiritual matters more are made aware thatthe use of visual generally. Heaven - An tuhibition that images can sometimes deepen our will BreakYour Heafi, at the Liverpool understanding of complex concepts, Tate (which I unfortunately was not such as the Trinity ( I )' in a way that able to see) invited people to consider words never could. They address the relationship between religious issues that are part of human life, experience, art and popular culture. such as suffering, love, sacrifice, loss The group of60 international artists and hope, makingthem relevantto all involved, explored the contemporary 'worship' of glamorous celebrities not. people whetherthey have a faith or including Madonna and Diana, as well Artists are faced with a major as the ,biauty cult predominant in problem when pain1ng Christ, namely western society and the rituals in the Bible says virtually nothing about which many of us engage, in the hope Christs physical appearance. They of attaining the perfect body. have, therefore, tended to present him I did, however, get :'"f:l#:'f"'- Visual images can :illiffix,'[ii.:, sometimes deepen the National Gallery .;;1ile$p;i' our understanding of anything for the iHliTiil',',',[T.. comptex concepts in ;ilfi'il,'J:g'','# a way that words 'demystify' Western religiousirtforthose nevef COUtd. who enjoy visiting art movement 20 galleries but have iittle knowledge of Christianity. lt is as a thirty year old man would look in also aimed at Christians who don't their own cultural context. Thus, we necessarily understand the symbolism are stuck with a white, European commonly found in this type of art' I image of Christ' am one such person ! The exhibition reminds us that the Although most of the pieces on existence of paintings of christ is itself display are part of the permanent amazing because there was a time National Gallery collection, the when many cultures feared producing exhibition has been imaginatively images of God. They were afraid of divided into various themes whicS breaking the second commandment - somehow makes the art mgre making false idols. For this reason, accessible and inspiring. artists used symbolsto represent The information provided enables christ, symbols often based on Bible even the most ignorant visitor to explore the way in which certain images 0f Christ have come to be established. lt discusses the passages describing Christ as a shepherd, lamb, vine or light of the world. A striking and somewhat disturbing example is Francisco de difficulties artists have gone through Zurbaran's The Bound Lamb'This in attempting to portray Christ and his image obviously refers to Christ's selfrelationshipio God and to human sacrifice, powerlessness and
vulnerability at the time of his death. lt is also an image associated with the regular sacrificial offerings to God of unblemished lambs in the Old Testament. The dual nature of God, both human and divine, is an important theme in the exhibition. Artists have sought in various ways to express this paradox. A lot of the paintings 0n this subject contain images which speak of both his birth and his death and resurrection in one piece ofwork. Ihe Virgin with the Dead Christ (The Pieta - Italian for pity or mercy) does exactly this by showing Mary holdingJesus' corpse in a posture typically associated with Christ's birth - the nativity scene. This sculpture has no scriptural basis but is an imaginary scene that could have taken place afterJesus had been taken down from the cross and before his body was placed in the tomb. The sculpture reminds us of Mary's significance in the Passion - her willingness to give up her son so that the world might be saved through him. It encourages us to share in the grief and personal suffering she went through at this time. During the Medieval period artists became more interested in expressing Christ's weakness and vulnerability in the Passion, ratherthan his power. Christ on the Cold Stone, another disturbing image, is a sculpture which compels us to respond with compassion and pity for Christ, seen here as sonowful, suffering, defeated and abandoned. This scene is not described in the Gospels, but again the artist has imagined that on his way to the cross, Jesus withdraws briefly from the crowds. He has been drained of all energy and hope, so he just sits in despair. His vulnerability is emphasised by the fact that he is naked apartfrom the crown ofthorns. Another section of the exhibition devotes itself to the resurrection. Jesus's body in these paintings either has obvious wounds from the crucifixion (quite graphic at times) or is a very pale shade of white to indicate thatthe body is in a Francisco de Zurbaran's The Bound Christ < Chrlst on the Cold Stone, unknown Dutch artist transformed state. The collection also contains some more modern images of Christ, such as the well-known Dali piece. I would seriously recommend that you go and see this exhibition if you have the chance. Whether the styles of art appeal to you or not, you are guaranteed to learn a lot about the i1.iffi development of the Christian religion in the West, as well as being provoked to reflect on your own ideas about Christ. Ellie Mensingh is SCM's Groups Worker. Martin Davies has a good time listening to Moby's latest offering Play's the thing Puv Moby (Mute) tr*tr*trfuri the music. Try and imagine Liam Gallagher getting his feather-cut round this little mouthful from one of Moby's micro-essays: "Trying to understand the world can be fun and, attimes, helpful. But ifwe base our beliefsystems on the humble assumption that the complexities of the world are ontologically beyond our understanding, then maybe our belief systems will make morg sense and end up causing less suffering." Musicians are rarely encumbered by fluency when speiking on spiritual matters and usually fall into two unappealing camps: Aquarian psycho-babble indulgence (see Morissette, Madonna, O'Connor) or toe-curling Christian literalism (see Van Morrison, Dylan, Cliff). Most musicians have the good sense, decency and all-round inarticulacy not to bother God at all. Moby is a rarity - as explorative and creative spiritually as he is musically. "Fundamentalism (of any kind) troubles me. The world is too big and "',''il,+*iffig;, S too intricate to conform to our ideas of what it should be like." At the heart of Moby's beliefs and songs is an intense openness to new ideas and forms. The music and the ideas interplay with a natural, often mischievous, ease. There is a feeling of childlike exploration, tinkering, messing. The title is a metaphor just waitingto happen. The artistas a playful child; the studio as playground; instruments as shiny new playthings; guest singers as jubilant playmates. And what part does the listener play in all this? Well, all we have to do is press the right button: play. The music itself is anarchic and intense: hypnotic ambient loops, folksy guitar twiddling, bluesy-trance, techno-thrash. lt's an invigorating 18- track ride and, atthe heart ofthe album, is a clear, sustained note of confidence and optimism - felt most acutely on tracks like'Everloving, 'The Sky is Broken', 'Natural Blues'and 'Why Does My Heart Feel so Bad?' lf you're looking for comparisons, think of Matt Johnson without the acridity or Massive Attack gone vegan. It's no surprise that record shops find Moby hard to label but - as another difficult{o-define artist once put it - the play's the thing. Martin Davies was the editor of <strong>Movement</strong>lrom 1995-97. movement 91
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Movement 105

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