Explicit Religious Art

Jennifer Byerly

Art affects us in both explicit and implicit ways. There is art that stirs emotion within you almost immediately, that shocks and startles you as seen as you’ve seen it. It sends your mind racing – like it’ shouting at you to see it, to understand it, to feel it. Not always in a good way, but there’s something to be said for things that move you, whether beautiful or not.

I started thinking about this when professor Redick talked in class about the Campina and how some art was very subtle, the beauty of the pilgrimage itself, the scenery and small momentos people left behind, while others were more explicit. Hispanic religious art is a good example of this I think… There is a kind of starkness to Hispanic religious art that I find outstandingly beautiful, and even a little startling. Even looking at some of the images Dr. Redick showed during the slideshow of pictures he’d taken during his pilgrimage reminded me of this. Little pieces of art in chapels and large crosses… The subject matter alone is just so interesting.
Demons and angels, and skeletons, lots of depictions of Jesus crucified, or crying blood – take for example one of the most quintessential pieces of art in Hispanic (and namely, Mexican) culture: the sacred heart. If one weren’t to know any connotations behind the art at all, one would simply see a heart, encircled by barbed wire, on fire, with a cross stuck inside it coming out of the top. That’s kind of intense.

And yet it’s a symbol of something good, and pure, and loving, without negative connotations, despite its somewhat gory appearance. It’s a beautiful and simple depiction of a complex series of beliefs and histories – and it stirs emotion in us almost immediately. It made me think; is God to be found or better reflected upon in simple and muted scenes and songs and colors? Or rather bright and terrifying depictions that aren’t always comfortable. I’m beginning to lean towards the latter, god is awesome. And not always in a good way. Awesome as in awe-inspiring. Humbling. It’s a scary thing to feel so overwhelmed and little, and that is something God inspires in people everywhere. It’s like what the Beavers said in Lewis’ novel. When asked if Aslan (A lion/analogy for God) was safe, the beavers replied, “Of course He isn’t safe; but He’s good.”