What a sensation was made about the Sensation exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The focus of Mayor Giuliani’s outcry was the piece “The Holy Virgin Mary” by Chris Ofili. Funny, he didn’t give attention to some of the other outrageous works including the pubescent female mannequins studded with erect penises, vaginas, and anuses, fused together in various postures of sexual coupling, or the portrait of a child molester and murder made from what appears like child hand prints or bisected animals in plexiglass tanks full of formaldehyde. Would it ever have made headlines with a different title, like “Afro-lady”? I don’t think so. I guess targeting religion gets a little too personal. Giuliani said, “You don’t have the right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else’s religion. If you are a government-subsidized enterprise, then you can’t do things that desecrate the most personal and deeply held views of people in society.” You would think that the government paid these artists, right? It turns out that the show consisted of Charles Saatchi’s privately owned collection VIEWED in a public museum. So what does that mean to you? Well, when I found out that tidbit of information, it didn’t seem so offensive anymore. Taxpayers didn’t pay these young British artists to create controversial pieces. Taxpayers fund the museum itself to stay open. Museums have a variety of exhibitions all year. What is wrong with having one displaying a private collection? This is a common thing with museums. Otherwise, how would the public ever get to view extensive artistic compilations of the wealthy? Some collections are beautiful, others perturbing. But, who draws this line? Who gets to decide? The individual. If you do not want to submit your eyes to horrendous, offensive creations, then don’t! It’s interesting to note what happened to the art world after Duchamp revolutionized art into meaninglessness. Artists seem to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding to ordinary people. Everything is O.K. under art’s magic umbrella: rotting corpses with snails crawling over them, kicking little girls in the head, rape and murder recreations, women defecating. Where does it stop? What is art and what is porn? What is art and what is disgusting? Where is the line? There isn’t one anymore. The effect of Duchamp’s pranks was to point out that anything could be art. All it took was getting people to agree to call something art.
Saint Christina of Markyate’s story provides more than the religious experiences of a hermit, it presents twelfth-century life in, mostly, the Huntington area of England in a very detailed manner. Baptized as Theodora, Christina of Markyate’s path of religious devotion is claimed to have begun in her early teen years with a vow of chastity (35). This vow was only known to one other person, a close friend named Sueno, until her parents attempted to arrange a marriage for her. Being described as attractive and intelligent, as well as coming from a wealthy family, this was not uncommon for women in Christina’s lifetime. Upon declining the first suitor, a bishop, her hardships begin and, at times, seem as though they were both unlikely to end and
At first glance, Western society appears to have changed significantly since the nineteenth-century. Today, industrialized nations enjoy more efficient transportation, communication, medical care, and manufacturing than they did in the nineteenth-century. But have our core values changed? While the Western world has changed considerably, people's opinions of the core values and morality is well-preserved since the nineteenth-century. This assertion becomes apparent when one compares the standards by which Western society judges what is considered artwork. While today's definition and criteria of censorship in a Western art museum is unchanged since the nineteenth-century, the act of censorship has changed with museums and their role in society.
St. Francis of Assisi was born in Umbria in the year 1182. He was a child every father hoped for, he was filled with life, a determined and courageous individual. He was gifted with rather good looks, qualities that attracted friends and a gift of leadership. His father was an extremely wealthy merchant in Assisi. But this son, his favourite, was the one who broke Peter Bernardone’s heart. The boy turned on his father, and in a vicious event that eventually resulted into a public scene. St. Francis of Assisi stepped away from his father, his business and left his father in a state of immense emotional suffering.
Catherine of Siena was born in Italy in 1347 at a time when political and religious changes were affecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dedicating her life to the Holy Spirit from a very young age, Catherine pursued a life of purity and simplicity that served as a background to her great literary work, The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Her work focuses on the importance of prayer and its transcendent power in human life.
When art becomes offensive, sometimes people decide to take their disapproval out on the piece, instead of being respectful towards the artist and the work that has gone into the art. This concept is called iconoclasm, and today, iconoclasm is certainly happening. People believe that it is justified to destroy art for the sake of their religious or political beliefs. Our culture has become offensive and hurt, where people now decide that they can take the law into their own hands because of their emotional feelings towards an art piece. Iconoclasm is an emotionally powered act that isn’t justified because there are other ways of having your voice heard or preventing something from happening, besides destroying art. Furthermore, the term iconoclast
The Person of Christ When discussing and proving the person of Christ, there are two basic laws that must be addressed and proven. First you must prove that Christ is one hundred percent human (humanity), then you must prove that at the same time Christ is one hundred percent God (deity). As human, Christ had a body, he had a soul and spirit, he had human characteristics, and he was called by human names. In Luke 2:52, it is written that Christ, even though he had a virgin birth, He was born with a human body that was conceived by a human body.
Modern art serves to immerse us more thoroughly in a scene by touching on more than just our sight. Artists such as Grosz, and Duchamp try to get us to feel instead of just see. It seems that this concept has come about largely as a way to regain identity after shedding the concepts of the Enlightenment. “Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness...” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
This paper deals, in broadest terms, with the questions of how artwork is connected to the changes and dynamics that prevail in a society. To describe these changes, I will investigate how a specific type of art reflects its social content in contemporary societies. My analysis is carried out by closely looking at the Pop Art movement, especially with Andy Warhol, who has come to be known as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. It will be argued that Pop Art managed to successfully articulate its time, and in so doing, it became a widely influential art movement whose effect is still very much existent in today’s world of art. In order to prove its claim, this paper relies on the theory of “the field of cultural production” by Pierre
The concept of the Deity of Christ is one of great complexity. Numerous students, scholars, theologians and philosophers have studied Christ and His attributes. One of the most asked questions and sought after answers has been thoroughly dissected and examined to be able to even begin comprehending such a mystery. Millions ask: “How can Jesus Christ, the Son of God be one-hundred percent man, and one-hundred percent God at the same time? Also, how is it even possible that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can also be God Himself?”
One of the most unique figures in the continuum of the art world, Marcel Duchamp changed the way we look at and produce art today. Marcel Duchamp was by far, one of the most controversial figures in art. Two of the most well known and talked about pieces by him are The Fountain and The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even . Duchamp created many other pieces that caught the attention of critics, other artists, and the population in a negative way; however, these two pieces alone, brought about the greatest amount of controversy.
... In the end we can see how the paradox of art and social justice excites in our main stream media, through the two examples of the hills against it and Jersey Shore for social justice.
The depiction of the Virgin Mary through the Medieval and Renaissance period was important in that it helped to raise the status of women in Western society. The art and literature of the times presented the Virgin Mary as a human mother exhibiting divine qualities through being the Mother of God. The influence of these qualities can be seen in the art of the Renaissance and specifically in the "Chartre" Cathedral. The literature of the Renaissance also compared the role of Eve and the original sin to that of the Virgin Mary and her divinity in being chosen to give birth the Christ. The stain glass of the churches in Renaissance Europe also depict typical biblical scenes to educate and symbolize beliefs of the faith.
Over the years many artists and art historians, such as Giorgio Vasari, Pablo Picasso, Paul Rand and Marcel Duchamp, have explored the definition of art. This essay will look at the opinions of these individuals and explore the concept of art by looking at various art movements, such as Dadaism and Cubism, which have influenced the definition of art, as we know it today. In this essay, I will also discuss the two elements of art; form and content, as well as how they are key to any discussion about what makes “good art” and “bad art”.
Throughout the history of , which is arguably the length of time held within the universe, not much has been distorted. Art, along with is an incredibly difficult subject to comprehend, due to the varying nature of themes, opinions, and judgments. Not to cite all the societies, time periods, ethnicities, age and gender biased opinions. It is neither a science, nor a philosophy. It is both. within itself is a beauty, which will forever perplex the minds of the world. Art, placed in the neighborhood of philosophy and science reveals its innate inclination, (although undefined) to forever intrigue and perplex both the scientific and philosophical minds.
St Ignatius of Loyola is an inspiring person and has touched the lives of many people even now centuries after his death. Loyola has affected the lives of an uncountable number of people, either directly or indirectly. He started as an extremely brave and tough soldier and turned into the founder of a powerful religious order. He was born in 1491 in Spain and founded the Jesuits in 1540 at the age of 49.The Jesuits today are still a devoted religious order. Everything they do is in God’s name, hence their motto AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM this literally means “for the greater glory of God”. (Linten, Seven Things) Many Jesuits (and even non Jesuits like Pope John Paul II) sign their documents with amdg at the end to show that they do their work for God and not solely for themselves. (Linten, Seven Things) The Jesuits have survived multiple persecutions and yet have still remained a major influence in the church and in universities around the world. If it were not for an unfortunate cannonball shattering a soldier’s leg then none of this may have happened.