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Artist of the Month: Ted Prescott
The term "elder statesman" may sound a bit ponderous, but how else to describe Theodore ("Ted") Prescott's stature and, well, indispensability? In the early 1980s, when Christian visual artists were slowly emerging from the wilderness of a defensive, disengaged attitude toward culture, Ted Prescott became a leader. His bold sculptures, employing neon, plaster, wood, and stone, brought ancient Christian iconography to arresting new life. He built the art department at Messiah College into a model of excellence (both in craft and thought) that would become a model for a goodly chunk of Christian higher education in America. His probing, articulate mind helped to create the vision that would animate a vital national organization, Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA). Add to all this something hard to measure, but nevertheless true: the reason for the quiet, but pervasive influence of this man is his Yankee integrity (and its corollary: independence of mind). So forgive us, Ted, for this fulsome praise. Grin and bear it.
Visit our Artist of the Month page on Ted Prescott.
Richard Wilbur's Collected Poems 1943-2004
Harold Bloom hails Richard Wilbur as a poet who should be read in the company of Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens. Wilbur relies on rich diction, metrical sophistication, and elaborate playfulness to compose poems of regular beauty. In fact, much like Frost, the smooth surface of Wilbur's poems can successfully distract us from recognizing the unexpected twists and leaps of the poems' narratives. In 2004, to celebrate this man of letters whose honors include the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Bollinger Translation Prize, Harcourt published Richard Wilbur's Collected Poems, 1943-2004, for which he won his second Pulitzer Prize. This publication includes many of his recent poems as well as a comprehensive collection over the past sixty years of his work in poetry, children's literature, and translation. Wilbur says the spirit in which he collected these poems was one of gratitude for all the times when he got something decently said, or hoped to have done so, and could in conscience add another poem to his manuscript. As opposed to a "sternly winnowed" selected poems, Wilbur says nothing has been thrown out-Appendix A is "Show Lyrics," and Appendix B is "Poems for Children and Others," complete with his original illustrations. But regardless of audience or age, a Wilbur poem occupies the landscape of lively wit, unusual comparisons, and music for both the mind and ear. In the words of Randall Jarrell, Wilbur "obsessively sees, and shows, the bright underside of every dark thing."
Click here for more information.
Exhibition: Contemporary Drawing As Preparation
The Judson Gallery of Contemporary and Traditional Art in Los Angeles is hosting an exhibit focusing on the importance of preparation drawings for contemporary artists. A conglomeration of 18 artists-many of whom had work featured in Image-are involved in "Contemporary Drawing As Preparation." (Those artists include John Frame, Laura Lasworth, Jim Morphesis, Patty Wickman, and Jerome Witkin.) The artists juxtapose their preparation drawings with their finished pieces and, in some cases, oil, watercolor and/or photographic studies as well as text outlines are presented in addition to the drawings. The subject of the drawings is the human figure, a subject all these artists have studied for years. That many of these artists are individuals of faith should come as no surprise, since a grounding in biblical narrative is a powerful influence toward concern for representing the human figure in art. The drawings represent the "prolonged focus, which slows the creative art process down, as opposed to spontaneous and expressionistic working methods. This form of art making is contemplative and done in thoughtful solitude." The show is curated by art historian and educator, Ronald Steen. Visit the Judson Gallery now through April 29, Monday - Friday, 10am to 3pm.
For more information, visit: www.judsonstudios.com.
Blue in Green Screens in NYC
 A few issues ago we told you about an L.A. screening of a new independent film, Blue in Green. We didn't have space or time then to say much about the film, but a new screening in New York gives us the opportunity. The film is the brain child of a film-making collective known as Unica. It is a bold, even visionary, attempt to move beyond the worst aspects of Hollywood filmmaking, including the persistent cult of the individual genius, whether of godlike actor, magisterial director, or powerhouse producer. Unica, which includes Christians, Jews, and a Bahai, brings a refreshingly honest and democratic approach to the making of a feature film. Blue in Green tells the story of desires provoked during an all-night party; it was created through weeks of improvisation and filmed without a script. Now those in the NYC metropolitan area can see the film. The spring season of the 'NewFilmmakers' series at the Anthology Archives Theater in the East Village of New York City begins on Wednesday evening, April 6th, with an 8pm screening of Blue in Green. Unica's technique has been compared to jazz, and, not surprisingly, Blue in Green features a haunting original jazz score by the Tierney Sutton Band, recently heard in concert at Carnegie Hall. The L.A. Times praised the outstanding ensemble cast, calling Blue in Green "important" and "an experiment that works." "Blue in Green" received rave reviews at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood. The L.A. Weekly and other reviewers were equally enthusiastic.
For more information, and for the full reviews, go to Unica's website, www.blue-in-green.com.
The Passion in Art by Richard Harries
Richard Harries, the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, has long been concerned with the interplay between Christianity and the arts. In his latest book, The Passion in Art (Ashgate, 2004), Harries provides perspective on the depiction of the Crucifixion over two millennia. From indirect depictions of deliverance in the Catacombs to increasingly realistic Medieval and Renaissance art to challenging twentieth-century abstractions, Harries takes us through the changing cultural renderings of the Passion. The Passion in Art features one artifact from each century, but (like Image) puts a special focus on contemporary work. Harries analyzes the disconcerting Crucifixion of Stanley Spencer, with its uncompromising reminder that it is we who are nailing Christ to the cross. The Bishop also unfolds the intimate meeting with Christ depicted in Graham Sutherland's Noli Me Tangere, and glosses half a dozen other twentieth-century works. Of particular interest is Roger Wagner's Menorah a work featured in Image #10. With the cooling towers of a nuclear power plant in the background, suffering Jewish figures surrounding the cross, and a peace that somehow transcends the encroaching forces of darkness, Menorah speaks to hope that cannot be seen apart from grief. Harries elucidates each painting, but also considers larger developments such as when Christ is first portrayed on the cross, when He is first represented as dead or suffering, and how theological questions about Mary Magdalene determined her place in the paintings. Harries focuses on Resurrection portrayals along with Crucifixion depictions because "the death of Christ cannot be considered apart from his Resurrection. For it is in the light of the Resurrection that the Cross is revealed as a victory. The Crucifixion is not just one more example of human cruelty and tragedy. From a Christian standpoint it is God's victory over evil."
For more information, click here.
Gallery Watch
Shencheng Xu: Wonderland
Artist Shencheng Xu will be presenting a site specific installation titled "Wonderland" in the Carlson Tower Gallery of North Park University in Chicago now through April 5, 2005. Xu teaches sculpture at Northeastern Illinois University. While his evocative sculpture has been shown in both China and the United States this is his first one person exhibition in Chicago. North Park University is located at 3325 West Foster Avenue (at Kedzie). The normal gallery hours are 9 - 5 weekdays.
For additional information: email lowly@prodigy.net or go to
http://www.lincolnparkchamber.com/visitors/LPCAI_Map.pdf
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