K
KEP1983
Guest
Hello all,
I’m a “professional artist”-- I work in the workshop of a famous artist. I don’t want to name their name; but if you’ve seen how Andy Warhol’s workshop operated, this is very similar. So the painting I do from 9-5 is not my own, but belong to my boss. The artist I work for is very well known in the contemporary art world.
I converted to Catholicism last year and have been thinking of doing Sacred Art from now on. It’s not that I don’t care about the contemporary art world, but I would like to glorify God with my art and evangelize. I figured that beautiful churches bring people into the Church.
So I thought I had given up on the idea of doing secular art.
Within the past few weeks I entered into a small “liturgical art competition” and didn’t get accepted. I thought this might be the direction God wanted me to go in, and being that I do million dollar realistic paintings at my job (i.e. I have sufficient skill compared to most painters) I thought it was strange I didn’t even get into such a small competition-- but then again, the work in the competition was a very different ‘modern’ style, while my work is more traditional, which could explain the judges rejection of it.
And then a week or two ago a friend offered to put me into a group show at a small secular gallery around here in NYC. I put the sacred painting and one secular painting into the show, not expecting much. Well, it seems both paintings sold.
So now I’m wondering if I should really be moving back into the direction of doing secular art. After all, Pope Francis has been calling us to “go out into the streets” and out into the world; not to hide away in the Churches. I know he was talking to priests and religious, but I think that could apply to us laity too?
I’m balancing between the idea of doing art for our own Catholic subculture, attracting people into the Church through beauty; or going out into the world and trying to bring the message into the secular world, a world which won’t accept explicitly Christian messages, and thus any message would need to be subliminal like Chesterton and Tolkien?
What do you think? Which is more important? What is the role of the artist in the “New Evangelization”?
I’m a “professional artist”-- I work in the workshop of a famous artist. I don’t want to name their name; but if you’ve seen how Andy Warhol’s workshop operated, this is very similar. So the painting I do from 9-5 is not my own, but belong to my boss. The artist I work for is very well known in the contemporary art world.
I converted to Catholicism last year and have been thinking of doing Sacred Art from now on. It’s not that I don’t care about the contemporary art world, but I would like to glorify God with my art and evangelize. I figured that beautiful churches bring people into the Church.
So I thought I had given up on the idea of doing secular art.
Within the past few weeks I entered into a small “liturgical art competition” and didn’t get accepted. I thought this might be the direction God wanted me to go in, and being that I do million dollar realistic paintings at my job (i.e. I have sufficient skill compared to most painters) I thought it was strange I didn’t even get into such a small competition-- but then again, the work in the competition was a very different ‘modern’ style, while my work is more traditional, which could explain the judges rejection of it.
And then a week or two ago a friend offered to put me into a group show at a small secular gallery around here in NYC. I put the sacred painting and one secular painting into the show, not expecting much. Well, it seems both paintings sold.
So now I’m wondering if I should really be moving back into the direction of doing secular art. After all, Pope Francis has been calling us to “go out into the streets” and out into the world; not to hide away in the Churches. I know he was talking to priests and religious, but I think that could apply to us laity too?
I’m balancing between the idea of doing art for our own Catholic subculture, attracting people into the Church through beauty; or going out into the world and trying to bring the message into the secular world, a world which won’t accept explicitly Christian messages, and thus any message would need to be subliminal like Chesterton and Tolkien?
What do you think? Which is more important? What is the role of the artist in the “New Evangelization”?