Jesus in Love
Art that dares to show Jesus as gay or female has been censored and destroyed.
Now for the first time these beautiful, powerful, sometimes shocking images
are gathered for all to see.
Packed with full-page color illustrations, this eye-opening collection
features a diverse group of eleven contemporary artists who work both inside
and outside the church. They present the gay Jesus, the woman Christ and
other cutting-edge Christian images. Their art respects the teachings of
Jesus and frees the minds of viewers.
Here the artists tell the stories behind the images. A lively introduction
puts the new genre into political and historical context, exploring issues
of blasphemy and artistic freedom.
This book is effectively a “catalogue” of an exhibition she mounted at
the JHS Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, as part of the National Festival of
Progressive Spiritual Art, in May 2007. It includes beautifully reproduced
images of some eleven artists, along with in-depth articles about each
artist and explanations of the themes in the selected examples. The subtitle
reveals just why “explanations” are in order: “Gay Jesus, Woman Christ,
and More.” The introduction contains an account of Cherry’s motivation
in searching out this truly “visionary” style of artistic expression and
an intelligent discussion of the meaning of the oh-so-religious-sounding
term “blasphemy.”
You can imagine she’s had that epithet hurled at her!
Her “blasphemy” is so honest, so respectful, visionary, and inspiring that
it becomes a kind of new religion, a Christianity not stuck in literal
old stories, but alive with imagery meaningful to us today—not the Jesus
of history 2000 years old, but the mystical Jesus of the present NOW, alive
in human beings today, suffering and resurrecting through the struggles
of modern life and of sexual and gender liberation.
Cherry explains that blasphemy refers to speech intended to transgress
or express contempt for central religious beliefs, in that sense, the idea
is to protect the status quo religion and culture. But in effect, blasphemy
is what wakes people up and forces them to rethink their unquestioned cultural
beliefs and myths. In that sense, blasphemy is the truly spiritual tool
for transforming consciousness. Jesus Christ, after all, was put to death
for blasphemy.
I suppose not all blasphemous speech or art wakes people to the true meaning
of religion, but the very fact that a believer would feel so threatened
that he or she would hurl accusations at another of this sin ought to tell
them something about their own precarious hold on truth. It’s like the
Jungian notion of “the shadow” that what upsets you the most—and
the most compulsively in other people—is a reflection of traits in yourself
you are trying to protect yourself from recognizing and admitting. Being
upset by somebody else’s beliefs one disagrees with is some sort of sign
of one’s own skepticism. And so the more the beliefs seem meaningless,
the more fiercely they have to defended.
"From Michelangelo to Mantegna, Piero Della Francesca to Paul Gauguin,
images of Jesus Christ have offended, delighted, outraged, and inspired the
devout. For each controversial image, the sacred and profane become intermixed
in new ways, challenging viewers to rethink their own imaginary history of
religion, spirituality, and sexuality. Kittredge Cherry has performed a great
service for our contemporary age, reminding us again what we hold sacred and
profane, and how our old categories might be reimagined."
—S. Brent Plate, Associate Professor of Religion and the Visual Arts, Texas
Christian University, and author of Blasphemy: Art that Offends
The sinfulness of blasphemy is based on the first of the Ten Commandments:
Thou shalt make no graven images. Jesus, of course, transformed those commandments,
reducing them to two: love God and love your neighbor. And as Christianity
moved into Europe in its early missionary days, it dropped the objection
to graphic images altogether. That was a desert thing! Nomads--Jews and
later Muslims--objected to depictions of God. Greek, Roman and European
cultures exulted in creating representations of God. Indeed, during the
Middle Ages, the stained glass windows of the great cathedrals were the
catechisms by which the religious stories were portrayed and promulgated.
The imagery made the stories more real--and memorable--and provided insight
into their meaning.
That’s exactly what the image, say, of a female Christ--like that of acrylic
artist Jill Ansell--does: causes the viewer to think through the contradiction
and to understand “Christ” as a mystical reality which necessarily includes
both male and female since humankind includes both male and female. The
image of a woman rising from the tomb triumphant reminds us vividly that
the Christian message about resurrection includes the feminine principle
as well as the masculine.
Depictions of Jesus are often “homoerotic” in that he is prototypically
shown near naked and suffering the afflictions of the flesh. Oil painter
F. Douglas Blanchard portrays Jesus as a modern gay man in modern clothing
being brutalized by police and by fag-baiting protestors. The disturbing,
but ultimately glorious, series of twenty-four painting, of which five
are included in the book, force the viewer to consider that anti-gay violence
in the name of religion is an exact parallel to the violence done against
Jesus and which Christians believe was salvific for us all.
With paint on plexiglass Alex Donis produced faux stainedglass windows showing
improbable combinations in an intimate kiss--John Kennedy and Fidel Castro,
the Pope and Gandhi, Adolf Hitler and a Holocaust survivor--to call into
question conventional dualistic categories. Reproduced in the book are
the kisses of Jesus and the Hindu god Rama and Mary Magdalene and the Virgen
de Guadalupe. Several of Donis’ creations were destroyed by vandals in
protest against the exhibit in San Francisco in 1997.
Perhaps the most familiar artwork in the book is that of Franciscan brother
Robert Lentz. His modern day Greek Orthodox-styled icons--of both traditional
holy figures and modern political and cultural characters--have been
distributed through progressive and GLBTI bookstores and card shops for
years. The icon of Harvey Milk, Martyr is a national gay treasure. (Since
Lentz returned to the Order later in his life, he’s been forbidden for
marketing the more controversial of his icons, but they are still available
through his previous distributor.) And the icons of Jesus as AIDS sufferer
by openly gay ex-Jesuit priest William Hart McNichols will also be familiar.
They’ve appeared in the gay press.
That’s to point out only five of the eleven artists. All the images in
Art That Dares are equally striking and transforming of ideas about the
meaning of religious iconography.
The book is liable to be dismissed and deprecated by the Religious Right.
Some of the people who really need to see this material will never lay
eyes on it. But now it’s out there. Kitt Cherry’s work has already gotten
notice and condemnation that ironically has brought needed attention.
“This innovative collection of startlingly provocative images and insightful
commentary is suitable for coffee table and classroom. What better way
to teach feminist and queer theologies than to show what they look like!”
—Mary Hunt, Ph.D., co-director, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and
Ritual
“In her latest work, Art that Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More,
Kittredge Cherry tells the fascinating true stories of her artists who
were caricatured and condemned for daring to portray a gay Jesus or a feminine
Christ. She offers us beautiful color reproductions of their controversial
art that was censored and even destroyed. I love this book. I am grateful
to its author for using art to help undermine heterosexism and homophobia.
And I celebrate the fact that once more Kittredge Cherry has moved beyond
the flat, one-sided, predictable Jesus with blond hair and blue eyes to
show us a living Christ who loved outcasts best and lived and died to prove
it.”
—Mel White, founder of Soulforce, LGBT Christian activist group
“I approached Art That Dares with trepidation because my fundamentalist
upbringing had instilled in me a distaste for explicitly sexual images
or unconventional depictions of the deity. But Kittredge Cherry’s wise,
tender, and learned commentary calmed my fears and enabled me to behold
the stunning beauty of these depictions of Jesus-as gay, as black, as the
horned god, as a woman — and of his mother in a rapturous female partnership.
Some of the images called forth tears too deep for words. This is an amazing,
disconcerting, and sacred book, to be experienced again and yet again:
a treasure.”
—Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, author of Transgender Journeys and Sensuous
Spirituality, and other books
“Art That Dares is a stunning, artistically haunting, spiritually revolutionary,
provocatively honest book that is a fresh alternative to deadened religiosity.
I give thanks for its passionate creativity.”
—The Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd, poet, Episcopal priest, gay elder, author
of Are You Running with me, Jesus?
“From Michelangelo to Mantegna, Piero Della Francesca to Paul Gauguin,
images of Jesus Christ have offended, delighted, outraged, and inspired
the devout. For each controversial image, the sacred and profane become
intermixed in new ways, challenging viewers to rethink their own imaginary
history of religion, spirituality, and sexuality. Kittredge Cherry has
performed a great service for our contemporary age, reminding us again
what we hold sacred and profane, and how our old categories might be reimagined.”
—S. Brent Plate, Associate Professor of Religion and the Visual Arts, Texas
Christian University, and author of Blasphemy: Art that Offends
“Kitt Cherry’s newest creation is wonderful, mind-blowing, and beautiful...
Her ’blasphemy’ is so honest, so respectful, visionary, and inspiring that
it becomes a kind of new religion, a Christianity not stuck in literal
old stories, but alive with imagery meaningful to us today — not the Jesus
of history 2,000 years old, but the mystical Jesus of the present NOW,
alive in human beings today, suffering and resurrecting through the struggles
of modern life and of sexual and gender liberation.”
—Toby Johnson, author of Gay Spirituality and past editor of White Crane
“Art That Dares dares to feature art that challenges the non-sexual, non-contemporary,
hence, distancing views of Jesus Christ. This passionate, edgy art accomplishes
what words alone cannot manage — portraying a fully human Jesus, a multi-racial,
multi-gender Christ for the 21st century. Thanks to Kitt Cherry for publishing
these courageous artists’ work. Her documentation of the story of this
art is provocative and enlightening.”
—Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches
“Cherry’s books are extremely important... A very brave and very creative
first bunker in the ongoing battle for liberation.”
—Michael Worsnip, The Witness, South Africa