This painting is called Blessed Art Thou. Over on Knowledge is Power they are asking people to tell, in twenty words or less, why this represents everything that is wrong with America.
This is how the artist, Kate Kretz explains it:
This painting addresses the celebrity worship cycle. The title, “Blessed Art Thou”, is taken from a line in the Catholic prayer “Hail Mary”: “…blessed art thou among women”. Our culture is deifying celebrities, but in the bible, it is the meek who are blessed, so the title presents a question for the viewer to ponder.
I chose a setting where the cycle begins: psychologically oppressive environments like this one are one of the feeding sources for the consumer, hungry for “information” about the celebrity's private life. I am interested in the psychological ramifications of celebrity worship, particularly as they relate to class.
Angelina Jolie was chosen as the subject because of her unavoidable presence in the media, the world-wide anticipation of her child, her "unattainable" beauty and the good that she is doing in the world through her example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions surrounding her status.
I draw your attention to the statement that Angelina is doing good in the world through her example.
[Lemuel pauses to laugh out loud for 45 minutes]
Sondra and friends have their contest and I have mine. Tell us just how "attainable" Angelina's beauty is. For example, "My word Angelina, that's a beautiful dress. It must have taken your seamstress two or three hours to get you into that. Of course from what I hear it only takes a line of coke and a shot of Stollie to get you out of it".
Explore Christian Blogosphere
|