Speaking of Richard Beck, he also posted recently on the art found in his local Christian bookshop. Most of it looks something like this. He comments on why Christians feel they need to put words (in particular, Bible verses) on their artwork. Many of his commenters wonder why all the art is so kitchy. I thought of this because the winners of the Australian Blake Prize for religious art have just been announced. Lo and behold, the winner of the Prize for Human Justice, Age 36 by Fiona White, has its own accompanying text. Not quite a bible verse, and unlike the horse poster it can be taken a number of ways. On the surface, the man in the picture is the victim of a human rights abuse. But is that a halo around him? Or the fire of the Spirit? Or is he just getting burnt? Other entries somehow managed to be religious without an accompanying verse, Biblical or otherwise. Like the winner of the overall award, If you put your ear close, you'll hear it breathing by Leo
'Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp.' - Rachel Carson