Harald Duwe

Last Supper - Harald Duwe

I found an interesting book called 'Beyond Belief: Modern Art & the Religious Imagination' which has interesting essays at the beginning, as well as showing work by artists I had previously not heard of.

There is one particular artist that I wanted to highlight for this blog, but I've been unable to find a good copy of his painting on the interest to show, and currently have no access to a scanner, but I felt I should still mention him.

The painting is called Abendmanhisbild (Last Supper) by Harald Duwe. He was a German artist and painted this image eight years before he died. This painting apparently was a result of a discussion with a group of his friends about whether it was still possible to paint christian subjects in modern society.

The Last Supper depicts twelve men dressed smartly in suits behind the table, which is in the foreground. What I like about this painting is that the meal on the table consists of Jesus' body parts in various bowls, and is blood within the cups, turning the Last Supper into a literal translation, but because the image is so busy, it is not until you look at the painting carefully that you see Jesus' head appearing out of the bowl, with his various body parts such as his heart scattered around the table.

From what I have been able to read about Duwe, he was not a christian, and did not want to paint this image to be inspiring and encouraging fellow Christians, but instead to shock his audience and make them question their own opinion and reaction to the crucifixion. The figure in the middle of the painting holding a spoon is a self portrait of Duwe, and the other eleven are portraits of his friends. Each person is a different explain to how people react to the table before them and the sacrifice Jesus made.

I like the fact that there a little details that I am still finding within the image. For example I did not notice until reading an article on this painting, that the group a crowded around the table which has an empty seat..maybe the empty presence of Jesus, or where he once sat?

http://www.rutgerschurch.com/Sermons/sermon022501.html

update

It's been awhile since my last blog...Unfortunately I have no had access to the internet for the last 3months. Well I have at uni, but to do my health problems, I can not sit at a computer for any lenght of time, which is why I've been able to do any more research until now. It also means I have missed a couple exhibitions that would have been useful for this. (I have only just found out about them through internet research).

This is one exhibition I would have liked to see....

Bridge, by Michael Cross

(if you click on the above it will take to you a site with a review of the exhibition)

This was a site-specific piece in a former church, where two thirds of the inside of the church was in water. Michael Cross designed a series of 30 steps which rose out of the water for you to walk across the 'lake', as if walking on water.

'Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This ‘bridge’ is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step. '

The 3oth step leaves you standing in the middle of the water, 12 meters from shore. The viewer could then apparently stand in the middle until they wished to return the way they had come. Michael Cross aim is to 'invite a feeling or physical sensation to surround what otherwise might be purely function objects'.

As far as I know Cross had no religious intention behind this piece, other than using the story of Jesus walking across the water as inspiration, but I feel it would have been a powerful spiritual expression for myself, and other christians.

Cross used black dye in the water, so as to make it seem bottomless, when in fact it was only 65cm deep..now knowing this I am a little confusing as I thought the man in the image above was walking across wearing what appeared to be a light jacket. Maybe its not, or they are just extremely scared of water, or maybe to make the illusion more complete the exhibition did not state the depth, and proved life jackets for those who wished?!