Okay, take a gander.
This wildly popular painting shows Jesus holding the divinely inspired American Constitution and glaring at a group of bad people downstage, right. Near the bad people lie scattered papers — Supreme Court decisions vesting political authority in the Court rather than God.
One bad person reads The Origin of the Species.
Prints of the painting have been displayed and sold at the Brigham Young University bookstore. Until recently.
[An] adjunct art professor at BYU found the piece way too politically charged, and expressed concerns to the bookstore that it was a propaganda piece for the tea party.
Her main concern was not Christ holding the Constitution, because most Mormons believe God had some role in the American founding, she said. Instead, her biggest problem was with specific ideological details portrayed…
There’s the “good” student who is holding a copy of Cleon Skousen’s book, “The 5,000 Year Leap,” which has been heavily promoted by Glenn Beck and somewhat “adopted” by the Tea Party, she said.
Among the “bad” people is a professor holding a copy of “The Origin of Species,” by Charles Darwin.
“For a university to have that promoted as a bad thing, where half the biology department probably has you read that, just seemed really out of place for BYU,” she said…
The art professor – clearly one of the downstage people – is not the only person at BYU who wanted this painting out on its ass. Once she looked at it carefully and complained, other people looked.
Faculty and administrators and store staff are embarrassed. They’re embarrassed that their bookstore stocks and displays outrageous kitsch that – alter a few faces and book covers – could have come out of North Korea.
The store’s decision not to stock this print anymore has so enraged l’artiste that he has pulled all of his work from the store. So there.
April 28th, 2011 at 7:31PM
Well, it would be an art professor who paid attention to the picture.
http://www.artbible.info/art/large/767.html
April 29th, 2011 at 12:20AM
Jesus sternly looked at them.
Hear my words, touch my hem.
Kiss my ring you BYUtes
And abjure the snakes in suits
Who mock me with their apothegm.
April 29th, 2011 at 5:26AM
If you really want to appreciate McNaughton’s work, you have to go to the link below, where you get explanations as you roll over different parts of the picture.
http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/?artpiece_id=353
April 29th, 2011 at 6:09AM
Thanks, GTWMA.
April 29th, 2011 at 1:56PM
Funny, the word “Pharisee” keeps coming up in my mind when I think of this whole issue….
(And I’m one of those allegedly-godless profs who teaches about evolution)