Religious art show blessed by Sister Wendy
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"Ecce Homo" ("Behold the Man") by Ken Sullivan of Highlands Ranch, Colo. -
"Journey to Jesus -- The Shroud" by Janet McKenzie -
"St. Martin de Porres" by Jordan Hainsey of Hollidaysburg, Pa.
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Sister Wendy Beckett caused quite a stir when she burst upon the BBC in a 1991 documentary about the National Gallery. The diminutive nun dressed in full habit spoke enthusiastically and knowingly about art and soon was starring in her own series. "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting" hopped the pond to PBS and American audiences were likewise charmed.
Why the stir? Within her critiques, Sister Wendy at times dropped observations that were so sensual that viewers gasped: "Did she say what I thought she said?"
It's not that Sister Wendy was saying anything out of line with usual art historical commentary, as anyone who has marveled at Bernini's 17th-century "Ecstasy of St. Teresa," a profound merging of flesh and faith, would confirm. She was simply contemporizing the language of art, walking a fine line between scholarly and populist. How fitting, then, that she was the juror for the third Nationwide Juried Catholic Arts Exhibition at Saint Vincent Gallery, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe.
Brother Nathan Cochran, a member of the college faculty, established the competition to foster the arts of the Western Christian tradition by providing support to artists, and also to show pastors the variety of original artworks available for their parishes. He stipulated the "artworks must be iconographically recognizable and appropriate for liturgical use, public devotion, or private devotion," but he was open to "modernization of the subject" and "ethnic acculturation."
The extent to which submissions reflect his intent has risen with each show, as has the quality of the work, Brother Nathan said.
Digital images of all submitted artworks were sent to Sister Wendy, who practices a contemplative life of prayer and silence in Norfolk, England. She communicates with the outside world through the nun who brings her daily provisions. She does continue to write, witness her latest book, "Real Presence: In Search of the Earliest Icons" (Orbis Books, $25).
First Published December 1, 2010 12:00 am
