Christians & Serious Art

My wife, Jeanne, sent this link to me from the McKenzie Study Center in Eugene, Oregon. It's an article by R. Wesley Hurd called, "Christians & Serious Art". I think it's a great article. There are a lot of layers to peel back here, however, for the most part it's a great article because I've never read/heard anyone approach this topic in such a real way.

Hurd does a good job of unpacking the idea that "serious art" is very different from commercial art or "consumption art". Moreover, he identifies intention and makes it very clear that artists working in this tradition have very different motives and ideas than someone who paints sunset pictures on the beach.

I was intrigued by the fact that he mentions how many Christians are skeptical of artists (Christian and non-Christian alike). Art seems to be kind of a bad word for most Christians. It conjures ideas about extremes, difficult topics, and things of the "world." Those are tough topics for a lot of Christians to deal with - they usually, as Hurd describes, avoid anything that is deep and complex when it comes to art and completely misunderstand the artist and the art. Again, I agree with Hurd, this needs to change.

As for Christian artists, I'm not sure I know of any making "serious art". I need to research this and see what's happening there.

One of my favorite parts of the article is this:

"Humans inevitably engage in two kinds of work: the work they do for utilitarian purposes and the work they do to determine who they are and what they mean. When our utilitarian work has secured the necessities of life—sustenance, shelter, and safety—we turn to leisurely activities and "liberal" arts. The leisure of liberal arts is not merely for relaxation or entertainment, though that kind of leisure is valid. Ultimately, the most important of man's leisurely activities involves time given to exploring the meaning of his existence—his deepest identity and purpose. These activities are meaningful or practical not in a utilitarian way, but because they embody the human quest for an enduring definition of life in the cosmos."