He Died For My Grins: Mormonism

Showing posts with label Mormonism. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Mormon Missionaries

Oh ladies and gentlemen sometimes I don't know why I blog about anything else but Mormons. One of the first things that really knocked me off my seat was photographs of happy Mormon families that were clearly compositions. I think it was even one of the first entries on this blog. But a year later and nothing has changed, I still think Mormons are among the best of the religious artists out there. The pictures of the Mormon missionaries depicted as having a meaningful conversation with strangers, really reaching out, really making them see things differently, there is such innocent hope that speaks from these pictures.

This one made me laugh so hard. Is it wrong? I don't know.

Have you seen this person?

Compositions like this are just art!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Christian Art: Del Parson

Oh man I love this good stuff! I keep telling you, it's the Mormons that truly excel at this type of ultra-hyper-sentimental art. And it's the (other) Protestants that fall for it, condemning LDS with one tongue, yet praising this art with another. Whatever, I'm getting political already, who want's to dispute when one can marvel? Classic stuff on here too, like the one of Christ holding a lamb (guess it wasn't a dinolizard after all) and the one of Christ emanating from his grave. I like the one where Christ seems to be smiling apologetically after having let one rip.

Website: http://delparson.com/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Christian Art: Simon Dewey

Another king of a painter! I saw a lot of his works come by already, also in well known persiflage ways (the one of Jesus sitting with a staff I have seen countless times with the staff substituted for a shotgun). But it's fantastic. Fantastic. The colors, the bright smiles, that Vaseline edge. The... how can I say this... bold denial of evil almost. Oh what glory!

Shepherd

Beside Still Waters

Consider the Lilies

His Name

He Lives

Jesus' Birth

Of Such Is the Kingdom of God

Like I always say, this is only a handpick from the bowl of delicious fruits that this artist has brought forth. I wish I could put a website here but unfortunately I couldn't find one. But do look him up on the internet, you'll be doing yourself a favor!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Christian Art: Liz Lemon Swindle

What a last name! Must be strange to open an exhibition for her and then announce this with "The great Liz Lemon Swindle!" She should have had Malcolm McLaren as her manager. But what's in a name? It's all about the works! And what works they are! A few notes on this. The artist seems to be a member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Mormonism is just a part of Christianity, be it with revelations of Joseph Smith that came after the New Testament, which is why it is despised so much by other Christian denominations that do not recognize any revelations after the New Testament. This is an interesting point by the way. Two denominations might not get along because of different interpretations of Scripture, but adding new material to Scripture is the surest way to be despised by all other denominations. Judaism rejected Christianity because of it, Christianity rejected Islam because of it, in fact Islam in its earliest days was descibed by "Christians of the East and West [...] as Christian heresy" (Chidester, p. 172), and Protestantism at large now rejects Mormonism for it. I wonder why new revelations that result in new Scriptural contributions are considered to be the ultimate blasphemy. But enough speculation on that, back to Swindle! I included one of her portraits of Joseph Smith in this post, just to anchor the Mormon character of her work. In fact a lot of her illustrations I had already met and even used, like in the post on Mormon art for example, but I didn't know she was the author. Damn modernist alienation at work again! I also love how she depicts modern situations, like the business man contemplating his life in an airplane. That look on his face, only the faithful artist can pull that off!

Even Superman Needs a Dad

Of One Heart, Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail

Lost Sheep

Let's Get Papa

Friends

What Profiteth a Man: The Rich Young Ruler (Modern)

Hold On Tight

Let the Children Come

Against the Wind

Website: http://www.reparteegallery.com/m-159-Liz-Lemon-Swindle.aspx

Source: David Chidester. Christianity. A Global History. Penguin Books Limited. Great Britain, 2000.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

LEGO Holy Buildings

Whohoow! This is the 100th entry! A three digit number, a rite of passage. I like the way this blog is going, I feel like it's finally started, the stats seem to look kindly on it, whatever that really means anyway. Some prophets say that things start to get interesting only when you hit 150, but this 100 things, I kinda like it, arbitrary as it might be. More importantly, I like the way the content is developing. Also, keep writing! I can never hear enough from people visiting these pages, whether they praise or condemn.

So to celebrate this, I wanted to write about something awesome. Now, granted, I have already written about the topic of LEGO meets religion, talking about Amy Hughes' Abston Church of Chirst, but that only scratched the surface. So here is a lot more awesomeness!