Art Lies, Volume 34, Spring 2002 Page: 21
77 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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refers, including Christianity, have had their own ways of illustrating
invisible channels of energy surrounding the body. None of them do it this
garishly and theatrically, which may say something about the expectations
of a culture addicted to glitz and glitter. This caveat isn't meant to dismiss
Grey's content, which is frequently interesting; he incorporates contempo-
rary hypotheses of which the traditions know nothing, such as the birth of
consciousness in homo erectus in lieu of the Garden of Eden. Nevertheless,
his style gets in the way of his message.
New Age art certainly isn't the only problematic approach to visualizing
spirituality and its consequences for human behavior, whether as spelled
out in traditional stories or re-envisioned in contemporary terms. Grey's
problems with style versus message are repeated in a religiously orthodox
key in Mary McCleary's contemporary re-imaginings of the Biblical nar-
rative, in a form of low-relief collage that features numerous plastic eye-
balls. The Texas artist's attempt at down-home version of religious vision
is unexceptionable as a strategy for Protestant Christianity, which has
always searched for homely metaphors to bring the gospel message to as
many as possible (one might compare the fabled Georgia folk artist
Howard Finster in this regard). McCleary's style alone stands as an obsta-
cle. Her grid of all-seeing eyes, a motif that also occurs in Grey's paintings,
has an impeccable pedigree in terms of scriptural metaphors, but turning
them into literal images simply clashes with the rest of what are frequently
well-composed paintings.
New Age art has a different conception of the destiny of humanity,
which is frequently combined with a vision of the destiny of the planet
itself. (McCleary, too, shows environmental concern for a fallen planet,
as she incorporates a splayed/crucified animal pelt into a work based on
the New Testament verse "The whole of the Creation groans in travail.")Mary McCleary, The Whole of Creation
Groans in Travail, 1992
Mixed media collage on paper
38 x 423/4"
Courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, gift of The Barrett
Collection, Dallas, TexasARTL!ES Spring 2002 21
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Bryant, John. Art Lies, Volume 34, Spring 2002, periodical, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228063/m1/23/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .