Mormon Art

[_Blixa]

Is there any room in the Church for broad, creative, dramatic expression?

It should have equal time with gun collecting and NASCAR.

rcrocket

I suspect that both are quite easy to accomodate already.

[_Mister Scratch]

Further, I cannot help but feel that Kimball's remarks smack of propaganda, and of the sorts of declarations that were issued by the leaders of totalitarian regimes.

Yes, very much so. And there is quite a bit of Mormon family pressure on children to excel in music. Does it all end at a call to ward chorister?

This is a good point. I think that music, among all the arts, is "safest," and less likely to lead somebody "astray." (Provided that we're talking about purely instrumental music. As every missionary knows, Satan loves to traffic in certain vocal genres, especially rock and roll, and hip-hop.)

Another interesting tidbit: DCP once got quite huffy when I accused him of having "Brethren-sanctioned" tastes in art.

What art does he like that isn't approved (or would unlikely be approved) by the brethren?

None, so far as I'm aware. It is all "safe."

[_Mister Scratch]

---Neil LaBute and Brian Evenson: argh, I really don't want to go there. I'm glad LaBute "woke up" but if I had the time and the masochistic drive I'd write a lenthy critique of his work which tied the worst of his pretend-critique-of-misogyny misogyny, pretend-critique-of-homophobia homophobia and pretend-critique-of-class-prejudice class prejudice explicity to his Mormonism. I'd probably blame his crappy sense of humor on Mormonism, too. Evenson? Let's just say I was profoundly nonplussed by "The Open Curtain." I can't imagine how someone could so badly bungle such a great bit of historical material.

Well, I for one would be interested in seeing the critique. Like you, I have felt like there really was some kind of connection with Mormonism in the very disturbing violence/homophobia/misogyny in this work. I'm not quite sure what that connection *is*, though. Perhaps it's worth noting that one doesn't tend to find these same preoccupations in works on Mormonism created by outsiders or nevermos, such as the portrayal of LDS in Angels in America, or even Big Love. (Or is one of those guys an exmo?) Then there was September Dawn, which dealt with violence, but wasn't interested in plumbing it so deeply, as is the case with Evenson (at least in Altmann's Tongue.)

Another point to be made has to do with the large number of films on Mormonism which have been suppressed by the Church. Hollywood tried several times to do films on various Mormon-related subject, only to have the productions squelched somehow by the LDS Church. (A more recent example would be the made-for-TV movie about Mark Hoffman.)

[_ozemc]

My only exposure to "Mormon" art, as it were, is to the paintings I see in the various ward buildings I've visited, plus what's in the magazines.

What I have found very compelling is the way Jesus is depicted. He is always some sort of strong-chinned, aryan nose white man, who looks like He could have come out of Ozzie and Harriet.

I always thought he would probably have looked like the Jews in Israel today.

As an aside, it does seem, to me anyway, that Jesus' depictions all changed sometime in the middle ages to match the "look" of the Shroud Of Turin, who many people believe to be the actual burial cloth of Christ.

Any thoughts?

[_Mister Scratch]

My only exposure to "Mormon" art, as it were, is to the paintings I see in the various ward buildings I've visited, plus what's in the magazines.

What I have found very compelling is the way Jesus is depicted. He is always some sort of strong-chinned, aryan nose white man, who looks like He could have come out of Ozzie and Harriet.

Yes, good point. And we also need to remember the whole "happy/sad" thing which has been put onto his face by design. He is also always portrayed w/ beard, despite the fact that, according to (I believe) Elder Holland, Christ is no longer sporting a beard, and goes around clean-shaven.

Edited to add: You know, I have to say that I find quite peculiar the pictures of the temples which people hang in their homes. Why is this something that merits home display? Are these images genuinely supposed to function as "art"? Are they symbols of obedience? Reminders that help TBMs to remain docile and loyal to the Church?

[_moksha]

---I like Moksha's interest in Diego Rivera (I would hope he some day gets the chance to see it in situ as well), but he would do well to remember the fate of Rivera's Rockefeller commission.

Yes, Nelson Rockefeller had Diego Rivera's mural, that he had commissioned, destroyed because Vladimir Lenin was one of the people in the portrait.

[_JAK]

Another little point along these lines...

Our universe has largely missed the creative/artistic talents of women. While today throughout the world, more and more women are getting (and taking), the opportunity to be educated, and study the arts, we still have a long way to go.

I wonder if the command for women to stay at home, not limit children, raise a family, and support her husband in many ways thwarts the talents and creative energy of many women?

I have no statistics, just wondering.

:-)

~dancer~

I doubt there are statistics to your considered possibility. However, general evidence/history regarding how women have been treated supports your conclusion that “talents and creative energy” has been repressed.

Islamic women are far lower than Western women in this regard.

In this country in 1900, few women were able to attend college. The percent of women compared with men was quite low. I don’t have the statistics before me, but I could find them.

Many more opportunities are open to women today than 100 years ago in the USA.

Even so:

Some would not vote for Hillary Clinton (if she were the party’s nominee)
A. Because she is a woman
B. Because she is Bill Clinton’s wife
C. Because we have never had a woman President
D. Because males are associated with power
E. Because no woman should have authority over men

Of course hard-core Republicans would not vote for any Democrat.

We shall see if she is the nominee if she can be elected.

JAK

[_Moniker]

Well, I don't know that I've ever seen LDS art. Pretty certain I haven't. A friend of mine, when I was a teen, was LDS but I wasn't allowed in her home. :(

So I googled and found these websites:

http://www.LDS.org/churchhistory/museum

http://www.ldsart.com/

http://deseretbook.com/store/category?category_id=8

http://www.ldsartworks.com/

http://www.storesonline.com/site/253614/page/238848

Anyway, I'm sure there's better art out there created by LDS? I just don't know where to look. At least there were no Joseph Smith on velvet.

[_skippy the dead]

At least there were no Joseph Smith on velvet.

Ooooo - I think you've identified an as-unyet-untapped market. I'm going to rustle up some quick Smith-on-velvets and run 'em over to the swap meet this weekend. I'll make hundreds of dollars!

[_Gazelam]

Nice Links Moniker. That last one had some of Minerva Teichert paintings, I really like her stuff.

The LDS art link is one I have in my favorites.