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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

With You Always

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01:06 / 22.08.06

I don't know how much discussion this merits, and maybe it's in the wrong forum, but it's definitely artistic:

It's also pretty loony.

01:10 / 22.08.06

Taking another look around, it occurs to me that another name for this site could be "Jesus Doesn't Care About Black People"

paranoidwriter waves hello

03:58 / 22.08.06

So that's where Bob drew his Hope from, eh?

I quite like these as drawings though, nice detail, texture, and shading. Also, athough I find them funny and don't know if they're for real, I've got no problem with the Christian Messiah or any other for that matter. It's just the drawing of him in the context of mundane everyday activities that make me chuckles. I want to see the artist tackle "wanking" next.

06:50 / 22.08.06

I think they're really funny but also slightly sinister and disturbing. Jesus seems to be having the most fun with the Dental Assistant which gave a bit of a Marathon Man feel to it. The patients hand grabbing the edge of the seat in pain whilst Jesus chuckles away. Also he seems very critical of the golfers swing who seems desperatly trying to not be put off. Or just trying not to lose it and take a swing at him.

09:50 / 22.08.06

Poor Jesus. He's all, "Great job! Way to go!" and they're all "I want to go home."

I don't think it's appropriate to mock Jesus too much in this context--although it is pretty funny the way he's floating out of the green in that golf picture*--but the artist is fair game.

I suspect the reason there are no people of color involved is not so much that Jesus or the artist is racist but because the artist simply doesn't know any black people. These are clearly pictures of people he knows.

Anyway, PW, I don't think Jesus watches when you masturbate, unless masturbation is something really important in your life and Jesus feels he needs to be involved.

*He is Risen!

lord nuneaton savage

10:23 / 22.08.06

Love the way The Big J is giving it some "Go on My Son" action to the bodybuilder.

18:36 / 22.08.06

Keep feeling the urge to shout He's behind you! in British Panto manner.

It's hard to work out what the Christ-like presence is doing in the pictures. In most He seems entirely peripheral, voyeuring perv-like. None of the recipients of the divine curiosity seem to be aware of nor to be sensing his presence. Just as well since he's about to jog the elbow of the dental assistant, mid-procedure.

21:19 / 22.08.06

The artist is from Niceville, Florida (no really!).
Do you think Jesus was with me that time... when..?
Oh dear... I hope so.

There's something inscrutable as to the bank teller's intentions, I think, and I can't quite fathom why Jesus seems so jovial in the dentist/torture scene (maybe there's a nitrous oxide leak) but apart from that I'm not really picking up on a lot of range here. I mean if he's taking the omnipotence angle and just depicting scenes like this he's missing out on a whole lot of scope. (I'm not sure if I'm even taking the piss here).

And frankly I'm not a fan of this depiction of healthy, slightly happy, kind of nosey Jesus. He just isn't wan enough for me! I'm really not feeling the pallor. Some gothic horror wouldn't go astray, something akin to Renaissance religious art, or Le Christ de Saint Jean de la Croix. (That carried a pretty similar message, what with the fishermen below, right?)

Maybe Jesus rising ephemerally from a toilet cistern, incandescent with suffering as three gurning clubbers volly determinedly in the small cubicle space to snort coke off a burned up toilet seat? Or of a less dramatic nature Jesus serenely walking on water alongside an avid kayaker? As sketches they're (erm) just a little bland, aren't they? Nice message, though, and I'd like to appreciate them purely for that fact, coupled with the sweet intention they were probably drawn with, and maybe there is something to be said (politically?) for not depicting Jesus in perpetual agony but...still...*meh*

The clown one's pretty scary, however, and strangely is also has the only painted character in the whole series.

22:39 / 22.08.06

Oh, Shrug, that kind of glib sensationalism is so 20th century. All the cool artists these days are earnest and display highly developed technical skills--to reflect their earnestation, of course. So this guy is definitely cool. He knows that Jesus is all about celebrating your everyday accomplishments, the stuff you don't even think is that cool, not shaking his finger at you and moaning in pain when you poop or look at internet porn or whatever. I mean, a dental hygenist, that's pretty special. You can't just let anyone do that stuff. It takes dedication and sacrifice to become a dental hygenist and you have to have a passion for oral health, and if there's one thing Jesus is all about, it's passion, nicht war?

22:46 / 22.08.06

The problem with this concept only shows up when more than one person is depicted. Like, the dental hygenist one, right? It seems like the patient could use a little help there. Maybe he's Jewish. But still, there should be a separate Jesus for each mortal, offering the appropriate support, appreciation, and/or encouragement.

22:47 / 22.08.06

I mean, supposedly Jesus is there for the unbelievers, too, if they'd only hear him. Maybe there should be one of Jesus at a synagogue or a yoga retreat or something, looking bewildered.

17:33 / 23.08.06

the parodies are better

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11:04 / 24.08.06

I am as surprised as anyone to find myself offended by that, TeN. Van Pelt might be a little boring, conceptually, but he's clearly worked hard to master his craft and I don't see why his work deserves defacement and denigration, especially in such a juvenile, unfunny way.

14:18 / 24.08.06

I think the drawings are pretty awful. Content aside, there are all sorts of inconsistencies in perspective and physiology that render the overall effect amateurish and off-putting. In the dentist piece, ironically, all of Jesus's teeth are misaligned in perspective, which I think contributes to the highly creepy feeling of the picture. And why is Jesus never depicted below the waist? Are there no pelvises or legs in the afterlife? And why, when never depicted below the waist, does his body end abruptly in a straight line? Was he sawn in half before his resurrection? Why do the people look so miserable and so oblivious to Jesus's presence - what's the meaning of that? Or is it just terribly lazy rendering?

23:50 / 24.08.06

I didn't mean to imply that Van Pelt had mastered his craft--though I see that I did--just that he'd worked really hard at it. In his bio, he reveals that he taught himself, with God's direction. I think all the things you point out are just his little ideosynchrasies. You know how artists are.

His subjects are oblivious because they are just going about their daily lives. They aren't thinking about Jesus. But he's there with them. And if you look around you will see that most people look miserable most of the time.

None of which is a defense, of course, ibis. You are perfectly right about your own aesthetic sense.

19:42 / 25.08.06

But isn't that the point? How does this work both as religious iconic art and also as an art piece that purveys a positive Christian message?
Sure, it's an oddity but...

10:53 / 26.08.06

I'm a little anxious that, with the surgeon, not only is Jesus distracting him from what looks like some fairly intricate work through a smallish incision, but he's contaminating the sterile field by resting his ungloved hands rather near the edges of the wound.

22:42 / 26.08.06

Jesus is certainly not with that clown.

I'm with Ibis. In some of the pictures, such as the bodybuiler's one, Jesus looks as if he's in a different picture, but it's clearly not intentionally representing the afterlife, as it's inconsistant throughout the series. I think they're horrible, and uniquely creepy.

Ganesh, you're my hero.

07:01 / 27.08.06

The bodybuilding drawing is hilarous. "Pump it, Jesus, PUMP THAT SHIT!" I agree with Ibis & Gingerbop - I think they are bad good drawings. What that means is the person can draw technically - but the overall effect is both amateurish, and lacks any individual style of expression. They look to me like cutesy greetings cards, rather than anything self-expressive.

12:38 / 27.08.06

Who said anything about the afterlife? Who said anything about self-expression? How can a spiritual being contaminate a wound? You guys have made up your minds already. You're not giving Van Pelt, and by fiat Jesus, a chance.

Ha ha, I can't believe I'm defending this! Because I don't actually like the drawings very much. But I am.

12:55 / 27.08.06

To clarify: In general I don't think one needs a reason to like or dislike, but I think reasons proffered usually reveal more about the subject than the object. I'm not really saying you're wrong, it's just my Buddha-nature going, "WTF?"

13:13 / 27.08.06

I think it's more the execution that's in question, Qalyn.
And as sweet as the intention is, I find that pretty risible.

13:17 / 27.08.06

And the artist also missed out on a carpentry sketch. Did Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and/or The Bible teach him nothing?

13:36 / 27.08.06

But Shrug, everyone so far has addressed intent in some manner, mostly in a dismissive fashion, which is okay but bears examination, I think. E.G.:

-"It's ugly," okay, but there is politics in aesthetics.
-"It's amateurish"? Irrelevant; cf the artist's bio.
-"It's inaccurate"??? Holy shit, dude. I don't even know where to start.

I mean, honestly, I originally posted these because I thought they were mysteriously funny, but I'm getting pretty interested in the responses so far.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

13:41 / 27.08.06

Did anyone else notice that the jogger's lower right leg looks sort of like an X-ray picture? Does Jesus have X-ray vision?

23:08 / 28.08.06

"The inclusion of the image of Jesus in the drawings of ordinary people's lives was begun during the final year of the ten year task."

This explains what I said earlier about looking like they are in different drawings.

Qualyn, I don't agree that you could not still perceive him as amateurish on the basis of his biog, which said he self-studied for a few years and was trained by a professional for 3 months. I do agree with you, however, that the drawing, technically, is fairly good. But the drawings have no life, and are missing in any kind of spotenaeity.

Personally, other than the subject being far from a favourite of mine, I don't like them aesthetically, and to an enormous degree, that's what I want from a piece of art.

The bank teller, for some reason every time I see it, I think the woman is peeling potatoes. At first I wondered why she was bothered that Jesus was putting her off counting them.

Tryphena Absent

23:21 / 28.08.06

In the dentist piece, ironically, all of Jesus's teeth are misaligned in perspective

It's a wonder that Jesus has any teeth. I'm sure he lost a few of them while walking the earth.

06:21 / 29.08.06

For that matter, his stigmata have healed remarkably well, too.

There ought to be a topical one of JC hanging out with Mel Gibson.

13:09 / 29.08.06

OMG, that wins.

20:40 / 30.08.06

I don't know...I kinda had this idea about "the passion" of the Christ? Jesus is this incredibly rich figure, a real well of emotion in peoples mind. I just don't see it in the pictures. I'm like "Jesus, so what?". I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intent of the artist.

21:37 / 30.08.06

I am fascinated by this thread, and by it's pisstaking. I wonder what we would be saying if these pictures were of Mohammed or Buddha? I think that Westerners have a tendency to knock Christianity and all it's idolatry, perhaps because for most of us it's the nearest religion to us.

I once said something was 'Christian bollocks' and I have had to address this (within my circle of friends) again and again. It's very easy to knock is Christianity; the idea of Jesus literally watching over you makes us laugh if we don't believe, but for those that do then these pictures are valuable contributions to a way of life and though it is one that I do not understand I feel bad about knocking them.

Yes, they are silly. But if you think Jesus is really watching over you then a good representation of that (and these are technically good) is your prerogative, no?

22:25 / 30.08.06

I don't think I'd recognise Mohammed. Buddha yes, but since I know the Buddha more as an iconic reclining or lotus-seated figure with a beatific half-smile, I think he'd look equally weird gym-buddying a weight-lifter.

The Hindu bunch would be right at home, I think.

23:38 / 30.08.06

Yes, they are silly. But if you think Jesus is really watching over you then a good representation of that (and these are technically good) is your prerogative, no?

Well, I don't think they are technically good, but I won't repeat myself.

I get the idea that Jesus is always watching you is a meaningful and poignant aspect of Christianity, but I find these run counter to the feeling they're supposed to evoke, even when I suspend disbelief. When I say "amateurish," well of course I know the guy is an amateur, but what I'm getting at is that I find the drawings rigid and lifeless and lacking the emotion they're supposed to convey, because the artist has focused so painstakingly on "realistic" rendering. Tried too hard not be amateurish. It's not the religious message that bothers me, it's the way the message has gotten lost in this really anally uptight drawing style. It's a shame... I feel it's drawings like these that rob drawing of all life and inspiration.

23:54 / 30.08.06

I get the idea that Jesus is always watching you is a meaningful and poignant aspect of Christianity, but I find these run counter to the feeling they're supposed to evoke

Well, yeah. I don't particularly want Jesus there when I'm 'straining at stool', for example, however encouragingly he's grinning into my red, grimacing fizzog.

10:32 / 31.08.06

He doesn't say whether this is the case on his site, but the drawings (to me) have the feeling of having been done from photographs. They look remarkably similar to the copies that I used to make from photos - similar detail, line, feeling of slightly stilted 'not-quite-rightness' about the figures and their interactions (exacerbated no doubt by the inclusion of Jesus at a late stage - there are several where the depth seems a bit off, for example).

The interpretation of Jesus' constant presence is interesting though - it's an unusual reversal of the usual dynamic in which people worship Christ. I suppose it depends whether you regard the constant presence and active interest of Jesus in your daily minutiae as reassuring or slightly creepy. It reminds me of the supposed schoolboy who supposedly once asked 'if God's everywhere, is he in our vests?'

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