Title

Against the Blues

Creator

Unknown

Preview

Creation Date

1985

Medium

ceramic, ceramic glaze

Exhibition Label

Minimal art in the Crèche tradition tends to freeze facial expressions into some distant interiority. Each figure is a world in itself celebrating the beauty of self-containment and separation. It no longer holds true then that “nobody is an island?” There is one redeeming factor: the eyes. They seem to utter the northern proverb: “Blue are the hills that are far away.” And so this set became the “blue nativity.” A superficial observation of the figures may give you the blues. A second look may rekindle the conviction that distance lends enchantment to the view, a distance that allows for the whole picture, not some ephemeral sentimentality or backward bent nostalgia. The whole picture is Christ yesterday, today, and tomorrow… a sure cure against the blues.

Description

Eight pieces, made of glazed ceramic. Figures depict Mary seated with a large cross on her breast, Joseph, Jesus in manger, three kings, and a shepherd. Exhibition label originally written by Fr. Johann G. Roten, S.M. for exhibit entitled "Elisabeth's Nativity House: The van Mullekom Collection" held at Roesch Library, University of Dayton.

Rights

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