Exploring trends in all the arts
There is nothing that makes its way more directly to the soul than beauty.
~Joseph Addison
IN THIS ISSUE...
Painter: Arthur Kwon Lee
Film: Is Avatar Cinematic Art?
Theology and the Arts: Lausanne Statement on the Arts, installment 2
Reader resources and subscriber premiums
Painter: Arthur Kwon Lee
Creating Visual Faith-Based Art in a Secularized Culture
Arthur Kwon Lee is the most cancelled fine artist in the world. Prior to Lee’s cancellation,
his paintings have won awards from George Washington University, the Korean Artists Association, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the inaugural title of 'Artist of the Year' by the Eileen Kaminsky Family Foundation. Arthur Kwon’s gestural mark making harmonizes expressive color palettes with world mythologies and religious icons. Prior to developing a love for painting, Lee was a Division One athlete who placed in the US Tae Kwon Do Nationals for three consecutive years and continues to deliver this martial intensity into his dynamic art. The resulting compositions attest to an artist who uses his entire body to paint symbolically evocative works that contain oblique references to our definitions on masculinity, aesthetics and reverence. Luminous colors, gestural expressionism, and philosophical acumen bring a refreshing sentiment to the one-sided art industry that draws our sometimes compartmentalized and fractured times into a synthetic, representative whole. Sourced from an article published on Gab News. See it here.
Film: Is Avatar Cinematic Art?
Avatar: The Way of Water
This is a brush-by impression. Producer and Director James Cameron has delivered another box-office winner with Avatar: The Way of Water, released in 2022. Laura and I decided to see what all the excitement was about. It was long--we endured its 3 hours, 12 minutes at our local walk-in theatre. The reclining seats made it easier. First the whole film had some of the most stunning special effects I ever experienced. In fact, in my opinion the production crew created a ground-breaking film--its editing/sound effects/atmospherics triumphed over its somewhat thin story. What is the plot? I think it is a ‘redemption’ story that promotes saving planet earth, seeking reconciliation after abusive treatment, and even experiencing a rebirth for all humanity after giving up on the current global morass. After the first hour it began to make me uncomfortable, as a Christian musician interested in the arts, for its epic postmodern messages, complete with a virgin birth and telepathic characters. Various sub-plots criss-crossed haphazardly until the end, leaving the audience impressed, but totally clueless. Did I enjoy it? Yes, for Cameron’s unique mix of human-android characters who manage to draw us in, and for its stunning photographic tapestry. If you have the time, it is definitely worth seeing.
Lausanne Statement on the Arts Continued
Redeeming the Arts: The Restoration of the Arts to God’s Creational Intention.
Composed and published in 2004, presented at the Lausanne Conference on Evangelism.
ACT 1: EDUCATION The Arts and a Renewed Theological Vision
Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:24-27)
As He concludes His great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells this story about two builders. One builds on a secure foundation while the other sets his house upon a foundation that is weak and vulnerable. This story clarifies a twofold requirement for all who wish to follow Jesus: first, we are to hear and understand His teaching, and second, we are to let that teaching move us to action. As we take up the subject of a renewed theological vision, it is not merely an intellectual exercise. What we come to understand makes a difference in how we live. Transformational action is the result of transformed thinking.
...continue reading here
Produced by the Issue Group on this topic at the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization hosted by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand, September 29 to October 5, 2004
Resources for Further Exploration
Avatar Way of the Water Trailer:
Avatar Way of the Water: Full Movie Review
Arthur Kwon Lee online:
Information about Lausanne
A Word from Terry Yount
Executive Creator, Mere Beauty
Subscribers to the website and journal issues will have access to archives, sound and video files, and exciting resources for arts advocacy and support. Your feedback, as always, is welcome.
In all the confusion of the modern world, Mere Beauty is your place to stop, to observe, to listen, to become part of the beauty all around us.
MBJournal
Comments