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Springville • There are familiar angels and avatars, patriarchs and pioneers, Buddhas and billboards — and even a playful but affectionate rendition of the late LDS prophet Gordon B. Hinckley — in this year's "Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah" exhibit.
In an unexpected twist, though, the two winning entries on display at the Springville Museum of Art are depictions of Christ's crucifixion and both artists are Mormons, a faith that has shied away from emphasizing the cross.
Their styles are completely different, yet each offers an evocative view that will likely move Christians of any cast. And neither gives Jesus a face, letting viewers imagine their Savior's agony in their own way.
Brian Kershisnik's Christ is a white, lifeless body, cradled by grieving onlookers and mourned by weeping angels as it is handed down from the cross, while Adam Abram's piece reveals only Christ's feet during the crucifixion.
"Everyone who believes in Christ has their own personal visualization of what he looks like," says Abram, whose piece, "No Greater Love," took first place. "Plus, you can never literally paint the exact moment of Christ's suffering."
Such openness and originality are what make this show so potent, says Vern Swanson, the museum's longtime director, who created the contest 25 years ago.
"This exhibition is not just about elements of art," Swanson says, "but about the core beliefs, spirituality and psyche of the artists."
The museum this year selected 190 pieces out of 363 submissions. Jurors gave seven major awards — one first place and one director's choice, two second places and three third places. It also handed out 35 merit awards.
"That's a record," Swanson says." And it means that Utah has reached a critical mass of artists."
Skill, professionalism, creativity and intriguing images of faith in every medium are on display throughout the Spanish-style museum's exhibit.
A steel contraption houses a "spiritual tornado." The figure of a painter looks up to a cloud-filled sky in "Father, I'm Listening." Sheep graze quietly in a pasture at the foot of Mont St. Michel in "All We Like Sheep." A shrouded body stands on a precipice with arms outstretched and fingers on each hand pointing in opposite directions in "Question."
Not surprisingly, though, many, many pieces come back to Jesus.
'Heavens are weeping'
Abram chose to obscure the figure of Christ, depicting only a pair of feet, with obvious nail holes, attached to a wooden post. In the foreground is a woman, with a deep red dress and a cloak of blue, lying against the plank with her head leaning on the toes and her arm encircling the post.
"The body language of the woman's pose is just as important as the look on her face," says Abram, who lives in Orem. "I wanted it to be more subtle than the usual approach. But right away people know what scene it is without showing Christ's face or body."
Abram also chose to eliminate all the other elements — the Roman soldiers, the two thieves, the hill — from the traditional story and focus on the woman and her sorrow. A road leads up to and away from the cross and dark rain clouds fill the sky.
"When you put subtlety in the pose, you need your drama somewhere else, like the sky," he says. "Instead of the woman crying her eyes out, the heavens are weeping."
Though Abram is a Christian, he feels that nonbelievers could see in his painting a more universal scene of death, love and longing.
The woman could be Mary Magdalene, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, representing the connection between mother and child, Abram says. The man on the cross could be a soldier who gave his life for his country and the woman could be his wife or someone who loved him.
The scene is set not on the typical Golgotha hill, but on a simple pathway.
The Romans wanted people who traveled on the road to confront their crucifixions face to face, and Abram was going for a similar, visceral impact.
'Their fallen hero'
Though Kershisnik's "Descent From the Cross" — which captured the director's award — is dramatically different, he, too, approaches it from a human perspective.
Instead of a traditional vertical painting, with the cross rising so high the viewer has to look up, the Kanosh-based painter created a horizontal look, with the body at eye level.
"At this point in [Jesus'] story, all is lost on the participants. They don't know what is going to happen in a few days — as none of us do in the midst of a mess," he says. "All there is to be done is to deal with the corpse of their fallen hero. It appears to them that it didn't work. He was overcome."
This is a part of the Christian story that Mormons don't talk about much, Kershisnik says, but it's impossible to understand the miracle of Easter morning without grasping some sense of the death on the cross.
"Resurrection and redemption and completion of atonement came at such a horrible and brutal cost," he says. "We can't overlook the rough parts of the story or how far down [Jesus] went."
The top of the canvas is filled with individual angels, who are variously horrified, stunned and sobbing.
Some religious viewers have asked the artist why angels, who presumably knew about Christ's ultimate triumph over death, would be so distraught. They should be more joyful or at least more knowing.
To Kershisnik, it would be impossible even for heavenly creatures not to mourn with those who mourn.
"Even if they anticipated what was going to happen, it is different just to witness it," he says. "The idea that you could rejoice in the face of his broken body, I just couldn't wrap my head around that."
Painting this scene was a wrenching experience for Kershisnik.
"Virtually every time I worked on the painting, I would weep, but it was not depressing," he says. "It was a good thing for me. I felt in my stupid, little way what the Lord did."
Both crucifixion paintings take a nonliteral but emotion-packed approach, Swanson says. "They're straight from the heart."
And that's what this show celebrates.
An 'ecumenical' show
In much of today's art world, religious art is viable only if faith is "deconstructed," he says. It shies away from realistic, reverential images.
This exhibit, on the other hand, eliminated pieces that were totally abstract or landscapes — even if they had religious-sounding titles.
"We want the spiritual themes to be somewhat overt," Swanson says. "But we don't allow anyone to ridicule any religion."
Utah has produced three of the top five selling artists in the Christian market — Greg Olsen, Simon Dewey and Del Parson, he says. Walter Rane, Liz Lemon Swindle and Joseph Brickey are not far behind.
But the Beehive State is home to at least 8,000 other artists, he says, and they are not just painting for the LDS or Christian market. They are all over the place religiously.
"This show is ecumenical; it is for everyone," Swanson says. "Even atheists do well, because atheism is its own religion."
About the exhibit
The 25th annual "Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah" exhibit continues through Dec. 28 at the Springville Museum of Art, 126 E. 400 South. Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays 3 to 6 p.m. Admission is free. —
Coming in 2011
P Starting in January, The Salt Lake Tribune will launch a yearlong monthly series about religious art. —
Award winners
Director's Award
Brian Kershisnik • "Descent From the Cross"
First Place
Adam Abram • "No Greater Love"
Second Place
Michael J. Bingham • "Good and Evil"
Patrick Marco Devonas • "Abinadi"
Third Place
David Edward Linn • "Question"
Jonathan Morris Linton • "Faith, Hope and Charity"
Tyson Andrew Monson • "All We Like Sheep"