Feminist art

statue on display in cathedral, Linz, Austria

Decapitated statues of Mary are not uncommon in European nations culturally enriched by Muslim migration. So the July 1 beheading of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (a.k.a. Mariendom) in Linz, Austria, was a welcome detour from a political minefield. It shifted attention from Islam to a less threatening adversary: Catholic traditionalists. Let me explain. “Crowning,” a coarsely crafted sculpture of the Virgin Mary in labor, went on display at the cathedral as part of DonnaStage, a tangle of events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mariendom’s consecration. Continue Reading
"But Is It Art?" Culture War, part 2

Last month’s UNCuyo exhibition prompted the Social Ministry of the Archdiocese of Mendoza to whine that the art “seriously offends” religious convictions. That merely acknowledged the obvious. To offend was precisely what it had been designed to do. The display was created as a finger in the eye of Christians, Catholics in particular. Clearly, it required a response. But what kind? What counts is the character of the response. It is worth remembering that tone itself is a tactic. Enough, please, with politesse in the face of an implacable foe. Continue Reading
St. Boniface chops down Thor's oak

What we call culture war is a holy war. Sadly, clerical bureaucracy would rather lose it than make a fuss. Or so it appears from too many instances of clerical capture by the zeitgeist. Recent commotion over anti-Christian sentiment posing as feminist art on show in Mendoza, Argentina, illustrates the state of things. Justice Potter Stewart knew pornography when he saw it. Ordained shepherds of the archdiocese of Mendoza prefer not to notice. Art is all. Back to that later. But first, some useful history. Continue Reading
View Through the Fallopian Tubes

For connoisseurs of civilizational decline, the delights keep accumulating. Contemporary art is especially generous in building the case that Spengler had it right. If only he had been an art critic. The ignorance and terminal vulgarity of what passes—still—for feminist art disqualifies most of its practitioners from any claim on civilized attention. Newly arrived is a press release from Ceres Gallery, a women’s not-for-profit collective in New York, announcing a not-so-unique exhibition Meet My Uterus. Vaginas have been over-exposed, laid bare every which way from Sunday. Continue Reading
Women & The New Moon, Still

WALPURGIS NIGHT IS STILL A WAYS AWAY, but already the witches are out. Some weeks back, I mentioned an exhibition in a community art center in the Berkshires. My reward for that is to have been placed on the mailing list of an organization that calls itself Gathered Resources of Women (GROW). // // To herald the January new moon. a broadcast arrived announcing the advent something called Red Tent Temple, scheduled to land in Pittsfield on January 8th. It was for all women, ages 13 and up. Continue Reading