Prophetic Art: A New Renaissance
The following is a condensed version of my final year university exegesis.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales describes contemporary as referring to now, the present moment, so at any point in history, the making of new art is always contemporary. With this in mind, I introduce the topic of the emerging movement of Christian Prophetic Art. Relatively unknown to the mainstream arts and academic communities, varying forms of Christian Prophetic Art have always existed. The book of Ezekiel clearly describes the prophet Ezekiel drawing a picture of the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and then enacting a siege against it as a prophetic drama under the instruction of the Holy Spirit (Ezek 4:1-2). However it is only within the last two decades that believers worldwide have begun to incorporate it into their practice of faith, both personally and corporately. Being an increasing part of contemporary Christian culture, it is regularly executed in church services, private professional practice, religious gatherings and teaching conferences.
So what is Christian Prophetic Art? A prophecy is a message from God, given through a person that conveys the mind, heart, will and intent of God. It is generally understood to be spoken, sung or written, however in the Bible, prophecy took many forms; verbal announcement, songs and poems and detailed physical conceptual enactments, for example the book of Hosea. Much of scriptural prophecy, such as the book of Revelation, was given through vision. Many who operate in the gift of prophecy regularly receive revelation in the form of pictures or visions. The prophetic artist reproduces those pictures, visions or concepts in a variety of art forms, including sculpting, drawing, painting, crafts, photography, graphic design, film and performance art. It can be symbolic or metaphorical with the symbolism being either recognized traditionally Biblical or something that is understood culturally, often including text. Prophetic art is not limited to an artist to viewer format. Many prophetic artists use the practice as a spiritual tool to minister to themselves or as a personal act of prayer. This particular process is the subject of increasing workshops and study within many contemporary churches.
It is generally accepted amongst prophetic artists and Christians familiar with the practice that the message of the art is predominantly conveyed directly by the Holy Spirit directing the understanding of the viewer, often confirming something God has already revealed to them. Prophetic artists believe their creative expression is a conduit for God’s transformative nature and are called to release his presence through art to facilitate experiences where people can encounter him. Matt Tommey, founder and director of the Worship Studio, an international teaching centre for prophetic artists, states “Artists are prophetic messengers to culture who are designed to release the light and life of God in places that need it the most using language that can be understood without religious jargon. It’s been said that “if good preaching and good singing were going to change the world, it would have already been done.” People are hungry for an encounter with God and artists are uniquely equipped to translate the Truth of the Kingdom through their creative expression” (Tommey, 2014).
I consider my own practice to be Christian Prophetic Art; as a form of prophetic research and action; the receiving, analysing and refiguring of spiritual insight into the act of art making in a way that is culturally relevant. In a personal context, it is a form of physical prayer or commentary, as part of spiritual purposeful behaviour. My creativity cannot be separated from my spirituality. Mainstream contemporary art requires the viewer to interpret and evaluate each piece in its cultural context, drawing upon pre-established visual tropes and rhetoric, quite removed from the idea of God. In my own work, I strive to discourage purely intellectual rationalisation, instead creating a space where questions of spiritual nature can arise, prompting the viewer to ponder thoughts in line with Christ-centred, Biblical perspectives, in particular around notions of identity and positive worth.
Over the past fifteen years that I have been practicing prophetic art, I have noticed several themes or strategies in which I function. The most common occurs in corporate prophecy. This is where I receive a vision and usually an accompanying translation during a time of worship at a Christian meeting, either traditional church services or informal small groups. During the following teaching section of the service, I will usually draw what was revealed to me. It is at this stage that the interpretation will flow. The vision received will explain a prayer strategy, a hindrance to the working of the Holy Spirit within that ministry and solution, or a revelatory conformation or encouragement for someone present.
I divide my prayer into four stages; the petitioning to God, the promise received, the proclaiming of that promise, until it comes to pass. It is the third stage of proclamation that informs and creates the bulk of my art process. Nearly each painting, drawing and installation I make is a statement that has resulted from direct prayer, and the subsequent answering or directing vision, always in accordance with Biblical truth. Much like Ezekiel’s prophetic drama in clay(Ezek 4:1-2), the stages of production of individual works become a spiritual process in themselves taking on accompanying physical actions. Colours take on specific meaning as they are applied; the use of gold, red and white featuring prominently. When a negative vision is revealed to me, I will often paint it only to be purposely removed or painted over. This action symbolises faith that the thing hoped for but not yet seen will come to pass, Hebrews11:1.
So where does my practice and that of other self-confessed prophetic artists fit in contemporary art culture? Artist and author Liam Gillick has described contemporary art as no longer being an historical accommodation of political values that are mutable, global, and general, preoccupied with the acedemicization of rethought theoretical terms, but describes a separation from the act of making art and the way it is received and explained. He re-terms it as ‘current art’, describing the contemporary as “an internal thing that is expressed only partially on the external” (Gillick, 2010). The common thread amongst prophetic artists is the receiving of content, and source via internal dialogue with God, the resulting piece being the translation of that internal thing to the external; a way to participate in ‘God’s kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’. During this transference process, where inspired vision becomes the tangible, the artist collaborates with the divine. Each has the free will to inject as much or little of their own intentional intellectual modification to the original vision as desired. Some Christian Prophetic artists begin without a pre-conceived idea and allow the Spirit to take control of the creative process. Alternatively, I tend to start with the vision and alter it significantly, transforming it using techniques characteristic of secular contemporary art, such as appropriation, in particular of historical religious paintings.
The question arises though, as to the relevance of a Christ-centered art to the now. New York based Nihonge artist Makoto Fujimura describes “culture at large is neither ‘Christian nor ‘secular’, but fantastically pluralistic, defying conventional categorization” (Makato, 2009). He describes the splintered condition of culture as a kaleidoscope of common struggles, encouraging artists to provide care for culture via their works.
Despite the spiritual in art often dismissed today as being of lesser value to the more mainstream academic and political expressions, it has periodically been recognized throughout history. Many great masters ascribed a divine source. Although predominantly religious-political, the Renaissance period was occupied with near singular religious theme. Only direct conversation with the artists themselves would serve to determine whether their motivation was that of a prophetic nature (being the relaying of divine message out of direct communication), or response to a less divine source, such as financial, or political gain. Centuries later, the Surrealist Movement broke from tradition with the preoccupation of spiritually informed art. Although not Christ-centered, the purposeful seeking out of spiritual sources was a predominant and accepted narrative.
Although it is easy to categorize Christian prophetic art as ‘outsider’, there is a strong international affiliation, numbers large and growing, with the practice incredibly uniform, being increasingly incorporated into church functioning across a broad collection of denominations and cultures, but as yet, little has been officially documented, with no context within the regular academic standard. Subsequently research exists in online groups and artists’ personal websites.
In conclusion, Christian prophetic art is about releasing heaven to earth through creativity. It cannot be denied that art inspires, changing the very atmosphere. There are thousands of testimonials of it bringing hope, love, healing and freedom to those that view it. A new renaissance is forming and on the rise. In its most basic form prophetic art is receiving a revelation from God, and transferring it to any number of mediums. Countless people are dedicated to seeing its acceptance and influence in the mainstream contemporary art world. Erwin McManus has spent most of his life inspiring Christian artists to live up to their full creative potential. As founder of Mosaic “hipster megachurch” in Hollywood, he teaches on prophetic art as well as writing and internationally delivering lectures on topics such as culture, change, creativity and leadership to both Christian and secular creative industry , predominantly film.
“When we are freed from the rules and regulations that are so often imposed on us in the name of God, we discover that creativity is the natural result of spirituality…..To create is to reflect the image of God. To create is an act of worship” (McManus, 2014).
Artists of the emerging Christian Prophetic Art Movement are united in seeing themselves responsible to demonstrate that it is possible to bring heaven to earth, to be links with the unlinkable, with otherwise disparate entities. The very nature of the creative process is to prophetically glue together the seen and unseen, to sense and interpret what God is saying in order to release Spirit-led Kingdom expression in culturally relevant ways that inspires response (Shaw 2007).
References List
Fujimura, M. (2009). Refractions; a Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture, (Colorado Springs: NAVPRESS, 2009), end cover.
Gillick, L. (2010). Contemporary art does not account for that which is taking place [Online]. E-flux Journal, p.1. Available at: http://www.e-flux.com/journal/contemporary-art-does-not-account-for-that-which-is-taking-place/ [Accessed 19/04/2016].
McMannus, E. (2014).The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art. New York: HarperCollins.
Tommey, M, (2014). Creativity According to the Kingdom:Connecting with Heaven to Createwith God and Release Transformation”. May 2014. [EBook] Fairview NC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Available at: http://www.TheWorshipStudio.org [Accessed 28/05/2016].
* Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.