ART THOUGHTS: Muzeffer’s response to Art and The Body Politick Part 2

As I made my way across the gallery I found the artworks pertaining to organized religion relevant since our society has drifted more toward religious fundamentalism for the past thirty years.American Family: Landscape of Dreams illustrates the mega church movement of Christian fundamentalism within the last three decades. The churches tend to be located in the suburbs, a part of the nation’s suburban sprawl, which reflects the culture’s desire space and independence regardless of its impact upon the environment. The mega church is meant to create new communities for persons who are now disconnected from urban or township spaces and their connection to an extended family. The theology of these Christian institutions is profoundly individualistic and focuses upon the continuing financial success of both the membership and pastoral leaders, neither of whom are concerned about the welfare of the whole. The ideology of these institutions centers around the goodness of the followers contrasted with the evil of outsiders. The artist illustrates how this is similar to Islamic fundamentalism or any other religious fundamentalism. A section of this piece of art shows a Quran toting Muslim who recites prayers to Allah while being simultaneously consumed with hatred for those of another faith.
Patriarchy II – Terror By Jais Booth (to left) made me aware of how one’s understanding of faith is determined to a large extent by one’s sex. I assumed that the artist was conveying the existence of a life of fear or anxiety determined to a large extent by the fundamentalist assumptions of one segment of a community against fellow members. Because the image was presented in an anti-Islamic society, as witnessed by the smear tactics of the recent election, it developed a disturbing quality. The image became one of a “foreign, inferior” culture that does not deserve membership in “our community.” This well meaning and correctly illustrative artwork became sour for me as I listened to the negative comments certain viewers were making about the “other” culture that is also a part of our collective society. Overall, the reaction of others and myself is determined by our understanding of sex/gender and culture.
Machine Gun Jesus vividly illustrates the frightening level of intolerance that often accompanies fundamentalism. The crucified Christ is attached to a firearm as a way of conveying how far many are willing to go in order to bring the other to their way of understanding the world. Ironically, our understanding or reality often determines our ultimate identification with a certain segment of the American “community.”
United Sepulchers is a reminder of a leadership of war criminals who the artist has buried behind prison walls. This is an image that most Americans need to witness in order to understand the similarity of this with the American imagination of Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. This leadership or ruling class relied upon the manipulation of religion, the Judeo-Christian faith, and American nationalism in order to coerce the population into allowing the ruling class to achieve its goals. A large segment of the goals are the connection of American financial and military sector. The achievement of financial rewards via a military is to be accomplished by any means necessary. Will Americans have the courage to “bury” the visible members of this class behind prison wall before they permanently bury us into perpetual silence?

This wonderful presentation of political art was interspersed with poetry reading as well as a reception. The poets made continuous references to our political era and its issues. They gave a collective voice to the issues that so many are yearning to have addressed in this moment of national anxiety. The reception, a time for dialoguing with the artists and other lovers of political art, gave me a feeling of being within an emerging community of those who have hope that some form of changer is possible if we can hear what are saying visually.

Muzeffer Abdul el-Hakim is an historian, a theologian, and a political
analyst of contemporary politics and culture. He is a native of
Shreveport, LA and a graduate of Morehouse College. Muzeffer is presently
an educator in the East Bay.