Archbishopric

WORKS FOR ARCHBISHOPRIC

June/September 2015

Strasbourg Cathedral

Collective exhibition for the Millennium of the cathedral's foundation on the theme "The Lord's Prayer" by 24 artists

To celebrate the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Strasbourg’s Notre-Dame cathedral, there was an exhibition in the minster from June 20 to September 13, 2015. The vernissage took place on June 20, 2015, at 10.30am in the presence of the Archbishop of Strasbourg, Jean-Pierre Grallet O.F.M. Twenty-four artists were commissioned to paint a canvas of 1.8x0.8 meters on the theme of The Lord’s Prayer. The six different commissions were raffled, and each commission was carried out on canvas by four different artists.

My commission is: "Our Father in Heaven, … Give us this day our daily bread".

Exhibition Text for the Millenium of the Cathedral

Our Father give us this day our daily bread, this bread of life, this vital spiritual food, which enables us to live in the deepest possible sense. As it says in John’s Gospel:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:51).

And, linked to this:

"Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will take care of itself. There are enough things to worry about each day" (Matthew 6:34).

As Benedict XVI writes, quoting Simone Weil1:

"In everything that inspires in us a pure and authentic sense of beauty there is the real presence of God"

In this painting I’m trying to portray and give people a feeling of "one kind of divine incarnation in the world, revealed in beauty"1

Through the five senses, we may perceive the beauty of nature and a love that is revealed in God’s protective presence. We need to imbibe this beauty so that we do not lose hope. In it we discover the joys of contemplation and can learn to live the present moment deeply without worrying about tomorrow.

1Simone Weil "La pesanteur et la grâce", chapter on beauty

Around this woman, at the center of the painting, who calls out to us, revolves a plethora of symbols, evoking a fresco where the meaning transcends the simple canvas. The Rainbow, a manifestation of divine covenant with humanity, unfolds majestically, weaving a spiritual fabric within the composition, and God's protective hand that shelters her, inspired by Michelangelo. On the left side are the ills that plague humanity. Clouds darken the horizon, bearing the vengeful lightning symbolizing the evil that befalls humanity, whether it be natural disasters where humanity struggles, or the Barbarism of humans, the ultimate Evil, symbolized by the watchtowers of concentration camps, where bloodied barbed wire sprawls at the foot of the crown of thorns, and a few drops of blood narrate the martyrdom of Christ. As a result of all this sacrifice, a seed germinates from which emerges a stalk of wheat reaching towards the heavens, a symbol of Resurrection. The blue sky is flooded with golden hosts, divine sustenance, offered to humanity. The "bread of life," offered by the divine hand, transcends its corporeal nature to become fodder for the soul, symbolized by the blooming lotus, the melody of the lyre, the splendor of the iris, the grace of the hummingbird, and the fleeting blue of the morpho butterfly. Each of these elements, like poetic fragments, composes a visual symphony where spirituality and reality intertwine with enchanting grace. The entire right panel of the painting shows what nourishes the soul, through our senses Beauty is offered to us, either through vision, the iris, the wind blowing through the wheat, the always harmonious pentatonic lyre, the poet's lyre, the lotus in all its white brilliance floating above the marsh, the blue morpho heralding the Renaissance, and the hummingbird/dove bringing celestial nourishment.

There is yet another symbol, perhaps even more important.

Will you be able to find it ?

June 8th to October 15th, 2016

Saint-Georges Church of Sélestat

Collective exhibition of 26 artists "The Resurrection" as part of the 19th Sacred Art Path.