Blessed Art Thou
Blessed Art Thou is an oil-and-acrylic painting by American artist Kate Kretz. It depicts actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary, hovering in the clouds with her children above a Wal-Mart store.[1]
| Blessed Art Thou | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Kate Kretz  |
| Year | 2000s |
| Medium | oil paint, acrylic paint, linen |
Background
The painting directs attention to the celebrity worship cycle: each participant in the cycle perpetuates it while pointing a finger somewhere else.[2] The title of the painting, “Blessed Art Thou”, is gotten from a line in the Catholic prayer “Hail Mary”: “…blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb...”.
The painting was originally displayed in an exhibit that featured modern and contemporary art. The painting was exhibited at the Miami Art Fair in January 2007, and created a worldwide controversy that was covered by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox television networks, as well as The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, and many other international news sources. In the year of 2007, the painting was for sale, and its price was going for $50,000.[1][3]
A full-size drawing study for the work was included in the exhibition "Beyond Re / Production: Mothering" curated by Felicita Reuschling for the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin in 2011.
References
- "Angelina Jolie Versus Our Lady". campus.udayton.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
- "Artist's work: 'Blessed Art' not". temple-news.com.
- "Painter depicts Jolie as Virgin Mary - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
External links
Hoberman, J., "A Mighty Heart, A Mightier Spotlight", Village Voice, New York, June 20, 2007