I first saw this painting at an exhibition called Jesus Laughing and Loving . It is a touring exhibition and I saw it at my church. This painting caught my attention and I remember the thrill when I noticed the woman's hands. I was told a school party earlier that week had visited the exhibition and an eleven year old boy spent half an hour in front of the painting.
The other day, at a meeting of the Centre for Radical Christianity , Nicola Slee led a day, considering the Christa. I posted a photo of a Christa recently and the first half of the day focused on this type of crucifixion image.
After lunch, Nicola Slee asked whether there were similar resurrection images. Indeed, there are and this painting was reproduced in our packs. I intend to find out more about Garibay and his paintings. He is a Filipino artist and this painting shows a sort of Asian night club where the woman is a hostess. Despite the seedy atmosphere there is a real sense of joy and the onlooker is drawn in.
What struck me was a parallel with the Rublev icon of the Trinity (below). There are three men, with three bottles of beer and three spliffs. The woman does not partake. It seems to me the gestures of the men echo something of the gestures of the men in the icon. Obviously, the icon is not full of quite so much laughter but the placing of hands and the direction of gazes is important. The Trinity regard each other, the Garibay men regard the woman.
In the icon, the fourth side of the table faces the viewer. The Garibay Emmaus is turned around and the woman occupies the fourth side but her gaze is fixed on the viewer.
We can read this painting as we choose. The point to me is about incarnation. We cannot find God in heaven, God is in other people. This means God can as easily be found as a woman in a seedy bar as anywhere else. Unremarkable, suspect ... this is the meaning of the resurrection.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/the-resurrection/
Posted by: Keithpp | Wednesday, 24 April 2013 at 07:40 PM
Thank you Keith, an interesting post.
Posted by: Chris Sissons | Sunday, 28 April 2013 at 09:39 PM