Previously posted September 16, 2019 —

Taking advance of my dear husband’s business travel I tagged along with him on a recent trip to Chicago. We always appreciate the breadth and depth of art this city holds. Day one was spent exploring the Pilsen neighborhood. This is an area dense with Latino community. The first stop was the National Museum of Mexican Art. Much of the art reflected the Catholic faith and religious history of the people and places they had immigrated from. This is a detail of contemporary glass bead art mimicking techniques used in the 1590’s. The folk art style was charming and the craftsmanship was unbelievable as this is one small square of a 10 x 10’ mural.

At the end of the 1970’s Carmen Parra started an exhaustive study of the Mexico City Cathedral. This painting is one of the results of that research. It reflects the magnificence of the building and the iconography of the altar. The generous use of the gold leaf evokes a sense of mystery.

The special exhibit was a retrospective of work by contemporary artist, Rocio Caballero. I was not familiar with her work prior to this viewing. It was so, very powerful. This painting reminds us of the crucifixion at Calvary. But instead of depicting Jesus Christ, the artist depicts a woman dressed as a bride amidst tow rose colored crosses. The background landscape is that of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico where since 1931 hundreds of women and young girls have been murdered or have disappeared. The bride represents a dream many women have but the paper doll cut outs she holds remind us of the many women that have not had a chance to realize the dream.

In the early 1970’s the youth in the area protested educational inequalities. The city heard their cry and made improvements. In the midst of the strive community leaders brought people together by starting a mural project. The area today is lively with everything painted that can be. It’s a visual feast for the eyes. This Lady of Guadalupe is just one example …

The next morning was spent at the Museum of Contemporary Art to experience the Fragments of a Crucifixion exhibit. It was a small but powerful exhibit and interestingly mirrored many of the themes that we’d seen at the Mexican Museum of Art. See the exhibit online here.

A Friday noon organ recital at Fourth Presbyterian Church gave me time to be uplifted and refreshed by the music played by Elisa Bickers. But also allowed for admiration of the imagery and craftsmanship of the “I Am” worship banners. For years I’ve been impressed with the visual arts connections Fourth Church makes and these banners are just one of the many fine examples.

…. and this was just fun to come across. There are probably some good parables that could be woven from the words, broken fence and crack in the pavement. We’ll let you think on that!