Jacob and the angel: Wrestling to reconcile body and spirit

“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” by Leon Bonnat (1876) via Wikimedia Commons

When Jacob wrestled with the angel in the Bible, they embodied the struggle between sexuality and spirituality. Artists have created many homoerotic images of the scene over the centuries. The story of Jacob wrestling (Genesis 32:24-31) is the Sunday lectionary reading for tomorrow (Aug 3).

Many have interpreted the story as a struggle between material and spiritual needs, but it is especially powerful for queer people who are trying to reconcile their sexuality and their faith. Jacob refused to give up the fight until he forced a blessing out of God. Like Jacob, LGBT people can also win God’s blessing by continuing to wrestle with our faith, regardless of those who condemn as sinners.

Jacob, ancestor and namesake of the Israelites, is alone one night when a mysterious stranger comes to him. Scripture refers to the stranger as a man, God, and an angel (Hosea 12:4). He wrestles with Jacob until dawn. Then the angel wants to leave, but Jacob insists, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

The angel gives him a new name and identity as Israel, which can be translated as “one who has prevailed with God.” Jacob asks to know the angel’s name, but he just gives a blessing and leaves. Alone again, Jacob marvels, “I have seen God face to face and lived.”

Jacob is honored in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For Christians, some see the pre-incarnate Christ himself as the mysterious stranger who wrestled with Jacob.

The story raises intriguing questions. What was the nature of the “wrestling” that went on all night long? Whether or not there was an erotic interaction, the friendly conclusion affirms that God wants to relate to human beings as equals. God rewards those who challenge God.

“Jacob and the Angel” by Hendrik Andersen, lover of Henry James. For the uncropped version (warning: full frontal nudity), visit Wikimedia Commons.

___
Related links:

“Wrestling with God” at the Queering the Church Blog is a queer reflection on Jacob and the angel.

Click here for a gallery of art showing “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” at Wikimedia Commons.

____
This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, prophets, witnesses, heroes, holy people, humanitarians, deities and religious figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

Trinity Sunday: Gay Passion of Christ series ends

24. The Trinity (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“The grace of the Sovereign Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” -- 2 Corinthians 13:14 (Inclusive Language Lectionary)

An angelic figure blesses two men holding hands in “The Trinity,” the last image of 24 paintings in “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision” by Douglas Blanchard. The painting can stand alone to affirm the holiness of gay couples, but it also serves as a meditation on the Christian Trinity: one God in three persons. Churches celebrate the Trinity on Trinity Sunday, which is today (June 3) this year. The trio gathers around a table set with milk, honey, and fruit, references to the Promised Land. The man draped in red reaches toward the viewer, inviting us to join them in the sunny garden. An arch in the background hints at the gate of heaven.


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Trinity Sunday: Holy Spirit blesses same-sex couple as Gay Passion of Christ series ends

“The Trinity” shows the transformation in Jesus (and the viewer) after experiencing Christ’s Passion. We move from the dark prison of the first painting to a bright land of promise, out of the closet, into the streets, and on to holy bliss. The artist has said that he intended this to be “a little glimpse of salvation, of the reward of the faithful.”

The winged woman in the golden robe is the same Holy Spirit who arrived in the previous painting. Viewers will be forgiven for wondering which man is Jesus. Blanchard, who is so adept at painting individual faces, gives the same face to all three, even the female Holy Spirit. The artist does this on purpose to emphasize the three-in-one nature of God. BOTH men have haloes and marks of crucifixion on their wrists.

One clue to their identities comes from the way the figures direct their attention. Both the Holy Spirit and the man in blue turn to look at the man in red. Their body language suggests that he is Jesus, the focus of this series, the one who just completed his heroic Passion journey. Like Jesus in the first painting of this series, the man in red gazes straight out from the image, meeting the eyes of the viewer His upper torso is naked, revealing the wound in his side and a radiant, muscular body. Surely this man is Jesus.

The Bible often says that Jesus will ascend to heaven and sit at the right hand of God. By that reckoning, the man in blue must be God, but he is not the usual Father figure of traditional Trinitarian imagery. He doesn’t look like “the Lord” and certainly not like Jesus’ father. In Blanchard’s universe, God’s identification with humanity is so complete that he and Jesus both share the crucifixion wounds. God and Jesus are identical young lovers in a mystic same-sex marriage. Mission accomplished, they sit together side by side in radical equality. As the historical Christian creeds say, they are “of one substance” and “coeternal, and coequal.”

They wear colors that reinforce the Trinity concept. Their red, blue and yellow robes are the three primary colors that, when mixed, create the full spectrum of white light. Red, blue and yellow flowers blossom around them. These are common, garden-variety plants: geraniums, irises -- and dandelions! Even weeds are welcome at the feet of Christ. The natural setting and generic robes give it a timeless quality, but there are hints of contemporary life in the glass pitcher and honey jar. The man on the right wears a modern t-shirt under his blue robe.

The holy gay wedding imagery is especially revolutionary because of its placement in the Blanchard’s Passion sequence. After the Ascension and Pentecost, the final position normally goes to the Last Judgment. Traditional images show Jesus sending sinners to hell and the righteous to heaven. Conservative Christians like to imagine homosexuals among the damned. But Blanchard eschews the crime-based model. He found a model for this painting in a separate branch of art history: Andrei Rublev’s great Byzantine icon “Trinity,” which shows the three angels at Abraham’s table. Blanchard’s Passion ends not with judgment, but with love. Jesus and God are not on thrones and they are not judging anybody. This too has a Biblical foundation. Roman 8:34 says, “Who then will condemn us? No one -- for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (New Living Translation).

The symbolism of this painting can be better understood by considering it as a pair with the first painting, Son of Man. The opening image is also a kind of Trinity. The two paintings that start and end the series have much in common. Unlike the rest of the series, their titles are theological concepts. Both have a disjointed sense of time, mixing modern and ancient dress. Both show Jesus gazing directly into the eyes of the viewer. The first and last images are brackets or bookends that enclose and uphold the thrilling account of events in Christ’s life.

The term “Trinity” is never used in the Bible, although it is implied. The Trinity is admittedly a mystery, which naturally makes it rather queer. The Trinity has inspired queer theologians to reflect on the omnigendered or genderqueer nature of God, encompassing both male and female as in Blanchard’s paintings.

Understanding of Christian symbolism is not necessary to enjoy this painting. Any group of three can be a trinity. A lot of LGBT people (and others) just plain like “The Trinity,” without seeing it as Christian at all. For example, it was chosen to illustrate the concept of gay friendship on the cover of White Crane Journal: Gay Wisdom and Culture in summer 2007. The painting ends the series as a kind of blessing or benediction, encouraging viewers to carry the vision onward and live with passion in every sense of the word.

“So then the Sovereign Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” -- Mark 16:19 (Inclusive Language Lectionary)

What is the gay vision of heaven? The Holy Spirit inspires each person to see visions of God in his or her own way. Look, the Holy Spirit celebrates two men who love each other! She looks like an angel as She protects the male couple. Are the men Jesus and God? No names can fully express the omnigendered Trinity of Love, Lover, and Beloved… or Mind, Body, and Spirit. God is madly in love with everybody. God promised to lead people out of injustice and into a good land flowing with milk and honey. We can travel the same journey that Christ traveled. Opening to the joy and pain of the world, we can experience all of creation as our body -- the body of Christ. As queer as it sounds, we can create our own land of milk and honey. As Jesus often said, heaven is among us and within us. Now that we have seen a gay vision of Christ’s Passion, we are free to move forward with love.

Jesus, thank you for giving me a new vision!

___
Related links:

Celebrate the Feast of the (Queer) Holy Trinity (Queering the Church)

The Genderqueer Trinity (Queering the Church)

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This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry. For the whole series, click here.

Scripture quotations are from the Inclusive Language Lectionary, copyright © 1985-88 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Ascension Day: Jesus Returns to God (Gay Passion of Christ series)

22. Jesus Returns to God (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” -- Acts 1:9 (RSV)

A winged man carries Jesus skyward in “Jesus Returns to God” from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a series of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard. The loving couple seems to dance in a mystical homoerotic union. Jesus, shirtless and wearing blue jeans, swoons in the arms of someone who appears to be an angel. But a close look reveals that they both have crucifixion wounds on their wrists. Jesus is embraced directly by God!

Detail from "Jesus Returns to God"

“Jesus Returns to God” is Blanchard’s vision of the Ascension, the transitional moment when the resurrected Jesus left earth and was taken up into heaven. Churches commemorate the event with the Feast of the Ascension, a major holiday that comes 40 days after Easter (May 17 this year). Christian tradition emphasizes that the resurrected Jesus ascends bodily -- in the flesh -- up into the clouds of heaven. Therefore it is appropriate for this image to have a physical, erotic component, even though many viewers find it disturbing.

Beams of white light stream from God’s head in a sunburst so bright that it almost obliterates the blue sky. His wings look muscular, like God has to work hard to lift the dead weight of Jesus up from the earth. The wounds in Jesus’ wrists and feet were dark before, but now they glow like hot-pink jewels. This is the lightest painting in Blanchard’s series, dissolving into white at the top in stark contrast to the pitch-black panel of “Jesus Among the Dead.” Now the misty clouds even spill over the frame on the lower left. The position of their arms suggests a ballroom dance, perhaps a waltz, with God’s hand planted firmly on Jesus’ buttocks.

People tend to react strongly to this image. Some find it too sexual and are horrified by the thought of “God’s hand on my butt.” (At least God has no body below the waist here!) Others love the painting because it removes the shame of sexuality, showing same-sex love as holy. From this point on, Jesus is more visibly gay. He is also less natural and more supernatural.  With this image Blanchard’s series truly becomes a “gay vision” as the title proclaims. There is no longer any doubt about whether Jesus was simply a tolerant ally of queer people. The full revelation of his gay sexual orientation does not happen in his lifetime, but is disclosed in the afterlife by Blanchard. Some people wish the series stopped right before this image. Others would prefer it started here.

In Christian theology the Ascension serves to emphasize the reality of Jesus as both human and divine. It is seen as the consummation of God’s union with humanity. “Mystical marriage” is a separate Christian concept in which the love between God and people is compared to a human marriage, including the sexual ecstasy between bride and groom. Erotic union becomes a metaphor for union with God. Blanchard breaks new ground by combining the Ascension with the mystical marriage and a gay viewpoint, making this one of the most original paintings in the series.

God appears here for the first time in Blanchard’s series. He gives God some extraordinary attributes: He has wounds, wings, and the same face as Jesus. God with wounds is virtually unprecedented. It is rare to see a painting of God with wings, even though there are many Biblical references to humanity being protected or carried by God’s wings. Usually God and Jesus are shown as Father and Son, but Blanchard makes them look like gay lovers or the same person in two places, further emphasizing his theme of God in solidarity with humanity.

The mystical marriage and “Christ the Bridegroom” are rare subjects in art history, but the Ascension has been painted many times over the centuries.  Ascension images usually have two zones: a crowd of apostles watching from earth below and Jesus rising up into heaven above. Jesus is frequently shown with his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing. Sometimes just the feet of Jesus are shown as he disappears into the clouds. It is almost unprecedented to show only Jesus and God without the people below, as Blanchard does. A notable exception is “Ascension” by 20th-century surrealist Salvador Dali, which is dominated by the soles of Jesus’ feet as he flies upward.

“Jesus Returns to God” can stand alone as a gay-affirming vision of ecstatic union with God. The mixed response to this painting raises the issue of how artists can visually code Jesus as queer without being too literal. For some viewers, anything more than a subtle hint is too sexually explicit or reduces the mystery of Christ to a billboard. Others need a flagrantly out-and-proud Jesus to clearly say that God loves LGBT folk. Conservative Christians have made many LGBT people think of Jesus as their enemy. How far should an artist go to counteract the that? Blanchard strikes a balance here by showing Jesus as an ordinary man swept up in a homoerotic dance with God.

“As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” -- Isaiah 62:5 (RSV)

We can only imagine the bliss that Jesus felt when he returned to God. No words or pictures can express all the joy of a soul’s union with the divine, but some have compared it to sexual ecstasy or marriage. Perhaps for Jesus, it was a same-sex marriage. Jesus drank in the nectar of God’s breath and surrendered to the divine embrace. They mixed male and female in ineffable ways. Jesus became both Lover and Beloved as everything in him found in God its complement, its reflection, its twin. When they kissed, Jesus let holy love flow through him to bless all beings throughout timeless time. Love and faith touched, justice and peace kissed. The boundaries between Jesus and God disappeared and they became whole: one Heart, one Breath, One. We are all part of Christ’s body in a wedding that welcomes everyone.

Jesus, congratulations on your wedding day! Thank you for inviting me!

___
Bible background
Song of Songs: “O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth!”

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This is part of the series “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.”

The Passion series features 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry. It is also available as a book and prints.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Artist Wes Hempel paints gay spiritual struggles

“A New Beginning” by Wes Hempel

Is that a gay angel weeping? Gay spiritual struggles are suggested in the paintings of Wes Hempel, whose art helps LGBT people find our missing place in history.

The Colorado artist creates a sense of mystery by combining contemporary figures with historical elements, using the polished, realistic style of the past. His projects include “a re-visioning of what art history might have looked like had homosexuality not been vilified.”

Some of Hempel’s paintings address the clash between contemporary gay identity and religious tradition. Others imply gay experiences of sublime awe through nature, sexuality and, by extension, the One who created it all. The beauty of his style and subject matter reflects the holiness of human nature.

An excellent example is “A New Beginning” (above), which shows a young man kneeling in prayer while a nude angel weeps and a handsome man watches from heavenly clouds above. Hempel’s own statement on the painting raises more questions that it answers:

“It’s not clear what prayer is being offered by the kneeling youth, though in conjunction with the title, we might assume he desires a fresh start of some kind, a break with the past (represented by the recently excavated antiquities), forgiveness, perhaps, renewal. Other elements in the painting may hint that realizing such a change will not be easy. Is the angel standing beside the youth weeping? If so, are these tears of joy or dismay? The figure perched in the clouds -- ostensibly a representative of heaven -- looks down not at the praying youth, but rather off to the side. Is his expression one of concern? Compassion? Sadness? The tornado, literally a collision of opposing air masses, churns ominously in the background.”

Another mysterious gay encounter occurs in “Supplication” (below). Two idealized men interact, or purposely fail to interact, among the clouds in a setting that suggests heaven or antiquity. Supplication is a form of prayer, but is the supplicant begging a favor from another man -- or from a Christ figure? Is he asking to have his homoerotic desires fulfilled or removed? Are they lover and beloved, human and God, or two faces of the exact same man?

“Supplication” by Wes Hempel

Like a painter from the 19th century, Hempel sometimes uses nature as a metaphor for the divine. Two shirtless men cling together as they stagger through scenery of almost overwhelming majesty in “Rescue from the Sublime” (below).

“Rescue from the Sublime” by Wes Hempel

Hempel made the spiritual connection clear in a discussion of “Rescue from the Sublime” at the gay Mormon blog Invictus Pilgrim.

“I was thinking how the beauty of the world can be overpowering at times, and how we need help from each other in enduring it. I remember reading about people in the nineteenth century who were "soul struck" by scenic beauty, peaceful rivers, majestic mountains, etc. and would literally swoon. Imagine!

“And, of course, there's the larger metaphor that comes into play about the face of God and peering into the divine. Sometimes we need to be rescued from God. It’s a paradox, because we can’t not approach. We have to look and ask the questions, but we need each other's support in doing so. We have to rest in each other's arms ...”

Hempel puts a queer eye on art history in some of his earlier work. He replaces female sex objects with men in his queer versions of famous paintings. For example, Jean-Leon Gerome’s 1884 painting “Slave Auction” shows men bidding to buy a nude white woman. Hempel’s version, titled “Auction,” has a rope-bound male angel, genitals exposed, as the enslaved object of desire. This painting and many more can be seen at the artist’s website, weshempel.com. (Warning: nudity.)

Sometimes Hempel works on joint art projects with his longtime partner Jack Balas. A detailed interview about their collaboration in life and art is posted at Philip F. Clark’s blog Artpoint.
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Special thanks to Toby Johnson for alerting me to the art of Wes Hempel in connection with the forthcoming novel “King of Angels” by Perry Brass.

Jacob and the angel: Wrestling to reconcile body and spirit

“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” by Leon Bonnat (1876) via Wikimedia Commons

When Jacob wrestled with the angel in the Bible, they embodied the struggle between sexuality and spirituality. Artists have created many homoerotic images of the scene over the centuries.

The story of Jacob wrestling (Genesis 32:24-31) is the Sunday lectionary reading for tomorrow (July 31).  It speaks to LGBT people and our allies.

Many have interpreted this story as a struggle between material and spiritual needs, but it is especially powerful for queer people who are trying to reconcile their sexuality and their faith. Jacob refused to give up the fight until he forced a blessing out of God. Like Jacob, LGBT people can also win God’s blessing by continuing to wrestle with our faith, regardless of those who condemn as sinners.

Jacob, ancestor and namesake of the Israelites, is alone one night when a mysterious stranger comes to him. Scripture refers to the stranger as a man, God, and an angel (Hosea 12:4). He wrestles with Jacob until dawn. Then the angel wants to leave, but Jacob insists, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

The angel gives him a new name and identity as Israel, which can be translated as “one who has prevailed with God.” Jacob asks to know the angel’s name, but he just gives a blessing and leaves. Alone again, Jacob marvels, “I have seen God face to face and lived.”

Jacob is honored in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For Christians, some see the pre-incarnate Christ himself as the mysterious stranger who wrestled with Jacob.

The story raises intriguing questions. What was the nature of the “wrestling” that went on all night long? Whether or not there was an erotic interaction, the friendly conclusion affirms that God wants to relate to human beings as equals. God rewards those who challenge God.

“Jacob and the Angel” by Hendrik Andersen, lover of Henry James. For the uncropped version (warning: full frontal nudity), visit Wikimedia Commons.

___
Related links:

“Wrestling with God” at the Queering the Church Blog is a queer reflection on Jacob and the angel.

Click here for a gallery of art showing “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” at Wikimedia Commons.

____
This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, prophets, witnesses, heroes, holy people, humanitarians, deities and religious figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

24. The Trinity (Gay Passion of Christ series)

24. The Trinity (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“So then the Sovereign Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” -- Mark 16:19

What is the gay vision of heaven? The Holy Spirit inspires each person to see visions of God in his or her own way. Look, the Holy Spirit celebrates two men who love each other! She looks like an angel as She protects the male couple. Are the men Jesus and God? No names can fully express the omnigendered Trinity of Love, Lover, and Beloved… or Mind, Body, and Spirit. God is madly in love with everybody. God promised to lead people out of injustice and into a good land flowing with milk and honey. We can travel the same journey that Christ traveled. Opening to the joy and pain of the world, we can experience all of creation as our body -- the body of Christ. As queer as it sounds, we can create our own land of milk and honey. As Jesus often said, heaven is among us and within us. Now that we have seen a gay vision of Christ’s Passion, we are free to move forward with love.

Jesus, thank you for giving me a new vision!
___
This concludes a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry. 

Questions to readers: Do you want to see the Gay Passion series again next year on this blog? Did you like seeing 1 painting per day for 3 weeks, or is it better to show them all during Holy Week? Should we make this series into a book?  Please leave a comment or contact me with your answers.

Here is a list of the whole series. Click the titles to go to each post.
Introduction
1. The Human One (Son of Man) with Job and Isaiah
2. Jesus Enters the City 
3. Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers
4. Jesus Preaches in the Temple
5. The Last Supper
6. Jesus Prays Alone
7. Jesus Is Arrested
8. Jesus Before the Priests
9. Jesus Before the Magistrate
10. Jesus Before the People
11. Jesus Before the Soldiers
12. Jesus Is Beaten
13. Jesus Goes to His Execution
14. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
15. Jesus Dies
16. Jesus Is Buried
17. Jesus Among the Dead
18. Jesus Rises
19. Jesus Appears to Mary
20. Jesus Appears at Emmaus
21. Jesus Appears to His Friends
22. Jesus Returns to God
23. The Holy Spirit Arrives
24. The Trinity

Scripture quotation is from the Inclusive Language Lectionary (Year C), copyright © 1985-88 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

New play: Transwoman Jesus tells Christmas story

Above: “Concert of cherubs in the clouds” by Wenceslas Hollar, Wikimedia commons
Below: Poster from “Jesus, Queen of Heaven”

Jesus’ angelic birth highlights the holiness of EVERY birth in the following scene from the controversial new play “Jesus, Queen of Heaven” by Jo Clifford formerly John Clifford). This scene reminds us that angels surround us all.

As a special Christmas gift, Jo agreed to let the Jesus in Love Blog post part an excerpt from her play, which was protested by 300 Christian conservatives last month at its premiere in Scotland. They were upset because Jo presents Jesus as a transsexual woman.

However, Jo’s aim was to express love just as Jesus does in the Bible. I believe that this scene conveys the true meaning of Christmas:

Go home rejoicing.
Just as the shepherds did in the story of our birth,
Do you remember them?
The ones who were tending their flocks by night,
and the angels saying:
“Fear not. I bring you tidings of great joy.
You shall find the babe lying in a manger.”
And that was you. And you. And you.
And me too. All of us. In our swaddling clothes.
Dear little things that we were.
And still are.
And don’t tell me
There were no shepherds. Or that there were no
flocks.
Because they all went years ago when they built
the city by-pass.
Or that it wasn’t a manger. But a plastic box in a
run-down maternity ward. Without enough midwives.
Or there were no wise men,
Maybe just your dad, and him a bit pissed maybe,
being so nervous.
Think poetically.
Because what i tell you is true.
The whole truth and nothing but
Because, Beloved sisters and brothers and every
kind of sibling in Christ,
Because I am the truth.
And I am also the way and the life and a million
other things besides.
And the angels were there at your birth
And there was rejoicing and great gladness
And wise men did come with the most beautiful
gifts.
And the angels just so delightfully framing the
sky.
Because there are Angels. Angels everywhere.

For more info on Jo Clifford, please visit www.teatrodomundo.com. For more on the controversy, see my previous post "300 protest transsexual Jesus play."

Gay artist links body and spirit

“Angels Consorting” by Stephen Mead Mixed media on canvas, incorporated into the DVD “Captioned Closeness”
 

Sexuality and spirituality unite beautifully in the work of gay artist Stephen Mead of New York.

Gay angels enfold each other in glittering wings as they make love in “Angels Consorting” (see above). Another pair sleeps wrapped in each other’s arms with naked vulnerability in “Angels Sleeping Unawares”(see below).

Angels are usually presented as neutered, asexual beings. Mead delights the eye and does great service by showing that the messengers of God can be erotically alive. Both angel paintings are part of “Blue Heart Diary,” a meditative series about the universality of struggle, both global and personal.

Like much of Mead’s work, it fuses art and poetry. The actual written work is over a thousand lines long with several hundred images spanning over two decades. A video sets some of the images to music, creating a meditative experience that is both soothing and thought-provoking.

The angel paintings also appear on his DVD “Captioned Closeness” at Indieflix.com. Mead presents a different view of embodied spirituality in “Sponge Christ We Anoint You” (see below).

Taking care of a dying man becomes a sensuous, holy experience in the evocative painting. The work is a glowing embodiment of Christ’s own words, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”

Both the anointer and the anointed become one with Christ. In the poem that accompanies the work, Mead writes:

Sponge Christ, We anoint you.
Whatever modern day soul
Your skin christens; the sponge, a host
For the innocence
Without martyrdom
Save the humanness
In being a triptych
Of vision, blood and bone.

“Sponge Christ We Anoint You” is included in Mead’s series “Washing the Body,” which is dedicated to the patients from Mead’s 15 years in the healthcare field.

Self-taught as an artist, Mead acknowledges that his art has been heavily influenced by both surrealism and expressionism. In the early 1990s his poetry began appearing in such journals as Onionhead, Bellowing Ark, and Invert. He moved Provincetown and began to concentrate more on visual work.

He returned to New York in 2000 and started seeking publication again for both his writing and his art combined. Since then, his work has appeared internationally both in galleries, in print and in cyberspace.

Mead has done films, CDs and e-books, including the award-winning “We Are More Than Our Wounds.” His current project is “Swan Songs,” a film series that superimposes live footage over his images while using his own singing voice as a soundtrack.

His most recent book is “According to the Order of Nature (We too are Cosmos Made): Art and Text for Gay Spiritual Sensuality.” published in 2016. This mixed-media series of paintings aims to reverse persecution, exploring LGBT sensuality for its spiritual roots and profound bonding. His other books include “Our Book of Common Faith,” which features his lyrical Laramie painting dedicated to Matthew Shepard.

“Angels Sleeping Unawares” by Stephen Mead Watercolor pencil on board, incorporated into the DVD “Captioned Closeness”

“Sponge Christ We Anoint You” by Stephen Mead Mixed media on canvas, from the series, "Washing The Body"

AltXmasArt 2: La Anunciación

“La Anunciación (The Annunciation)” by Armando Lopez, 1999. Egg tempera on canvas, 26 x 26 inches. www.armandolopez.com

A naked Angel Gabriel brings Mary the news that she will bear God’s son in “Anunciación (The Annunciation)” by Armando Lopez. The angel’s buttocks are fully exposed, emphasizing the erotic union of body and spirit behind the Christmas miracle. The annunciation has been a standard subject for artists over the centuries, but they almost always show the angel conversing with Mary. Lopez surprises the viewer by capturing a moment that has been ignored -- just AFTER the revelation, when the angel has turned to leave. The legless angel has no need of feet, for he has wings to fly. The painting provides a starting point for reflection on one of the Bible passages that is usually read on Christmas Day: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 1:14) Lopez is a Tarascan native born in the small village of Santa Maria in the southwest Mexican state of Michoacan. He combines both native Tarascan and Catholic imagery in his art, which has been featured in exhibitions across the Americas. The vibrant colors, flattened forms and almost surreal imagery of “La Anunciation” are reminiscent of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. Lopez lives in New Mexico. Please come back tomorrow for AltXmasArt 3: “Mother of God: Mother of the Streets” by Brother Robert Lentz.