Blessed Art Thou
A North Carolina artist named Kate Kretz painted the actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary hovering over a Wal-Mart check-out line. The name of the painting is “Blessed Art Thou.” On her blog, Kretz, 43, said the painting addresses “the celebrity worship cycle.” She said she chose Jolie because of “her unavoidable presence in the media, the world-wide anticipation of her child, her ‘unattainable’ beauty, and the good she is doing in the world through her example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions surrounding her status.”
The painting–acrylic and oil on linen–depicts Jolie in the clouds, holding her newborn daughter, Shiloh, with children Maddox and Zahara at her legs. Below them is a Wal-Mart checkout line. The painting is for sale for $50,000 through Chelsea Galleria in Miami, which represents Kretz.
My feeling is you can see the painting as an irreligious spook of America’s obsession with celebrity, status, having an abundance of cheap goods; or, as a fresh look at the intersection of religious figures and daily life. Catholics probably pray to Mary more in stores, offices and buses then they do in churches. Overall, the painting reminded me of a merger between Dali and Norman Rockwell, with a little Target thrown in.
January 7th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I’m not sure if I want Angelina Jolie (drool…) and my feelings about her ‘intersecting’ with Mary and my feelings about her (awesome role model)… It could liven up the rosary no end, but I’m not sure that’s quite the point!!