Christian imagery has long been fodder for artists making a political statement. Think of “Piss Christ,” Andres Serrano’s controversial 1987 photograph depicting a Jesus figurine submerged in urine. Or Madonna, who fanned the culture war flames by using Catholic aesthetics in her music videos.
At Gallery 263, Marcus W. Clarke subverts American Christianity in a way that feels fresh and fitting for our current moment. In his new solo exhibit, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor,” he blends religious objects with camp and craft in an impressive array of multimedia sculptures.
The artworks are irreverent, playful and profound. Clarke takes cheap materials – such as glitter, plastic and confetti – and turns them into something striking. In “Blessed Judas,” he cuts out the Judas figure in a piece of Russian Orthodox jacquard tapestry, bedazzling the frayed edges and painting the cross a bright orange. Likewise, a tiny Jesus tchotchke becomes the centerpiece of a devotional object in “Keychain Triptych.”
He also brings construction imagery and everyday signs into the mix. In “Transfigurcrucifixilation,” Clarke clamps Bibles and a disco ball onto a “wet floor” sign, and a dollar store cross flashes in the middle. With an electric sign installed on a traffic barricade, another piece asks: “Are you suffering?”
Despite the glitter, there’s a sense of ominousness and alienation. Though Clarke’s subversions are a bit much at times, he succeeds in putting mystery and uncertainty back into a religion that’s increasingly at the center of the far-right political project.
As we’ve seen in coverage of the Wednesday assassination of right-wing speaker Charlie Kirk, we’re in an era when white Christian nationalists are in power and conservative propaganda is framed as activism. In an age where faith has been flattened, Clarke’s work is a reminder that religion thrives more in questions than in easy answers.
“All Glory, Laud, and Honor” by Marcus W. Clarke at Gallery 263, 263 Pearl St., Cambridgeport.
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Draw cartoons of Muhammad ( c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, military and political leader and the founder of Islam, Budha, and hindu gods, make it multi-culture and DEI?