Visual Faith, by William A. Dyrness
An "openness to spirituality is perhaps the most important recent development" in the visual arts, William Dyrness states, and he perceptively glimpses this openness in many contemporary artists. But a longer look at these artists' works would help the reader see that they go beyond spirituality to embody Christian theology. One such artist cited by Dyrness especially illustrates how extensively Christian theology and contemporary artists' works inform each other.
Christo's Umbrellas Japan--USA in October 1991 raised 1,760 yellow umbrellas in an area north of Los Angeles and 1,340 blue umbrellas in an area north of Tokyo. Dyrness notes that groups of people could picnic under the umbrellas (which were each 28′ 5ʺ in diameter), but he does not discuss the artist's theological understandings of the work. As Christo explained to me, he was inviting a wider sense of communion and community and proclaiming "the priesthood of all believers in religion and democracy in politics."
In the history of both European and Japanese religions, umbrellas were displayed above the most important persons in the worship space and in processions. In the political realm, umbrellas were held above the heads of state. Christo's umbrellas invite those who pilgrimage and picnic under them to realize their own importance in both church and state. Umbrellas also affirmed a wider sense of community between Americans and Japanese, separated by the world's widest ocean. At a time when some American politicians were bashing Japan as an economic enemy, Christo raised umbrellas to lead us to see our similarities.
