We received a call last week from a woman who thought the art of Dr. He Qi was inappropriate for 7th grade boys.
Any thoughts on that one? Comments? Agreements? Critiques?
Here's my take on why I chose the works of this quiet genius to be the center of our brand and first focus on all of our lessons... at all age levels.
First, a comment:
One can’t argue taste. One can't argue art. And one certainly can’t argue someone’s opinion or taste in art.
Second, art for art's sake is fine, but I choose to use art as a beginning point of a journey into the mind and an introduction to the learning process. Picasso said “Art is the lie that helps you see the truth.”
Art that is evocative, provocative, bright, multi-ethnic, story-based, vibrant and powerful will always have fans, and always have detractors. To me, the art is not the point of the art. What great art does is to lead the observer either privately or publicaly into a dialogue. Like a great song, a great poem, a great dance, or a great piece of theater, visual art attacks multiple areas of the brain and creates an array of electrical activity flashing about the mind. When used in education as a starting point, great art draw out comments, thoughts, impressions, emotions, and conversation around the theme. The art is not the point. The engagement of the whole mind with others' minds is the point. Using great art as a lead-in that gets kids (people) involved in the “what do you see” and “who are you in this painting” and “what do the painting and the Bible verse say to one another” - this turns the art into a true “educatio” (draw out) tool. Whether the great art is a great story, a great painting, a great poem, a great parable, it great art solicits a great engagement which the skillful teacher can then use to build the theme.
From my experience, the visual art of Dr. He Qi does this better than any Christian art in existence. It is iconic. It is vibrant. It is humorous. It had hidden symbols and meaning laced throughout. It is Picasso meets Matisse meets Chagal meets the East.
It is not simply good art. It is great art. It does all this and more.
To me, faith without art is an unfurnished mansion.
I want He Qi's art to lead kids to discuss, engage, learn, remember, and create their own art after seeing it.
It is a seed.
Rich
PS - How old do you have to be to appreciate great art? How much education do you need in order to be drawn into it and drawn out?