HOT SPRINGS — During the season of Lent, Christians will have the opportunity to view the 14 Stations of the Cross in a unique way.
Through March 18, the Blue Moon Gallery on Central Avenue in Hot Springs is offering the premiere exhibit of “Way of the Cross: The Passion of the Christ in Art.”
Artist Randall M. Good, who lives in Denton, Texas, but frequently visits Hot Springs, has a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of North Texas where he studied studio painting and art history. After graduation, he worked as an art conservator and increased his understanding of the 16th century Italian masters. “Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci are my inspiration,” Good said in an interview.
Each station is an 11-by-14 oil on wood panel, but together they recreate the Via Dolorosa, or The Way of Sorrows.
“I made a conscious decision that each individual station would be a self-contained art form,” Good told Arkansas Catholic. “The success is cumulative. Each piece builds on the emotions of the former. Each piece evokes a new emotional response but flows with the other pieces. The totality (of emotions) is almost overwhelming and you are released by that final 14th station. That’s what I wanted.”
Catholics and Episcopalians in particular use the Stations of the Cross as a Lenten devotion. The “Hope Commission,” which was created as a memorial for an Arkansas family, will eventually be installed at St. Mark Episcopal Church in Hope.
The parish in Hope “is a lovely little church,” Good said.
“It has got lovely stained-glass windows with a limited amount of wall space between the windows,” he said. “The size of the stations was determined by the size of the wall space. Also, most of the (natural) light is from the stained-glass windows so I immediately decided I wanted color to really help tell the story. The other thing is that I wanted the expressive attitude of Christ’s body to tell the story. I wanted to use different, unique poses.”
The scenes themselves are well known, having been used as devotions in Catholic and Episcopal churches for hundreds of years. Good chose to depict Christ carrying the cross-piece rather than a full cross. He said he feels it is more historically accurate and by doing so, it gave him more latitude in depicting Jesus. Also, he chose to include a minimum number of characters in the scenes in order to focus the viewer’s attention.
Color is another important symbolic element in each painting that also evokes emotions.
“Color represents a stylized process of the day, the day going from a golden morning with the red of the rising sun to a light blue and then the deep blue of the afternoon, until the time you reach Golgotha, the sky is a bruised blue with blood red accents. The crucifixion is a blood red sky, very symbolic,” Good said during a public presentation recently.
In the first station, a dark, earth red dominates, symbolizing Jesus’ attachment to the earth and the blood of his impending death. The 14th station introduces a lighter, brighter color palette, foreshadowing the coming of Easter and the Resurrection, Good said.
“I was raised in the Church of Christ,” Good told Arkansas Catholic. “But through art, I find myself drawn to the Catholic Church, its history and its rituals.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. Groups of 10 or more may call the gallery to schedule a visit. Good is also available to meet with groups and discuss his seven-year journey in preparing the exhibit. For more information, visit bluemoonartgallery.com or call (501) 922-2787.
