Jenny Feldmann

*1959 in Bagdad (IRQ),
lives and works in Vienna
 

www.jenny-feldmann.com

 

Hl Messepassstühle mit Ostergrüssen JESSAS NA

The crown of the sculpture symbolizes the Eucharist, or Matzah. Below the crown, formed by the top of a stool, the stacked stools recall a cross. The crown is completely covered in “Saint” Solicitous (Wilgefortis), a martyr from Portugal. She can be seen in the Diocesan Museum of Graz and originally comes from an Ursuline convent. She plays a role in the international homosexual movement.

Among devout orthodox Jews, the Matzah is round and the size of the stool’s top. It is broken at Pesach exactly like the Eucharist in the Mass. One might imagine a white cloth placed over the stool like the chalice which the priest places on the altar before he begins the consecration. The 226 centimeter-high sculpture comprises a single Jesus. The stool’s top, consciously darkened, presents the dead head of Jesus. Under it, the light blue part signifies “He has risen and ascended to heaven,” and the violet is the liturgical color for suffering. The light sections in the sculpture insinuate clouds.

The combination of the sacred Jesus images with the Easter ads from Hofer is the provocative projection of how religious holidays become marketing kitsch both in the economy and in religion. The yellow Easter eggs with prizes inside are an additional criticism of the church’s thoughts of money during the Mass: see the collection box. There are also images of the “Old Masters” among the sacred Jesus images and some of fallen, uniformed soldiers with swastikas; one of the soldiers looks like Hitler. The bunny rabbit from Hofer’s Easter ad, which repeatedly peeps out from the upper part of the sculpture, symbolizes God. In Early Christianity it was not allowed to depict God, Jesus, … in human form. Therefore, the rabbit stands for God, the lion for Jesus, …. Rubens used this symbolism in his early paintings.

In sum, the 226 centimeter-high Jesus carries the whole Hitler plus kitsch & non-kitsch plus consumerism plus greed on the part of the church, and women’s rights in the suffering of Saint Solicitous, including the Matzah or Eucharist crown.

Jenny Feldmann, February 2017

MARIÄ


Mariä Geburt, Mariä Himmelfahrt

The inner part of the 174 centimeter-high sculpture forms one part of a Gothic ribbed vault while the outer form corresponds to a Roman arch and, especially on the inside of the overall structure, a grotto becomes recognizable. Statues and sculptures of Mary, Mary Magdalene, can often be found in grottos. My grotto is empty: Mary has ascended to heaven. Also recognizable in the sacred images of Mary that populate the work are the arrangements of colors which begin dark and become increasingly lighter to give the grotto an added plasticity. Again, religion is visualized as kitsch. The small images are glued onto a candy-colored background in pink, sky blue, and powdered sugar. A holy Mary image on the bottom in FPÖ [political party of the far-right] blue is mobbed by dark images of Mary with “Old Master” motifs.

Jenny Feldmann, February 2017