Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 25, 1991 TAG: 9102250281
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK SCALA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The lecture was not funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, as the Nashes imply, but by a local individual.
Mr. Serrano's work was not the subject of an exhibition at the museum. He was one of 49 artists in "The Common Wealth," an exhibition celebrating the diversity of 20th-century American art in Virginia collections. His photograph is actually part of the Bayly Art Museum collection at the University of Virginia.
In keeping with its educational mandate, the Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts seeks to transmit and interpret the visual expressions of both mainstream and marginal cultures, not favoring the beliefs of one group over another.
Thus, we can sponsor a lecture by Mr. Serrano, who questions contemporary manifestations of religion, and still exhibit the biblical paintings of Christian fundamentalist Edward Knippers, as we did in November 1990. We can sponsor a Feb. 21 lecture on images of the Holocaust by Dr. Charles Sydnor, president of Emory & Henry College, and mount such shows as "Dreamtime," currently on exhibition, featuring the sacred art of Australian aborigines.
Our goal is not to promote belief systems, or suggest that the audience adopt Christianity, Judaism, aboriginalism or skepticism. Instead we hope that the viewer will develop an awareness of how systems of faith - and doubt - can yield a rich language of visual expression.
There is today no consensus about Andres Serrano's works. Are they hate-filled, sacrilegious defamations of Christ, as the Nashes proclaim? Or do they criticize the manner in which Christ's image and ideals have been manipulated to promote such earthly pursuits as religious wars, the oppression of women, and today, the financial and sometimes prurient interests of certain religious leaders?
Because these opposing interpretations are so exclusive of one another, the Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts believes that the proper and responsible course was to have the artist clarify his intentions in person.
\ AUTHOR NOTE: Mark Scala is director of education, Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts.
by CNB