Studies in Religious Art

 

SUPPER TIME: The Last,  Not The Last, and Other Idols.

 

 

Thematically, Jimmy Chen’s Not The Last Supper is—literally—not The Last Supper. More than a titular smirk, the artist is implicating himself, and the world around him, as being of more secular sensibilities. His does not entertain this juxtaposition sarcastically, but with utter respect—not for Christianity, but Christ. The last meal that Jesus shared with twelve apostles is more than historic: it marks the end of innocence of man. “Do this in remembrance of Me”, Jesus said, knowing his fate. Not The Last Supper may also be read as the chronically penultimate suppers of an artist who may never move out of his apartment.

             Compositionally, it seems the only thing in common between the two paintings are their dramatic horizontal orientation, and the prominent weight of table and counter, both parallel and 1/3 from the bottom edge. At closer look, one notices in both a sequence of shapes that informs perceptual space. In da Vinci’s, what seem like dark off-set panels in the walls recede towards their vanishing point. In Chen’s, brown cupboards and cabinets toggle the eye horizontally. In da Vinci’s, our eyes are anchored by windows behind Jesus—mirrored by the window-like squares made by the microwave and dishwasher and general grid-like composition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmy Chen

Not The Last Supper (2006)

Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper (1498)

In comparing this odd pair, the most striking difference is, obviously, the missing people in Not The Last Supper—and while it may be a stretch to suggest they are replaced with kitchenware, Giorgio Morandi comes to mind in the lateral way in which the objects are placed next to each other. The objects in Morandi’s paintings are stand-ins for something else; they take on human characteristics, even seem sentient. And while this may all be home-brewed projection and fancy, Jimmy Chen likes to think of it this way: If man is no longer innocent, everyday objects can be.

Giorgio Morandi

Natura Morta  (ca. 1946)