G R A F F I T I H E A V E N
“You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.”
BANKSY
Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall
BANKSY
Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall
Other notable artists painted angels from imagination; but William Blake - that rare combination of artist, poet and clairvoyant medium - painted them from life. But time passes, and sometimes it can be cruel; now the art establishment shies away from such overtly romantic subjects and spirituality is virtually taboo.
Maybe our civilisation has simply grown up; maybe it's the secularisation of society; maybe it's because the cinema and TV (with all that ravishingly convincing CGI) are supplying the necessary fix of heavenly grace formerly dealt out by the painters of yesteryear.
Angels have been forsaken by the galleries of late; and they don't even seem that popular in church anymore. But, you'll be relieved to hear, they've not gone away for good - just relocated. You'll see them, if you keep your eyes pealed, in all those grungy back alleys in the wrong side of the tracks. Let's face it that's where they're needed most; bringing light to the lives of those who live in the shadow of the tower blocks and the oppression of Babylon.
Your average street artist may not have the direct access to Angelic inspiration enjoyed by Blake - nor, indeed, are they likely to share his draughtsmanship. But most make up for these deficiencies with enthusiasm and, if all else fails, productivity. The results are that the Angels' iconography has successfully transferred from cathedrals and galleries to the crumbling cities and urban sprawl.
But, of course, you'd expect that from Angels. They're like the Sally Anne; you don't go to them, they come to you.
Maybe our civilisation has simply grown up; maybe it's the secularisation of society; maybe it's because the cinema and TV (with all that ravishingly convincing CGI) are supplying the necessary fix of heavenly grace formerly dealt out by the painters of yesteryear.
Angels have been forsaken by the galleries of late; and they don't even seem that popular in church anymore. But, you'll be relieved to hear, they've not gone away for good - just relocated. You'll see them, if you keep your eyes pealed, in all those grungy back alleys in the wrong side of the tracks. Let's face it that's where they're needed most; bringing light to the lives of those who live in the shadow of the tower blocks and the oppression of Babylon.
Your average street artist may not have the direct access to Angelic inspiration enjoyed by Blake - nor, indeed, are they likely to share his draughtsmanship. But most make up for these deficiencies with enthusiasm and, if all else fails, productivity. The results are that the Angels' iconography has successfully transferred from cathedrals and galleries to the crumbling cities and urban sprawl.
But, of course, you'd expect that from Angels. They're like the Sally Anne; you don't go to them, they come to you.
All click to enlarge
"Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth/Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep."
JOHN MILTON
JOHN MILTON
"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."
GEORGE ELLIOT
GEORGE ELLIOT
"The angels are so enamored of the language that is spoken in heaven that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether their be any who understand it or not."
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
"Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an Angel, which is a messenger."
ST AUGUSTINE
ST AUGUSTINE
"The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly."
G. K. CHESTERTON
G. K. CHESTERTON