http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/europe/botched-restoration-of-ecce-homo-fresco-shocks-spain.html
Okay. Now that we're all up to date, please allow me to bestow upon you my opinion about this botched restoration job: This is one of the best damn things to happen to the art world in years. Allow me to explain my thought process in three stages.
1. The proper preservation of artwork is now more of a concern than it was a few months ago.
Obviously, this was an important enough painting to grab national attention once it was defaced. If one of my pieces of artwork had "Potato Jesus" painted over the top of it, not one person would give a shit. I mean, I would. But I'd probably be too busy laughing my ass off to get really upset. So here's the question: If it was so important, why didn't the church do a little preventative maintenance during the many years of neglect, or at least mention to the parishioners, "yeah, we know the frescoes are looking rough, would you mind putting the word out to help us raise money for a restoration"? Nope, instead the head of the church let a little old lady with no artistic training take a crack at fixing Jesus up.
Now there are talks of lawsuits against the little old lady. Churchgoers and art buffs all over are the world are up in arms about the entire incident. I've even heard one report claim that the painting is beyond repair, will be painted over, and a reproduction of the original would be hung in its place. To me, this is what the art world should be up in arms about. I would offer money, and the replacement value of the plaster to have this NEW iconic piece of artwork in my personal collection
Anyhow, because of this incident and the worldwide attention it garnered, people are looking at old and deteriorating pieces of art in a different way. I think that this one incident helped raise awareness about what one should and shouldn't do to a piece of art...even if they have permission from the person who is temporarily in charge of its well-being.
2. Cecelia Gimenez may be the next Picasso.
Seriously, Check out this sketch the Pablo Picasso made in 1946:
http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-210.php
I see a lot of similar qualities between the two works of art. Granted, by 1946, Picasso was an old pro with hundreds of pieces of art under his belt. The "Ecce Homo" restoration is a first attempt at an artistic venture for Ms. Gimenez. Granted, it wasn't her working from the ground up on an original piece of artwork, but she still created something new and exciting. I'm sure she feels terrible about the whole mess, since it was her favorite image of Jesus, but hey, it's not every day that you create something that winds up on t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, and almost every website out there. Do you realize how long I've been making my own art on purpose? I've never even come close to being offered a gallery show (yet), let alone have millions of people talking about and seeing my artwork on a daily basis.
My point is, she made something that is important and widely acknowledged as significant. Whether it's good press or bad press, people are talking about it. It's is solidly engrained in the collective pop culture mind of the world. I would also be willing to bet that I'm not the only person that would speak up and support the preservation of the new painting. Because seriously, how many of you even knew this painting existing before it became awesome? Painting over this would be like painting over a Banksy (on a side note, I'd like to mention I'm not a huge Banksy fan)
On second thought, maybe she's the next Modigliani:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/m/modigliani/modigliani_guillaume.jpg.html
3. This painting is funny as shit!
I mean, if you can look at this and not laugh, you are way too serious and need to lighten the fuck up. Take all religious context away from it and look at it strictly as an image. It looks like Fisher-Price finally got around to making a monkey themed Mr. Potato Head. It's all over the news because this thing is absolutely ridiculous.
How many religious paintings have you seen in your life? If you've ever taken an art history course that focused on art before the twentieth century at a Catholic university like I did, I'm going to hold firm and say that at least 50% of all the artwork you've ever seen (including print form), contained religious overtones. It's just what people do. There are many reports out there claiming that this was not a particularly valuable or rare piece of artwork. In a couple years, I'm guessing that even the parishioners and citizens of this town, will talk about this and laugh. I'm sure there is the embarrassment issue now, but seriously, I bought a t-shirt of this painting. Before this, I didn't know anything about this church, this town nor this painting.
Okay, I'm ranting. I like this Cecilia Gimenez's rendition of "Ecce Homo" so much that I had to make a self portrait based on it. Here it is:
"Self Portrait after Cecilia Gimenez" or "Ecce Raygun" 9x12in Crayon, Pencil, Ballpoint Pen on Discarded Paper
So there's that. Sorry for the swearing and all, but I really love this fluke in the course of art history, and have to speak with passion. I have my favorite artists and I like to see new things by them, but every so often I'll see a piece made by someone who has no idea what they are doing and it inspires me.
Afer all, taking art too seriously was what led me to quit making it. If it wasn't perfect, I stopped and gave up. Now, I have gotten into the habit of making quick pieces, mostly on discarded pieces of paper during my lunch break with basic office supplies, and I couldn't be happier. When I spent a fortune on supplies to create a "perfect" piece of artwork, I rarely liked the end result. Now I have a ton of old artwork with quite a bit of money sunk into it taking up space in my house. Oh yeah, and I can't stand to look at it anymore, and no one has ever wanted to buy it. My new stuff gets a lot of attention from my friends, and I'd be more than happy to give it to them if I knew that they would appreciate it and give it a good home. To me this is the value of art. I am a man that has to create. I have to create for myself based on my aesthetics and personality, otherwise creation just becomes a non-paying job.
So yeah, thanks for reading guys,
Raygun
