Art Stations of the Cross: something new has been added
In 2018, the Art Stations of the Cross were in Manhattan. The first station, Jesus is Condemned, was at the Met Cloisters: The Treasury, using The Cloisters Apolcalypse which begins with Herod’s condemnation of the infant boys of Bethlehem. The second station, Jesus Takes up the Cross was found at The City College of New York and uses a sculpture made of concrete life preservers.
In 2017, the exhibition was across Washington, DC, in fourteen iconic locations. The 3rd station, Jesus Falls the First Time was at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the site of George Segals sculpture, Depression Bread Line, 1991. The sculpture represents public humiliation. The fourth station, Jesus Meets His Mother, is the memorial sculpture Vietnam Women’s Memorial by Glenna Goodacre, 1993, depicting the mournful mother weeping close to her dying son, sharing his anguish. Station five, Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross is the Marine Corp War Memorial – Iwo Jima.
The Art Stations Exhibition was in London in 2016. The sixth station, Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus, was held at Cavendish Square exhibiting Madonna and Child, 1950-52, by Jacob Epstein where fabric stretches across their bodies like a bandage. The seventh station, Jesus Falls for the Second Time is at the National Gallery, home of the painting The Way to Calvary, c. 1544-5 by Jacopo Bassano. Eight, Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem at Notre Dame de France Church, home of the Notre Dame Refugee Centre, is the work of by Jean Cocteau, Our Lady’s Chapel.
Currently, the 2019 exhibition is in Amsterdam. The second station Jesus takes up the cross is at DeHoftuin, Clovershof, the Diaconal Bureau Protestants Church. The installation is a large X made of aluminum on a white wall. In front is a red barrel, like an oil drum. The English translation: “Silver safety barriers cut through the air, oil drums are spread out on the ground like the cargo of a stranded ship, washed up on the beach; a gruesome scene in the serene surroundings of the historic Corvershof. The safety barriers form three asymmetric, X-shaped crosses. On the one hand, they evoke traffic signs that warn us of a dangerous intersection; on the other hand, they refer to the three crosses on Golgotha a well as the three St. Andrew’s crosses in the coat of arms of Amsterdam. Saint Andrew was a simple fisherman who died as a martyr on an X-shaped cross.”
Walking the Stations of the Cross is an exercise, a discipline, to bring us closer to Christ. He put himself in our shoes; now we put ourselves in His, sharing our moments of angst with his moments of anguish, helping us to understand that what was, still is. It’s a simple, straightforward walk, where nothing is lost in the translation.