Cubist Jesus

I've been thinking about this picture for awhile. It's in the front lobby of Rajagiri College. It's Cubist Jesus. why is that interesting? Well... see, it's interesting because Kerala is pretty conservative, and very religious. It's like 90% catholic. There are churches and little shrines with saint statues all over the place. It's funny though, because it's also got an elected communist government, and labor organizations hold a lot of sway. That means there are lots of holidays do to general strikes and saints days.

Cubism is kind of rooted in Marxist ideas about the need for a “critique of everything existing” like, don't just accept things because that's how it's always been, but taking them apart and trying to figure out why it's like that. Usually it led to questions along the lines of, “Why is the boss living in that mansion and not doing any work while we're slaving away in his factory every day,” but one of the ways that kind of idea made it into art was through this cubist movement, in which painters tried to break down a subject into the basic colors and shapes, to kind of try to understand how it worked, and how everything fit together.

Those movements weren't really known for their religiosity, so the Cubist Jesus is kind of unique. But around here they're big on this “liberation theology” and “Christian socialism,” so Cubist Jesus is kind of fitting. I like the way it kind of brings together those two aspects of the local culture that at first don't seem to fit together. Also, he's eating coconuts and doing yoga, so that's kind of cool.