MY NAME IS LARISSA.

I traveled to the Detroit area recently for the Thanksgiving holiday. While in Detroit I saw family, ate too much, ate not enough, drank too much, drank not enough, saw old friends, heard about old acquaintances, visited old haunts, made and recorded some music, and visited the Detroit Institute of Art. Let me just say that the DIA ranks highly on my list of favorite museums. Their standing collection is exquisite, balanced and respectfully installed. The building itself is organized and maintained well. The staff is friendly, informed and helpful. The rotating shows are varied, relevant and compelling.

In addition to the standing collection, I saw two exhibits that I am very pleased to have seen. The first one was Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010. It is a very thoughtful look at the city of Detroit and it’s population over the past 10 years and is up through April 8, 2012.

The other one was of work slightly older...Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus. It is up through February 12, 2012. The show includes the title collection of Rembrandt’s bust/portraits of Jesus, other works by Rembrandt, his students and artists that inspired Rembrandt. Because of the number of people viewing the work I did not opt to take the headphone portion of the exhibit. Instead I read the information posted on the walls next to the works and meandered through at my own pace.

Rembrandt’s figures and use of light-source are well known to be stunning. The intimacy of the artist’s interpretation of the face of the man Jesus spoke to me of a deeply inquisitive personal spirituality. In addition to being beautiful in and of themselves, when new, the paintings were quite socially provocative given the religious/political environment of Amsterdam in Rembrandt’s time. The tenderness with which Rembrandt handled his subject matter is moving. I’m not an Art historian and I don’t really know much about the history of Rembrandt as a person. It’s probably something I should look into to gain a better understanding of the work. It was probably covered in the headphone portion of the tour I skipped. But I can still relate to the work from a personal center...as an artist who consciously engages her spiritual life through her work and as someone with strong feelings about Jesus.

Talking about Art that deals with religious subject matter can be challenging. Talking about Art that specifically deals with Jesus is a double whammy challenge. Few names conjure such deeply rooted emotion in as many people as the name Jesus. It seems those shouting His name most loudly often also seem to be extremist, oppressive and preachy. That is not my aim here. My comments are not intended to be a religious or spiritual coercion. This is simply my experience of the work from the only perspective I can come from with any authority...my own.

I stated before that I have strong feelings about Jesus. I Love Jesus. It's complicated. I don’t have to justify it or beat anyone over the head with it, demand or even suggest that anyone profess or feel the same. My feelings are personal. They are also something that I sometimes explore in my Art. Because of this, I make the assumption that Rembrandt too must have had equally strong and complicated feelings about Jesus. Even if he and I have nothing else in common I can relate to this and feel a connection and tenderness for his work.

Something I found very interesting about the portraits of Jesus was that the collection was assembled of paintings from collections all over the world. The reach of the artist’s work so long after his death is something hopeful to me. It's hopeful in that what I create as an artist can have the potential of moving and inspiring people long after I am gone regardless of what kind of person I may or may not be. Rembrandt’s paintings remain relevant and intriguing even today. That’s a hopeful aspiration for artists everywhere who are hanging on “by their fingernails” as a friend recently put it to me.

Going to a museum is like going to church for me. Some are more comfortable to visit than others. The DIA always has a good ‘service’. No matter what your feelings about the man called Jesus, if you are in Detroit don’t miss the DIA and the Rembrandt exhibit.