Oct 26 - Feast Day of Saint Damian dei Fulcheri

I've been thinking about icons a lot recently, and not just because there are many of them in my All the Saints series and other works.

I've been thinking more about icons as used by other artists and, in particular, how their treatment alters in some way their meanings.

Icons function as a sort of visual shortcut to a theme or an idea, or to a real entity; they create a space for contemplating something complex; something presumably meaningful and profound.

How that icon is "handled", how it is rendered or portrayed, adds another layer of meaning to the icon, and implies a possible reconsideration of the icon's central theme.

It's hard for me to think of an icon that lends itself (herself?) more to this layering than the Virgin of Guadalupe. The original, extant image of Guadalupe dates to either the 16th or 18th century, depending upon whose version of her-story you accept. And by the late 18th century, Mexican artists were taking respectful liberties with her image, festooning the pictorial space around her with lambs, cherubs, garlands of roses, ribbons, and devotees.

It's well known, of course, that Guadalupe, as presence and as symbol, has come to mean manifold things to people over the last two hundred years or so: liberation and repression, strength and subservience, Mexicanidad and assimilation, profound devotion and pure kitsch.

I see her as a real presence, profoundly in the present. As such, I see most popular depictions of her as celebrations, both of a positive spiritual force and of a sense of community; of what ties (or can tie) us together. This enables me to accept the depictions I find lamentable or troublesome (and that others might find disrespectful or objectionable) as commentaries on the dysfunctional state of this "community": if Guadalupe is reducible to her mere visual components - a blue shawl, a crown, and that brilliant aura - which are accessible to anyone to manipulate as they choose, well, this is a condition representative of a cultural approach (much in vogue) that views all visual/cultural elements as equally debased (or, hey, cute!) and free for the taking.

But I prefer to believe in the power of the meaning behind the image.

That said, there is a great array of representations of Guadalupe to be found on Flickr, at http://flickr.com/groups/virgendeguadalupe/pool/