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Artist's Statement Jesus told the twelve disciples the reason he taught in parables was so the person who had ears could hear and the person who had eyes could see. There is something about a narrative that allows the hearer or viewer to participate in the story in a unique way that opens the heart to being moved. And if the heart is moved maybe the person will be transformed, made more receptive to God's purposes in the world and not merely their own. I have almost always had a narrative at work in my paintings if not up front then behind the scenes. Even in still lifes and landscapes there is some kind of a story going on. Sometimes the stories are from my own life and times, sometimes from the bible. Very often those two streams collide and my story and the bible story become inextricably entwined. If they viewer knows what to look for the threads can be untangled.
Three Visitors Curator's Statement In recent years, there has been a growing number of artists who seem to be asking “How can I make art without compromising either my Christian faith or my aesthetic standards?” James Janknegt is one who has found an answer. He stands firmly in the tradition of biblical narrative painters as well as in the stream of continual visual exploration that marks post-modern art. Reading Scripture closely, he dresses the people in his highly-detailed renditions of episodes in the life of the patriarchs, the prophets, Jesus, and the disciples in the casual clothes of late 20th century America, and places them in visionary versions of the urban and suburban landscapes of his own time and place. Thus, Abraham entertains his Three Visitors with a backyard barbeque while Sarah — her face as unseen as it is in the frescos at Dura Europos — waters the lawn; St. John the Evangelist sits in a lawn chair surrounded by computer, television, and satellite dish, and listens to his Walkman as he receives the Word from an angel whose pose is a beatific as any painted in the early Renaissance; Jesus wears modest bathing trunks as John the Baptizer pours water over his head exactly has he always has in the most orthodox of icons of the Baptism of Christ; and a black, bird-headed devil straight out of a medieval illumination tempts Jesus with fast cars and lotto tickets.
Slaughter of the Innocents It takes a long time to puzzle out all the biblical and art-historical references in these exuberantly-colored oils, but the investment is well rewarded. Janknegt has written, “My Christian faith has always informed my painting. . . It is about incarnation, about making that which is invisible visible, making the spirit flesh.” In these paintings from the desert, Janknegt shares his own struggles between the Light and Dark Angels, and invites us to participate in the fireworks and celebration of Easter Morning. Deborah Sokolove Curator, Dadian Gallery
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The artists who created the works of art shown here own the
copyrights to them. send comments or questions about the gallery to
the curator at: |
In
The Desert: Paintings by James Janknegt 12 Noon, March 16, 1999
The most
recent paintings in this show are about being in the desert, a
metaphor that has great resonance with me personally. Israel, the
prophets and Jesus all spent time in the desert. I have spent
time in that spiritual place where all of my talents, strength
and charm evaporate and I am left desperately trying to figure
out how to rely on God and trust in him alone. These paintings
take Jesus temptation in the wilderness as the jumping off point
but substitute myself, or yourself if you so desire, as the one
being tempted. 
Like the biblical stories that inspire his work, Janknegt
doesn’t pull any punches. While the Holy Family relaxes in a
palm-fringed motel during their Flight into Egypt, the Slaughter
of the Innocents proceeds amid graffiti pleading “kyrie
eleison” (Lord have mercy), shady doings in dark alleys, and
billboards exhorting everyone to “just do it.”In The
End of My World, the artist himself identifies with Peter,
crucified upside down for his witness to the transforming message
of Christ, as sewage turns the river into blood. On a more
hopeful note, in Birth, a large bouquet of flowers stands on a
table between a somewhat bemused Joseph — traditionally
signified by the house he holds — and Mary, with heart in
hand. They seem contemplate a complicated future as they
gaze upward at the Holy Infant floating above them, wrapped in a
celestial blanket of stars. 
Flight into Egypt