Assignment3: The Angel of Meat

‘The Angel of Meat  (Angelica Carnis)‘     
Oil on Panel  Painting Size : 38” x 33”  1998

I choose one of his master piece 'The Angel of Meat' from the exhibition, The Meat Show. This is the typical drawing of him consists of lady, fresh meat and religion. Many people guess that his drawings or paintings are all about death or sex. Yet, Mark explains the young girl symbolises soul; fresh meat means life. This idea is inspired by Virgil Crow's quote, 'Life is a great illusion.' Mark is fascinated by the fact that meat is one of the core factors to continue the life of human beings who turn meat, once was beautiful and lively, into something lifeless. He opposes the unnecessary cruel methods people kill the innocent animals for their meats. Thus, he tries to warn the public if human beings are the ones who being eaten, will they still mistreat the animals in this way? Besides, one of the reasons of drawing meat is that a piece of meant gives the audience visual impulses. Mark accords the meats with soul by the marblings on the surfaces. Moreover, meats can catch people attention as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Vincent Van Gogh also often drew them. For the religious element inside the painting, he was inspired by the bible: 'While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."' As Christians gather every Sunday, Mark defines they eat Jesus's body once a week. He believes this scripture is funny and frightening at the same time, he leaves the imagination to the audience in order to raise the awareness of his art pieces.

'The Calvary with Donor' 1490
Oil on panel   Size: 71x59cm

The reference piece is 'The Calvary with Donor' painted by Hieronymus Bosch. According to a website called LOST AT E MINOR, Mark Ryden is inspired by past masters such as Bosch, Bruegel and Ingres. The paint Calvary with Donor is similar to The Angel of Meat.

First of all, both of the paintings are in the form of oil on panel, which is a painting made on a flat panel made of woord, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century,it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or vellum, which was used for miniatures in illuminated manuscripts and paintings for the framing. Oil on panel indicates a smooth and flawless drawings, hence, can express the frightful and creepy feelings of the contents or message behind the paintings. The style of Mark and Bosch are so alike. They both draw terrifying scenes with happy or fascinating method. For examples, Mark likes to draw a little girl who is bleeding with a smile on her face. And, Bosch had an art piece called the Hell panel, is about hell with depictions of fantastic punishments of the various types of sinners on the right panel. They would like to express extreme message in the opposite way.

Secondly, both art pieces include religious element. The Angel of Meat is about a cross and angel, hence, The Calvary with Donor is all about Jesus being crucified. Both of them are unusual to normal drawings. For the work by Mark, the angel is naked and there are meats hanging in the air. Furthermore, for the work by Bosch, patron is included in the paintings. The unknown patron is in fact referred to as 'donor' in the title, suggesting the work was donated, presumably to a church. Their works are special.

Last but not least, the minor objects in the drawings are also very important in the two paintings. In the Angel of Meat, there are pieces of meats flowing in the air. The fleshes symbolise lifeless. Also, in The Calvary with Donor, there are bones laying on the floor while Jesus is still alive. According to the Bible, there was no description about those bones. Obviously, the artist added the bones by himself. Bones in a coincident also represent lifeless. Their mindsets are so comparable.

Reference:

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/385.html
http://www.lostateminor.com/mark-ryden/
http://aboutbiblevideos.com/bibleimagedetails.php?ID=518
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch