Blessed Art Thou

Blessed Art Thou is an oil-and-acrylic painting by American artist Kate Kretz.[1] It depicts actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary, hovering in the clouds with her children above a Wal-Mart store.[2]

Blessed Art Thou
ArtistKate Kretz Edit this on Wikidata
Year2000s
Mediumoil paint, acrylic paint, linen

Background

The painting directs attention to the celebrity worship cycle: each participant in the cycle perpetuates it while pointing a finger somewhere else.[3] The title of the painting, “Blessed Art Thou”, is gotten from a line in the Catholic prayer “Hail Mary”: “…blessed art thou among women...”.[4]

The painting was originally displayed in an exhibit that featured modern and contemporary art. The painting was exhibited at the Miami Art Fair in January 2007, and created a controversy that was covered by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox television networks, as well as The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, and many other international news sources. In 2007 the painting was for sale for $50,000.[2][5]

A full-size drawing study for the work was included in the exhibition "Beyond Re / Production: Mothering" curated by Felicita Reuschling for the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin in 2011.

References
  1. Crosbie, Lynn (2007-01-09). "A hellish adoration of the holy Angelina". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  2. "Angelina Jolie Versus Our Lady". campus.udayton.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  3. "Artist's work: 'Blessed Art' not". temple-news.com. 30 January 2007.
  4. ""Angelic" Angelina Jolie". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  5. "Painter depicts Jolie as Virgin Mary - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  • Van Gelder, Lawrence, "Arts Briefly", New York Times, New York, NY, January 8, 2007
  • Hoberman, J., "A Mighty Heart, A Mightier Spotlight", Village Voice, New York, June 20, 2007 Archived 2011-12-25 at the Wayback Machine


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