Religious Kitsch: Faith in Drag During Lent

ABC ONLINE SERVICES
By Allison

For centuries, artists have sought to visually capture a sense of awe in the Christian message. Jesus' face on a piece of toast is a markedly different aesthetic to Caravaggio, but they share a similar impulse. Betty Spackman, author of "A Profound Weakness: Christians and Kitsch," describes Christian kitsch as a form of 'faith in drag'. As an artist, she laments the lack of creativity in what she says is 'a cheaply made, lazy kind of art'. However, she also thinks it shows a closet desire to creatively express the mystery of faith. [Listen]