Day #23 - Art for Lent: Adi Nes's "David and Jonathan" #Lent2016

ART + RELIGION
By Aaron Rosen

"Untitled (David and Jonathan)" 2006 by Adi Nes | Isreal. C-print, 55 1/8 x 70 7/8 in.

In his 'Bible Stories' series, Nes uses models dressed as homeless people to critique social injustice in contemporary Israel. Here, two bedraggled young men -- perhaps tossed out of their homes for their sexuality -- are endowed with dignity by comparing them to David and Jonathan. The Bible tells us 'the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1 Samuel 18.1) -- a relationship we might well read as romantic. [page 222]

Lent is the annual Christian preparation for Easter. "Today's Art for Lent2016" features artworks that illustrate the Christian "Battle between Carnival and Lent."