Grieshaber's Polish Stations of
the Cross
The two expressions, representation and identification,
are key words of the artistic program of Expressionist art.
We have a typical example of such a program and expectations in the Polish
Way of the Cross created in 1967 and 1969. Intended originally to adorn the Church of the
Atonement in Auschwitz, a project which never saw the light of day, the Polish Stations are, in
some way, an example of collaboration between art and church. Grieshaber's woodcuts, for which
he cut his own blocks, were published in 1967 upon request of the artist, together with the text of
the Way of the Cross written by Cardinal Wyszynski. The 1967 publication, limited to fifty copies,
bears the title: HAP Grieshaber, Way of the Cross. Meditations by Stephen Cardinal Wyszynski.
The series of fourteen woodcuts exhibited here corresponds to number 25/50.
We are presenting Grieshaber's fourteen stations with the idea of shared experience in mind.
As mentioned in the beginning, Expressionist art seeks actualization in its reader or spectator.
Actualization happens when representation leads to identification. Thus, after pointing to the
biblical or apocryphal roots of each station (Roots), this presentation of the Way of the Cross will
suggest some of the major expressive pictorial elements (Representation), and invite the reader to
attempt identification with the message (Identification).
Week
1:
Stations of the Cross #1-3
Expressionism, if it were possible to reduce this multi-form movement to a common denominator,
takes the past and its stories and recreates them for the present. However, the story is no longer a
succession of events separated by the logic of space and time. Narration becomes representation,
the story is abbreviated until it fits the concise space of the icon. Using to a maximum the
expressive power of reduced pictorial form, Expressionism delivers a message where details and
the narrative movement are abandoned for the sake of what counts most - the essential.
Representing the essential, Expressionism wants it to be pondered and assimilated. Expressionist
art has reached its goal when it succeeds in achieving identification between the artwork and the
onlooker. Expressionism is committed art, and in turn, it wants commitment from those who
approach it.
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First
Station: Condemned to Death |
Roots
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him." John 19:6 Representation Red upon red, vilified or lightened by yellow. Poisonous anger to the left of Pilate, idle curiosity and anguished premonition on his right. Pilate himself is the image of heavy-lined chaos: the chaos of conflicting emotions, allegiances, and truth. But where is Jesus? Identification Jesus’ face is never seen in this Way of the Cross. He is absent altogether from the First Station. So, who is the victim of anger, injustice or indifference? Is there an open slot for me, maybe even a gap? Frightened? "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?" (Romans 8:35) |
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Second Station:
Carrying the Cross |
Roots
The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God." John 19:7 Representation Golgotha, in the upper left corner, seems very far and insignificant, swallowed up almost by the flying buttresses of still another tower of Babel beneath. In the lower left corner, the lamb of God is being crushed by the weight of the universe. But who is the black figure in the far right portion of the Second Station? Identification Black and in street clothes, the figure stands for each one of us, including Jesus. Thanks to him the cross is now a crutch and staff, for Golgotha is a long, long way ahead. But we are riding on the back of the lamb, symbol of victory over death. |
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Third Station: The First Fall
|
Roots
The idea of the first fall, not mentioned in Scripture, is traceable to ca. 1475 (Bethlehem). Isaiah speaks of the suffering servant: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4 Representation Flattened to the ground and convulsing in helpless struggle, the bearer of the cross is seeing, in his fevered imagination, visions of betrayal (flying rooster), of injustice (Pilate in a time capsule), and abandonment (the angel of God indifferently flying by). What help is there in the cross? Identification The cross is like a giant nail pinning us to the ground of our human condition. Not only sign of victory and redemption, the cross is also a mark of shame and defeat. In this sign, joy and shame are reconciled. |
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