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710 Madeline Street (2)
Location Map
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'The Second Coming'.
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Location: SE corner Madeline & Harvard; West Face
Occupant: Tabor Baptist Church
District: Transcona
Neighbourhood: Victoria West
Artist(s): Charlie Johnston (C5 Artworks)
Year: 2020
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To view the informative Sheldon Bernie cover story in the Canstar Herald on this project
and what led to it, click
here.
Charlie Johnston: "(Rev.) Rod Giesbrecht's intent was for it to represent the second
coming; so it's the second coming of the Jesus Mural to reflect the second coming of
Jesus. The church asked Rod to come back, and Rod asked me to bring the Mural back;
but not to reproduce the Mural as it was but rather to say and show something else. I have a
long history of repainting over things as my decade as a sign painter; so nothing new
there. But this WAS a validation about the value of the past and present Mural work itself I do;
and to come back and bring something back to the building."
"Because it was referencing the second coming of Christ, the Mural was all about the
light. Rod would say to me 'Jesus is the light; he's bringing light back to the world'-
something of that nature. So it's all about light, illumination; and that's the aspect I took
to it."
"Once again it was important to Rod and the congregation that the rendering of Jesus that
was not of the Eurocentric nature of the white Jesus-but rather a brown Jesus and a
character that was more trustful to the identity of Christ."
"So choosing the right figure was key and having that light-emerging-from-him type of
quality. I was able to bring together two things I love to do- a portrait and cloud painting.
The marks of the crucifixtion was still on his hands."
"It was two weeks or a bit longer at the wall in total. Probably the biggest improvement in
this version from the 2007 one was the upgrade to Nova Color. I switched to Nova Color
in around 2010 when I was in Colquitt Georgia painting the Peanut Farmer. You can
really tell the difference when you look at the flesh tones in the portraits. For this one I
would lay down the base colours or colour blends with Sherwin Williams type paint; and
then I'll do my top coating, detailing and effects with Nova."
Rev. Rod Giesbrecht: "If you are like me sometimes getting an explanation enhances my appreciation of the efforts of an artist. I believe the second 'Jesus Mural' on Tabor Baptist Church would be served well with a little explanation."
"Many truths we hold about God exist in tension. For example, people struggle with how free will and God knowing what the future holds (predestination) can coexist. To some this incompatibility resonates to the place where their faith is challenged. But are there contradictory truths we commonly accept in another part of our knowledge, while acknowledging these two facts would normally exclude one another? If there are, then we would have some help in understanding the tension that exists in trying to understand God. This was the thought behind the Jesus Mural."
"The Mural is based on the concept of LIGHT. We all accept there is light, but what is the nature of light? Is it a wave (wavelength) or a particle (photon)? The answer we know is both (double slit experiment from school). Yet you can only see light as one or the other at any given time. This tension in the nature of light we accept as true, although it confounds us."
The Jesus Mural depicts waves of light emanating from a Jesus figure placed prominently on our canvas. And yet this is a unique canvas because it is comprised of an industrial textured stucco finish. When this same canvas is observed at certain times of the day, from an angle, the Mural appears pebbled or comprised of particles because of the way the light falls upon it. This composition of waves and particles transports us to the lessons from light that are then extrapolated into our understanding of the tensions that exist in striving to understand our complex Jesus."
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