Renowned artist's works unveiled at Candler

©John August Swanson, 2007.
Used by permission.

John August Swanson’s original acrylic painting “Procession” (1982) hangs in the Vatican Museums. In 2007, Swanson recreated the work as a limited edition, hand-printed serigraph in order to share his artwork with a broader audience. Candler School of Theology now displays the serigraph of “Procession” along with 43 other Swanson pieces—the largest collection of Swanson’s work in the world.

Last fall, the Candler School of Theology opened its state-of-the-art new building just beyond the Quadrangle. Last week, Candler debuted some of the building's gorgeous new art.
           
From March 24–26, internationally renowned artist John August Swanson spoke about the creative process and the development of his art during four public events, including a reception on March 25 that served as the opening of Candler’s Swanson Art Collection.
           
With current holdings of 44 pieces, Candler displays the largest collection of Swanson’s work anywhere. The artist’s finely detailed, brilliantly colored paintings and original prints are in the permanent collections of such prestigious venues as the Smithsonian Institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, London’s Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern Religious Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
           
Though Swanson’s work portrays both religious and secular subjects, there is an overarching theme of embracing life and spiritual transformation. Optimistic but rarely sentimental, his pieces offer new perspectives on familiar scenes and stories. Candler’s collection features epic visual narratives from the Bible that blend the sacred and the everyday as well as smaller scenes of circus clowns, figures Swanson calls the “distillers of human experience.”

The majority of Swanson’s pieces are complex serigraphs, or original screen prints. Serigraphy is a method of printmaking in which the artist draws a stencil, which is then transferred to a screen of silk or other fine mesh. The blank areas are blocked with an impenetrable substance and ink is forced through the screen onto the printing surface. Each color printed requires a separate stencil and screen; the inks are then printed one at a time in layers, with drying time in between applications. Swanson’s serigraphs are unusually complex, both in their detail and in the number of stencils used. His piece Procession, for example, used 89 stencils.
           
During his three days on campus in March, Swanson spoke to Emory students about his artistic process; delivered the Whiteside lecture, which focused on his six-panel narrative of the birth of Jesus on permanent display at Candler; and participated in the opening reception. In addition, a March 26 worship service in Cannon Chapel featured reflections on four of Swanson’s pieces.—Laurel Hanna