14 Stations
14 Stations
Prophet and Painter: 14 Stations of the life of John Boyle
Paintings
by James B. Janknegt • Prose by John Boyle
John
Boyle’s life flashes before his eyes. Not something one expects
while walking home from work. Fourteen images spanning his life
from conception until his death instantaneously dump into his
imagination. It is the liturgical season of Lent, and John makes
the connection between the fourteen images of his life and the
fourteen Stations of the Cross that detail Jesus’ passion.
John
contacts his artist friend, Jim Janknegt, and commissions him to
paint fourteen paintings: one for each vision, one painting for
each of the next fourteen years. These fourteen paintings, along
with John’s prophetic prose descriptions make up the exhibit: 14
Stations of the Life of John Boyle. The project, begun in 2003,
never exhibited before, will be on display from September 17,
2016 until October 31, 2016 at Imagine Art- 2830
Real
St, Austin, TX 78722.
John
is haunted by the abortion of his daughter in which he actively
cooperated. He is confronted by God’s judgment but through the
intercession of his aborted daughter, Jesus and Mary he is
offered a chance to repent and receive God’s unfathomable mercy.
John
perceives the movement of his life as a parable for America’s
relationship with God. God sits in judgment waiting for America
to repent all the while offering his mercy. John believes his
job is two fold: to pray for America, to stand in the gap, to
hold back God’s judgment until she repents and to prepare for
the return of Jesus.
Jesus
instructs us to stay alert and watch for his return as in this
passage for the Gospel of Mark- 13:32-37 “Beware,
keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a
journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each
with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the
watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the
master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes
suddenly. And
what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
John is like the doorkeeper for our time, encouraging us to keep awake, so enjoy the show and stay alert!
Jim Janknegt
Note:
John uses "prophetic prose" in his writing. The formatting is
correct and intentional, although it may appear garbled or
glytchy. He will run words together so you get "dadied" instead
of dad died. He inserts punctuation: Snake?lectrocution instead
of Snake electrocution. He uses ancacronyms such as TTT which
means "Take it to the Trinity". All in all it can be challenging
to read and understand. I believe John compares it to the way
Jesus made his parables less than obvious. He who has ears, let
him hear. If you want it you have to work for it.
