Catholic Charismatic Healing Service, Worcester, Massachusetts America, 20th century

Catholic Charismatic Healing Service, Worcester, Massachusetts

1987

Jeff Jacobson

(American, 1946–2020)

Image: 40.5 x 50.7 cm (15 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.); Paper: 40.5 x 50.7 cm (15 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.)

Purchased with funds donated by Jolene Friedman and Harold Eisenman in memory of their dear friend Jeff Jacobson 2020.275

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

Jeff Jacobson said that “I simultaneously feel deeply at home in this country and like a perpetual visitor to a strange and bizarre land.”

Description

We, the viewers, are on the stage with those seeking healing through faith. Jacobson was a pioneer of open flash, which combines a strobe, which freezes the action, with slow shutter speeds, which blurs motion. Motion blur transforms the auditorium lights into magical tongues of illumination that shoot forward and blur the focus, making it seem as if the viewers, too, are undergoing a transcendent, religious experience.