Reverend Ethan Acres
27 March - 31 May 2003
pictures 
Guido Costa Projects is pleased to present to the Italian public the new show by Reverend Ethan Acres, “Imago Pietatis”.
Conceived on the model of the ancient Easter mysteries, the show of Reverend Acres is a sermon made in the “tableaux vivant” way, that illustrates the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Christ, a message coherent to the spiritual mission of the artist, one of the few in contemporary art that dedicates himself to a sacred, traditional and rigorous art.
A member of the Fundamentalist Church of USA, the Reverend Acres reconnects to the practice of the sermon as the main way to proselitysm (in the line of Charles Finney, Dwight Moody and the modern television preachers like Fulton J. Sheen), thus using visual art and performance as privileged instruments for the exploration of the faith mysteries. The result is a contemporary hyper baroque art, very modern in the appearance, but totally traditional in its spiritual goals.
The Reverend Acres lives currently in LA, after a long period of time passed in Las Vegas as a travelling minister. He is the last descendent of three generations of clergymen, all active for more than a century from the Midwest to the California coast. His artistic production ranges from sculpture, photography and installation, relaying on the performance (a theatrical presentation of the Word and the teachings of God), as a break point. This is therefore a unique occasion to attend to one of his sermons, getting this way in contact with one of the most uncommon figures of contemporary art and of the new millenium spirituality.
The subject and the repertoire of rethorical instruments utilized in the representation of the Christ mysteries, make “Imago Pietatis” as the most ambitious project realised till now by Reverend Acres. This in accordion to the sensibility for the marvellous typical of the radical American churches and to the Electric Revivalism. With a mission where reality and imaginary cohabit under a religious message, the Reverend acres has realized three “big illusions”, in the tradition of the great magician shows, as the Houdini or David Copperfield ones.
Natural and supernatural, fundamentalism and subversion, art and religion are being mixed this way in an opera of enormous impact and intelligence, one of the most curious and sophisticated in the actual artistic panorama.
“Imago Pietatis” by Reverend Ethan Acres will be open to the public every day until the 31st of May, from 4 to 7 pm
Acknowledgements:
Les Jeux de Maurice – Brother & Brother
Gamma Servizi – Luisella Arnold
The Reverend Ethan Acres is represented by Guido Costa Projects (Turin) and by Patricia Faure Gallery (Santa Monica).