Uwe Jaentsch zeigt uns kein biblisches Endgericht, sondern einen Spiegel der Gegenwart. "Das Juengste Gericht" ist eine monumentale Bildflaeche von 8 x 8 Metern, bestehend aus 64 Teilen, getragen von 508 Fichtenlatten, geschlagen aus den Waeldern Vorarlbergs. Das Werk entstand in dreieinhalb Wochen konzentrierter Arbeit - als kuenstlerische Abrechnung mit der Zeit, in der wir leben.
Das Werk ist tief in den Raum der Johanniterkirche eingebettet. Die Farben sind dem sakralen Innenleben entnommen - warm, ruhig, getragen von Deckenfresko, Kanzel und Altar. Ein goldener Rahmen zitiert das Sakrale - doch nicht als Schmuck, sondern als gebrochene Erinnerung an das, was einst geglaubt wurde. "Das Juengste Gericht" ist kein Akt goettlicher Gerechtigkeit. Es ist ein Zustand, in dem wir leben - zwischen Moral und Macht, zwischen Schuld und Selbstbild. Nicht Gott richtet - wir selbst tun es. Tag fuer Tag.
Uwe Jaentsch non ci presenta un Giudizio Universale biblico, ma uno specchio del presente. "Il Giudizio Universale" e' una superficie pittorica monumentale di 8 x 8 metri, composta da 64 pannelli e sostenuta da 508 listelli di abete provenienti dai boschi dell'Austria. L'opera e' nata in tre settimane e mezzo di lavoro concentrato - una resa dei conti artistica con il tempo in cui viviamo.
L'opera e' profondamente integrata nello spazio della chiesa dei Giovanniti a Feldkirch. I colori sono presi direttamente dall'architettura sacra - caldi, silenziosi, derivati dagli affreschi del soffitto, dall'ambone e dall'altare. Una cornice dorata cita il sacro - non come ornamento, ma come memoria spezzata di cio' che un tempo era oggetto di fede. Il Giudizio Universale non e' un atto di giustizia divina. E' una condizione in cui viviamo - tra morale e potere, tra colpa e immagine di se'. Non e' piu' Dio che giudica - lo facciamo noi. Ogni giorno. E' una condizione in cui viviamo - tra morale e potere, tra colpa e immagine di se'. Non e' piu' Dio che giudica - lo facciamo noi. Ogni giorno.
God is no longer here - he has moved out of his house. In his place, morality has taken over. Morality has displaced God: it has slipped into a cheeky little fellow with stubble, it sits enthroned above the world, it judges complacently, it drafts the grammar of life, articulated in political, cultural, and social foundations, wrapped in a worthless cloak. A morality that no longer promises salvation, yet still claims truth. Morality has become the new sacred - it is scepter, compass, and instrument of power at once. Its companion is justice - the scales, the pendulum of fate.
The colors of the painting are drawn from the church itself: From the ceiling fresco, the pulpit, the altar. Warm, calm, restrained - composed to remain, atmospherically embedded in the sacred architecture of the proud old church. Composed of 64 parts, 8 x 8 meters in total, assembled from 508 spruce planks, felled from the forests of Vorarlberg. Three and a half weeks of contemplation, symmetrical in communication, respectfully linked with the altar. Framed in gold - a broken, reimagined sacred citation. The Last Judgment is not an apocalypse - it is a diagnosis of our times. The business model "God" has been replaced by the business model "Morality." It is instrumentalized - it replaces dialogue, it connects and excludes, it shames and stigmatizes, it is non-negotiable, an authority without mercy. Perhaps - perhaps the dear God is watching us - and laughing.
