MICHELANGELO: THE LAST DECADES

I just went to see the Michelangelo Exhibition at the British Museum. As interesting as it was to see the work he was creating towards the end of his life, I found myself unamused and underwhelmed. 

Yes, his drawings and paintings are incredibly skillful, but I have seen friends, and in fact, an ex-boyfriend from my teen years, who could draw in the same style and quality. 

Yes micheloangelo created this muscular framework of the body that people have copied or been inspired by, and that’s the intresting part, that’s how he viewed the male form and what he was attracted to. 

Part of his sculptural and sketching flow state perhaps enjoyed the creation of round shapes; maybe he found it soothing as well as arousing. Some of the technical Architectural drawings in the Exhibition were beautiful, yes, but again, I have friends and Colleagues who are producing just as stunning drawings in the art department in the film industry. 

This brings me to my thought experiment, which I have Acknowledged for some time. The films and celebrities are our gods, and the film industry is our church. We tune in to the messages they send us, and behind our screens, we congregate to absorb the message of God….. The church in Michelangelo's time was honouring God and serving the people through the erection of buildings and lavish artwork for them to wonder at. 

Today, it’s no different, except these buildings are sets recorded through film and a dramatic story that plays out over our screens instead of a fresco. However, we don’t get to benefit from these sets; they are demolished and end up in landfills. All the workers at the film industry in the different departments have the same role as the artists and popes of the 15th century—to work together to bring art and story to the public. 

Hopefully, we are returning to this creative awakening with the launch of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Poor Things’. Two films that actually enraptured the masses instead of brain-numbing us all with Poorly written and over-digitalised Marvel movies.