I got this at Goodwill for $2.50. Half price. I still would have bought it at $5. Or more. The statue is by Rudolph Vargas and produced in 1992, but the design goes back to 1976.[1] It's both troubling and enigmatic (if not a little mesmerizing[2]).
Troubling because it merges sacred and secular universes that many Christians live in but never allow to intersect, and enigmatic because it does it so well, despite the epic mythos of both.
When images like this are associated with uncritical mass appeal, the result might be considered tacky (a la chintz pillows, Elvis paintings on velvet, pink lawn flamingos, etc).
Tacky or not, this little statue has the same power over me as Piss Christ➚; and also an exhibit at Calvin College while I was a student there that displayed dead cockroaches in various contexts, including a crucifixion; it has this power because it portrays such a potentially devout perspective in an unexpected way.[3]
It is primally beguiling.
[1]
Vargas died in 1986.➚ "'His purpose in life was to glorify God and his images,' said the son, an electronics engineer from Alhambra."
I'm glad I bought this, and for more reasons than the compelling attraction of the subject. I'm glad because I learned about a bald little immigrant who's biblical passion found expression in such beautiful and simple ways.
After considerable searching and clicking and reading (eventually "Rudolph Vargas sculpture", page 3, search result #29), I finally learned that the kneeling Santa I have was commissioned by Raymond P. Gauer in 1976 (hence "R P Gauer" on the base).
… the book, "A Special Place for Santa," states that the founder, Raymond P. Gauer, commissioned the first kneeling Santa in 1976, which combined the two major symbols of Christmas - the Christ child and Santa Claus in a way that connotes their proper relationship - the secular subservient to the sacred… (Williamsport Sun-Gazette➚)
As for Mr Gauer, he owns the trademark for kneeling Santa➚. He was a lawyer or judge or something, as he's also associated with a petition against the now classic porn film, The Devil in Miss Jones.➚
Here's another thing: It took me perhaps an hour or more to hunt down the Mr Vargas and the Mr Gauer named on the bottom of the statue. I immediately of course found many items for sale just like mine and lots of references to Santa and Jesus associated with these two men, but even after quite a bit of searching and reading, I still know very little about either.
So much searching on two relatively prominent personalities, yet they remain strangers to me. How much worse will it go for us one day, the anonymous rabble? (I hold out some hope for myself. More on that another time.)
There is another Rudolph Vargas, alive and working, who did nativity scenes in Ontario last year, but I can't tell from my Googling if they are related. (Southern California Public Radio➚)
[2]
"Mesmerizing" is a delightful example of a word that went from serviceable to cliché to detestable to forgotten (which is also serviceable). If you were around in the 70's, "mesmerizing" showed up frequently in the company of swooning women in pulpy bodice-rippers. I still have a book somewhere given to me by a college friend, Love Island, a slim, disposable romance written when The Love Boat and Fantasy Island were ratings leaders on Saturday night TV. I don't know if the word "mesmerize" is in it, but it's an interesting little memory. Thank you Dave from Canada.
[3]
"Potentially" because all human expression is subject to interpretation. Even the artist's own interpretation has no more validity than our own. You may or may not find Santa and Jesus or Piss Christ troubling; in fact, you almost certainly don't if you have no Judeo-Christian background, just as I have no response one way or the other to a physical representation of Allah (aside from indignation that others should get so uptight about it). Two people can look at the very same thing and respond entirely differently and legitimately.
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