Figure of Christ as 'revolutionary hero'

The image of Jesus Christ scheduled to be installed tomorrow on a church tower in New Hope is a different depiction of a savior on a cross.

There are no nails, no blood, no slumping body weakened by impending death. This artistic interpretation portrays an athletic and beautiful shepherd, floating in a transition from death to glory.

In sculptor Andrew David Logan's words, this Jesus "is a revolutionary hero who can do 20 push-ups, knock you into shape, and still save your soul."

The 800-pound, 11-foot sculpture commissioned by St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church is the result of the combined vision of a sculptor born in Australia, a parish council in Bucks County, and its pastor.

The project, two years in the making, is scheduled to be on display in time for Easter observances Sunday.

Council members commissioned the work in search of a rendering of Jesus that "was alive," said the Rev. Frederick Kindon, church pastor. "They wanted a sense of the Resurrection, the strength and the power."

The figure is scheduled to be installed on the church's brick tower, which overlooks Route 202. The tower has a cut-out cross, but some members had expressed concern that the eight-year-old building didn't look enough like a house of worship. The figure of Jesus is designed to remedy that.

The sculpture will appear as if it's floating in front of the cross, said Kindon, who wanted the art to have a mystical quality that would jibe with New Hope's artistic bent.

"That's having it two ways," said Larry Silver, a professor of art history at the University of Pennsylvania. "They're showing the before and after by having the cross, and then suggesting the aftermath of the Resurrection. That's a very interesting conception."

The sculpture is reminiscent of 17th- and 18th-century baroque ivory Crucifixions in what David Morgan of Duke University calls the "sensuous realism" of the body, which is clad in loincloth.

Morgan viewed digital images of a preliminary rendering of the sculpture and the completed artwork.

"It's surprising," said Morgan, a professor of religion who specializes in religion and visual culture. "You can't help but wonder how it will be received."

Logan intended the vivid musculature and perfect body as a reflection of Jesus' humanness, along with citing influences of neoclassicism and Michelangelo.

"I wanted to illustrate his teachings," said Logan, 45, "the majesty, beauty, love, power, and poetry."

The self-taught artist was commissioned to create the work around the time he was working on the upkeep of pews in the church created by famed Bucks County woodworker George Nakashima.

Logan, who grew up on a farm in Australia, immigrated to New York in the mid-1990s on an artist's visa. Two of his sculptures are on streets in Soho and the Upper East Side. Foundations Behavioral Health in Doylestown also has an outdoor piece.

Logan and his wife, artist Lexi Logan, moved to the area eight years ago. They live on a 200-year-old farm with three children, eight buildings, and several chickens.

On Wednesday, the figure of Jesus was suspended on a piece of aircraft cable in the family barn. A black crown of thorns had yet to be added. Logan used digital technology to map the image, then created the piece from urethane and resin with molds and sculpting tools.

Kindon hadn't seen the work until yesterday.

"It was magnificent, breathtaking," he said. He and Logan declined to specify the cost.

The sculpture will be installed with little fanfare on the day the Easter vigil begins. A more festive welcoming of the artwork will be held later this spring, Kindon said.

"We'd like to make it a community celebration," he said. "Not just for the church, but for New Hope."