With The Good Shepherd (and other sculptures for the not so converted), Sven ’t Jolle (b. 1966) returns to his work of the past twenty years in search of Biblical imagery and Christian iconography. A specific, retrospective approach that stems from his exhibition of the same name, which took place in the autumn of 2015 at the Heilige Geest (‘Holy Spirit’) site in Lier, originally a workhouse but since 2006 the home of the artists’ initiative Voorkamer. (…) The focus on Christian imagery served only as ‘objective’ selection criteria. In this way, only drawings with religious references were shown from the vast sketchbook archive, in more or less chronological order. Similarly, this book delves into the artist’s archives, among other sources, to offer an insight into his artistic process as well as the train of thought behind his multi-faceted oeuvre. The subtitle Sculptures for the not so converted refers to the question of what role art may or may not play in the war of ideas in society – a question tackled by Robrecht Vanderbeeken in his accompanying text ‘Preaching to the Choir’.
