Devoted to Art and Truth
from the exhibition catalog Jesse Howard and Roger Brown: Now Read On, University of Missouri Kansas City Center for Creative Studies, 2005.
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou
wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
However the artistic production of Jesse Howard and Roger Brown is described, “lukewarm” has no place. This Scriptural text points to their Christian heritage—shaped by apocalyptic Biblical literature such as the Book of Revelation; and their use of religious texts, concerns and imagery as source material. Like the “Amen, the faithful and true witness,” who would “spue” out the lukewarm, Jesse Howard and Roger Brown had little tolerance for the half-hearted.