Keith Drury, a Christian community worker in Belfast and a painter for 20 years, launched the website, www.sidewaysart.com, two weeks ago. He argued that modern and post-modern art and design imagery could be used to assist 'in communicating Jesus' message'.
His art and design website will offer users the chance to 'rent' a series of paintings ranging from £150 to £300 a year. The images include paintings of the famous Crown Bar and the Linenhall Library in central Belfast, as well several oil paintings and portraits.
Drury said he came up with the concept to allow people who would not normally buy art to take some ownership of it: 'It will allow people to align art with their current mood, taste and decor, then to change it a year later as mood and decor change. That is the culture we live in. The other aim is to bring relational aspects into art. Art can be more than a transaction, it can be a relationship between yourself and the artist which develops and allows bespoke pieces to be designed for your own space.'
Drury said the concept of extending ownership of art also chimes with his Christian beliefs: 'Money raised can be returned to good causes or to further develop the work.
'The church was the main commissioner of architecture, arts and music, particularly in Italy. The church today claims that the culture of today has turned away from the church, but the reality is that the church has walked away from culture and therefore allowed itself to become an irrelevance. It has ceased to act in the image of creativity and has denied itself its essential personality and identity.'
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