Types and Shadows

For one of my classes we had to visit the new art exhibit entitled Types and Shadows. The artifacts displayed with in the exhibit were there to uniquely and respectfully describe our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here is my reflection on one particular painting that stood out in my mind:
I have always been a fan of art and museums. I find it fascinating to walk around taking in all the exhibits and try to drive into the mind of the artist to see how they saw, and to understand the meaning of the piece they worked so hard and long to create. In my Book of Mormon class we had discussed types and shadows and how the Law of Moses is a shadow of things that were to come and be fulfilled, meaning Christ ministry and the atonement. While walking through the Art Museum’s exhibit, also entitled Types and Shadows, I was drawn to a more modern painting. The painting by Ron Richmond, entitled Exchange No. 8 really struck a chord in me. The painting is of two chairs, one draped in white, and the other in red. The chair in red has fallen to the feet of the chair in white. The main portion of the painting is within a box, but very faintly around the box you see a circle, the sign for eternity or endless continuum. Around the painting the exhibitioners put possible definitions of the elements that the painting contains, also called folksonomies. As I read their definitions, I began to see the types and shadows presented in the painting. The erected chair, a mercy seat, a throne; the white cloth, cloth meaning covering, protection, the atonement and white being purity, light, truth, holiness. The standing chair is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The fallen chair may represent sin, transgression, mortality, our life here on earth as we battle the natural man. The red cloth, blood, lineage, sacrifice again covers the fallen chair, just as the atonement of Christ is there to cover our sins, to allow us to wipe clean those transgressions if we are humbled, fallen at our Savior’s feet. And finally, the circle surrounding the painting and all that it depicts, it is the symbol of eternity. The circle is endless, just like the atonement and our Savior’s mercy is endless. Though we must do our part to live righteously and be able to humble ourselves to accept the atonement, it is always there, it is always covering our fallen shoulders. This particular painting just gives me shivers, I love the meaning of these chairs because I have the knowledge of the atonement and my Savior’s love.