Utah's Ephraim Art Center Founder Says Censorship Behind Eviction

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
By Brooke Adams

UTAH---The Central Utah Art Center claims in a new federal lawsuit that Ephraim City in Sanpete County cut off its funding and moved to evict the center after it displayed artistic work some officials found offensive and not "Sanpete appropriate." In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the center said the city has censored it because some exhibits in 2011 and 2012 featured depictions of nudity and explored themes of sexuality, gender and identity.  Indeed, the show upset some residents, who complained to Ephraim Mayor David Parrish. Parrish then sent the center — located in an old grain mill — an email objecting to the display, which he said, "goes against my values and beliefs," according to the complaint. City Manager Regan Bolli also sent an email to "share my disgust with the ‘art’ on view at the Central Utah Art Center," adding that he was "saddened that a historic building built through sacrifice and faith by Ephraim’s pioneer founders would be used to display such offensive items." [link]

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Tour A Portrait of Womanhood: The Embodiment of Womanhood through Self-Portraiture

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ginger Bievenour

Self Portrait (2012) by Gina Baird

INDIANA----Field Trip opportunity! On behalf of The Women's Exhibit Committee of the Indiana Interchurch Center, St. Peter’s United Church of Christ members Ginger Bievenour and Mel Jolliff invite you to view the current art exhibit at the Indiana Interchurch Center Gallery on February 20 at 10 a.m. Women artists from Central Indiana have created a wonderfully diverse body of artistic expressions through multiple mediums to present and communicate the essence of who they are as women and as artists. Far from being the more traditional image of the artist’s face, these works range from whimsical sculpture to provocative wall art, from traditional imagery to abstractions. Mel and Ginger will host your tour, giving more information on the gallery itself as well as how the exhibit came to be and additional information on the artists and their artwork. Count on about an hour total. Interested? Please let Ginger know by e-mail, dbievenour(at)sbcglobal.net.

IIC Gallery at Indiana Interchurch Center: "A Portrait of Womanhood: The Embodiment of Womanhood through Self-Portraiture," (Ends February 28). 1100 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis, IN.

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Welcome | February 2013

Dear A&O Readers:

Welcome to February 2013. I love February for many reasons, but the top two are that Lent, typically begins in February and the second is that it was during this month in 2009 that I saw my first contemporary religious art show at the Museum of Biblical Art --- a NYC art museum that hosted "Reel Religion," (2009) a retrospective of the films inspired by the bible (1898-2006). The exhibition originated (2007) in Saint Louis at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, a museum which I would later grow attached to visiting during the Lenton season. These February experiences changed my life. Lent brings me a sense of peace for 40-days of the year that only one other experience can match, and that is the same peace I experience when I explore religious themes through the arts. I support the amazing work of the educational charity, the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts, Inc because of those two experiences, and this month I am looking forward to that journey continuing.

All Are Welcome,
Ernest Disney-Britton
Editor of The Alpha Omega Arts

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Chakra's Picture of the Week: Bala Krishna

THE CHAKRA

Bala Krishna

Bala Krishna refers to Lord Krishna as to when he was a child. BalaKrishna is often depicted as a small child crawling on his hands and knees or dancing with a piece of butter in his hand. [link]

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Eastern Expansion | Yale University Art Gallery

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Lee Lawrence

CONNECTICUT---Only a handful of U.S. museums devote space to the cultures of the Indian and Pacific Oceans—and they often scatter the works among different departments. We are in the Yale University Art Gallery's new department of Indo-Pacific art, opened in December as part of a $135-million renovation and expansion. The initial installation, showcasing works from Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and coastal regions of mainland Southeast Asia, is a rare treat. Here they are kept together, inviting us to see connections and explore diverse cultural expressions, from refined court arts to the spiritually charged talismans of headhunters. The genesis of the gallery dates back about a dozen years, when the museum was embarking on its expansion and Thomas Jaffe, Yale '71, was looking for a home for his tribal-art collection. These are mostly ritual objects, architectural carvings and representations of ancestors made for veneration, often featuring the clean, simple lines we now readily associate with modernism, another of Mr. Jaffe's interests. [link]

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Scientology Was Inevitable: The Lesson of Lawrence Wright's Book, "Going Clear"

THE GUARDIAN
By Hadley Freeman

Scientology is a neat reflection of the worst aspects of American culture with its repulsive veneration of celebrity; its weird attitudes towards women, sex, healthcare and contraception; its promise of equality among its followers but actual crushing inequality (one of the more memorable claims in Wright's book is how Scientology promises its followers access to the celebrity world yet is hierarchical to such an extent that when it was discovered Cruise and his then wife Nicole Kidman had a "fantasy of running through a field of wildflowers together", Scientology followers were instructed to "plant a section of the desert".) Its history is at least in part the history of US counterculture: when Scientology officially began in 1950 with the publication of Dianetics, it emerged in an America fascinated with tales about outer space and increasingly concerned about psychiatry, which was going through a period of brutal experimentation. But it was also the perfect product of its time and place, and continues to be so. [link]

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Theism and Vedas

THE CHAKRA
By Gurushankar Swaminathan

INDIA---What is Theism? In traditional sense, it is the belief in at least one God. Monotheism is defined as the belief in only one god and polytheism is defined as belief in many gods. The abrahamic faiths like Islam follow monotheism where Allah is the supreme god and none except him. The faith follows a male centric god and there is no other name than Allah. The abrahamic God is isolated from the nature and everything is GOD’s. The very definition of the word theism has a lot of smearing of Abrahamic theology in it. The metaphysics based on Vedas and Upanishads are beyond any form of theism be it monotheism or polytheism, as they point to “reality” which cannot be described by terms like monotheism or polytheism. The Vedic discourse recognizes the “reality” both in its formless and manifest aspects. Vedic metaphysics is not dependent on the need for believing in a human messenger to attain salvation. [link]

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A City Drenched in Sugar: King Cakes for Holy Days

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Julia Moskin

A doberge king cake from the bakery Debbie Does Doberge in
New Orleans. Each king cake conceals a bite-size figurine, usually of a baby.

NEW ORLEANS---Other cities might be trudging through cabbage season at this point in winter, but New Orleans is eating cake. From Twelfth Night to Mardi Gras, which is Feb. 12 this year, daily consumption of king cake — a round of sweet dough glazed with purple, gold and green sugar — is more or less compulsory. It’s a clue that although this city’s rémoulades and gumbos and Sazeracs are renowned, there is also a world of sweet treats to explore. King cake is popular all over this region, but in New Orleans it is always striped with green, gold and purple sugar — the colors that represent faith, power and justice in the complex symbolism of the Mardi Gras, decreed by parade clubs or “krewes” here in the 19th century. Most important, each king cake conceals a bite-size figurine, usually of a baby that traditionally represents Jesus. Whoever finds the baby in his slice has to hold the next party and buy the next cake — thus, the continuity of king cake season is preserved. [link]

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Modesty in Ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn Is Enforced by Secret Squads

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Joseph Berger

NEW YORK---The Brooklyn shopkeeper was already home for the night when her phone rang: a man who said he was from a neighborhood “modesty committee” was concerned that the mannequins in her store’s window, used to display women’s clothing, might inadvertently arouse passing men and boys. “The man said, ‘Do the neighborhood a favor and take it out of the window,’ ” the store’s manager recalled. “ ‘We’re trying to safeguard our community.’ ” In many neighborhoods, a store owner might shrug off such a call. But on Lee Avenue, the commercial spine of Hasidic Williamsburg, the warning carried an implied threat — comply with community standards or be shunned. It is a potent threat in a neighborhood where shadowy, sometimes self-appointed modesty squads use social and economic leverage to enforce conformity. The owner wrestled with the request for a day or two, but decided to follow it. [link]

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Review: "Hansel & Gretal" Witch Hunters"

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

HOLLYWOOD---We lost track of the movies in January 2013. It's not that we stopped going, but we stopped tracking the going and I blame "Hansel and Greta: Witch Hunters," and I simply relied on Roger Ebert--I love that guy. As we caught up on the best of 2012 in advance of the Oscar's in February, we got began the year with losers. (A&O Rating: -0- Stars)

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Art Review: 'Into the Mystic' at Michael Kohn Gallery

LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Christopher Knight

Fred Tomaselli, "Untitled (Entrance)," 2012 (Michael Kohn Gallery / January 17, 2013)

CALIFORNIA---Mysticism isn’t new to art, having prompted (among other things) the emergence of pure abstraction into the Modernist lexicon more than a century ago. At Michael Kohn Gallery, a group exhibition of about 30 paintings, sculptures, video, prints and mixed media works from the past 50 years by 14 artists shows that it’s alive and well today — albeit with a suitably altered consciousness. “Into the Mystic” takes its subject loosely, proposing that ultimate insight consists of contemplative, intuitive knowledge, not merely facts. Like a doorway into deep space, the pattern merges a god’s eye — or perhaps a hell’s mouth — with a schematic vaginal canal, creating a psychedelically inspired vision of the birth of spiritual truth. Michael Kohn Gallery, 8071 Beverly Blvd., (323) 658-8088, through Jan 26. Closed Sunday. and Monday. www.kohngallery.com [link]

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Why Many Followers of Hinduism Don't Eat Meat?

THE CHAKRA

Vegetarianism is the key to good health and happiness. The Hindu view is multi-dimensional, including the ecological, medical and spiritual, as is evident in the following excerpts from Hinduism Today. Besides being an expression of compassion for animals, vegetarianism is followed for ecological and health rationales. In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters — Hindus and non-Hindus — have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. Those actually trained in Vedic knowledge, however, never adopted a meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty. “That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. Scripture: He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. Mahabharata 115.47 [link]
There are five major motivations for such a decision:

1. The Dharmic Law Reason - Ahimsa, the law of non-injury
2. The Karmic Consequences Reason - All of our choice of food, have consequences
3. The Spiritual Reason - Living in peace excludes eating meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs
4. The Health Reason - Strengthen immune system
5. The Ecological Reason - Planet Earth is suffering

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American Jews Are Speaking Out Against Anti-Muslim Ads

THE AMERICAN MUSLIM
by Sheila Musaji

A few days ago, I wrote an article All extremists are “savages” and “civilized men” need to counter the hate calling on the Jewish community to speak out against the message of these AFDI/SIOA ads now running on both coasts. To speak out, not because the whole community is responsible for the actions of some members of that community, but because such hateful speech hurts us all and needs to be marginalized. The voice of the American Jewish community is important in this controversy because the author of the ads is Jewish, and claims that the ads are “pro-Israel”. They were successful in getting this “Islamorealism” ad posted in New York, and it is causing a lot of controversy there. There are a number of Jewish individuals and organizations who are speaking out, and they deserve the appreciation and thanks of the American Muslim community. They are truly engaged in Tikkun Olam (healing the world). [link]

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MexiCali Biennial: The Horrors of (Supposed) Oral Fixation

LATINOLA | A&E
By Hyun Joo Chung

CALIFORNIA---A new exhibit premiering at East Los Angeles College's Vincent Price Museum on January 19, 2013 wants you to think about cannibalism. This year's theme of cannibalism explores the ways in which modern society and mainstream culture devours alternative ideas of identity and culture. The Mexicali Biennial exhibit held at the Vincent Price Art Museum is tantalizingly titled "Cannibalism in the New World," centering on the the consequence of labeling someone else a cannibal, as curator Amy Pederson explained, "Cannibalism in the New World was one of the central rationales for colonialism." "Tomad y Comed" by Mexicali artist Marycarmen Arroyo Macias illustrates how the Spanish colonialists practiced communion, a holy and integral part of Catholicism; bluntly, stated: 'When the powerful does it, it's Holy Communion; when the oppressed does it, it's cannibalism.

Vincent Price Art Museum - East Los Angeles College: "Third MexiCali Biennial," (Ends April 13, 2013), 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park, CA. (323) 265-8841 or vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

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Timkat: An Ethiopian Celebration of Epiphany

AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA | ON BEING
By Susan Leem

Priests carry models of the container said to hold
the Ten Commandments in brightly colored cloth. 

ETHIOPIA---Last week millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrated the feast of Timkat, the most important holiday for the Ethopian Orthodox faithful. Timkat began on January 19th and was celebrated for three days. Forty percent of Ethiopians identify as Christians and are among one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world. This celebration of the Epiphany remembers Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River with a ritual reenactment and parades with replicas of a holy relic — a relic many of us may know from the Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark. [link]

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are showered with water from a cross-shaped
pool that was blessed by priests during Timkat. (Photo by Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images)

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Turkmen Jewelry from the Collection of Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

NEW YORK---The jewelry, carpets, and robe featured in this exhibition were produced in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Central Asia and Iran by Turkmen craftsmen. While Turkmen nomads had lived for hundreds of years in the region now divided between Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and northeast Iran, their lives changed markedly in the nineteenth century when, in response to a loss of pasture land, they increasingly joined settled populations. Despite the cultural shift, Turkmen craftsmen continued to work in a traditional mode. Their impressive silver jewelry was worn by women, though some objects, such as whips, were used by men. Additionally, silver ornaments were produced for horses, the most valuable asset of nomadic Turkmen. In exchange for the silver and gold used for their jewelry, the Turkmen took and traded slaves, raiding the Persian population as well as Cossacks and Russians. (Dates: October 9, 2012–February 24, 2013) [link]

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Edward Noriega, Disturbing the Comfortably Religious in Alabama

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

"Working Feet" (2012)

On his website, politicalabamadesign.com, artist Edward Noriega includes the quote, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,” attributing it either Banksy or Cesar A. Cruz. It is fitting no matter the source. When an art exhibition of faculty works was shutdown by irritated board members, it was the work of Edward Noriega which received the blame. A museum spokesperson cited his use of swastika's in the show as a justification for the censorship. Noriega responded to me saying, "The work was created to reflect my personal opinion about the HB56 Law. In my opinion this law is a modern form of ethnic cleansing. It uses verbiage like "show me your papers" and "Foreigners Out". These are the very same words and tactics used by the Nazi Party. So in my estimation, I think the usage of such iconography is legitimate." Was it truly sensitivity to Jews and not the immigrant politics of Alabama which caused the censorship? What do you think?

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Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

"Baby Jesus and Three Wise Men" (c. 1960) by Clementine Hunter

NEW YORK---This month, the Museum of Biblical Art will mark Black History Month with an amazing new exhibition examining the complex place of the Bible in the life and art of African Americans, with particular emphasis on how biblical traditions were used by artists of African descent to help cope with the life that was imposed on them in the Americas. The press release notes that the majority of the works included in the exhibition date from the 19th and 20th centuries, they often reflect the experiences of the Middle Passage and slavery, which left their indelible mark on the artistic consciousness of the African American community. Specific artists whose works are in the exhibition include the well-known Romare Bearden, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Clementine Hunter (above), and Henry Ossawa Tanner as well as those who have become established during the past decades, including Oletha DeVane, Rashida Bumbray, and Xenobia Bailey.

Museum of Biblical Art: "Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery", February 15 - May 26, 2013. 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY, mobianyc.org, (212) 408-1500.

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Pope: Easy Annulments Undercut Value of Marriage

USA TODAY

VATICAN CITY---Pope Benedict XVI says granting annulments too easily is undercutting the value of lifelong marriage. In a speech Saturday, he asked the Vatican's highest appeals court to consider reviewing church rules on marriage annulments. He told to the members of the tribunal of the Roman Rota, that "lack of faith" on the part of the spouses can affect the validity of a marriage, according to Religion News Service. According to Catholic News Service, Benedict cautioned that tribunals need to defend the sacrament of marriage as a lifelong commitment by requiring deep and serious causes for a religious divorce. [link]

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Warner Sallman's "Head of Christ" at Center of Ohio Controversey

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
By Joe Blundo

OHIO---It’s no coincidence that the religious artwork causing a stir in Jackson, Ohio, has been at the center of controversies in several other public-school districts during the past 20 years. Head of Christ, the depiction of Jesus at issue, has been called the most widespread religious image on Earth. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit in Madison, Wis., sent a letter this month to the Jackson school district demanding that the portrait be removed from Jackson Middle School because, the group says, it violates the First Amendment by promoting a religion. The school board has declined to comply.  The district hired the Liberty Institute, a nonprofit Texas law firm that opposes efforts to remove religious symbols from public places, to advise it on how to proceed. [link]

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Opinion: Trashing of Timbuktu a Terrible Loss

THE AGE
By Jonathon Jones

Ancient manuscripts on display in Timbuktu. Photo: AFP

MALI---The reported destruction of two important manuscript collections by Islamist rebels as they fled Timbuktu is an offence to the whole of Africa and its universally important cultural heritage. Like their systematic destruction of 300 Sufi saints' shrines while they held Timbuktu at their mercy, it is an assault on world heritage comparable with the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001. The literary heritage of Timbuktu dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries when the gold-rich kingdoms of Mali and Songhai traded across the Sahara with the Mediterranean world. Timbuktu is Africa's city of books and learning that disproved racist myths about the continent. That luminous inheritance is what the Islamists have destroyed. [link]

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Holy Land, USA: From Place of Pilgrimage to Creepy Destination

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
By Laura Sesana

CONNECTICUT--- Today this decaying religious theme park in Waterbury Connecticut looks like the set of a 70s horror movie. Statues and replicas made of concrete, plaster, and plywood crumble below a 50-foot steel cross that can be seen from the highway and for miles around. The large empty parking lot and what remains of a gift shop hint at a prosperous past now long gone. Closed to the public since 1984, Holy Land USA is still attracts visitors seeking the unusual and slightly spooky. The park has been the subject of several articles, blog posts and even an episode of The Daily Show. The future of Holy Land is uncertain. Residents wonder what a potential new owner may do with the property. [link]

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Indian Buddhism: Birch-Bark Treasures

HERITAGE NEWS

PAKISTAN---Experts in Indological studies at Ludwig-Mazimilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich are in the process of analysing 2000-year-old Indian Buddhist documents that have only recently come to light. The precious manuscripts have already yielded some suprising findings. The oldest surviving Buddhist texts, preserved on long rolls of birch-tree bark, are written in Gandhari, an early regional Indic language that is long extinct. The scrolls originate from the region known in ancient times as Gandhara, which lies in what is now Northwestern Pakistan. For researchers interested in the early history of Buddhism, these manuscripts represent a sensational find, for a number of reasons. [link]

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Artist Uses Blood to Show Link Between Body and Spirit

SAINT LOUIS-POST DISPATCH
By Sarah Bryan Miller

MISSOURI---Blood is artist Jordan Eagles’ chosen medium, and through it he strives to express both the energy and the spiritual symbolism of blood, of the flame and its meanings. “Blood/Spirit,” an exhibit of Eagles’ work, is on display at St. Louis University’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art.  “It’s very strong work,” said the Rev. Terrence E. Dempsey, MOCRA’s founder and director. He first encountered it at a New York art fair and was immediately drawn to it. “It’s very stark, dramatic, beautiful, and I think it’s evocative. I’ve never seen anybody deal with blood like this before.” Dempsey likes the way it “explores themes of mortality, death versus regeneration, all the things that blood evokes.” Eagles, raised a secular Jew whose parents filled the house with religious art from all traditions, isn’t religious, but he talks often about spirituality. [link]

Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at Saint Louis University: "Jordan Eagles: Blood/Spirit," through May 12, St. Louis University, 221 North Grand Boulevard, slu.edu/mocra or 314-977-7170.

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It’s a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond

THE JEWISH PRESS
By Richard McBee

Tightrope (2012) by Yona Verwer. Courtesy Artslant

NEW YORK---What a wonderful exhibition Yeshiva University Museum has mounted. Sensitively curated by Zachary Paul Levine under the watchful and expert halachic supervision of Rabbi Adam Mintz (see his “The Brooklyn Eruv” in the Winter 2012 Hakirah Journal), the show traces the origins and development of the rabbinic construct known as the eruv based on the Oral Law. A topic first found in the Mishna and then elaborated in its own tractate in Gemara, the show follows its historic development with fascinating historic texts, urban maps, illustrated guidelines and over 130 artifacts spanning 500 years. Courageously one artist, Yona Verwer, protests. Her “Tightrope” (2012) prominently raises another aspect of the overall concern for the broader Jewish community. The lack of an eruv “excludes women, children and sick people from fully participating in Jewish life and synagogue community.” [link]

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California Museum Showcasing Hindu & Buddhist Relics As Part of Nepal Exhibition

THE CHAKRA

Croker Art Museum – Art of Nepal

CALIFORNIA---Renowned Crocker Art Museum (CAM) in Sacramento (California, USA) is exhibiting various Hindu & Buddhist deities in its current “Celestial Realms: The Art of Nepal” exhibition, which will continue till February 10. Its 44 works reportedly include bronze-stone-wood sculptures, paintings, ritual objects, tribal pieces and masks; dating as far back as eighth century; and display among others images of Parvati, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Siddhilakshmi, Buddha, Bhairava; and a four-faced Shivalinga. Founded in 1885 as the first public art museum of Western USA and now a leading art museum of California, the collections of CAM include Californian, European, Asian, African and Oceanic artworks; early master drawings and international ceramics. [link]

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RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

Even though I knew what to expect, this past Friday's Art, Race, and Space Symposium in Indianapolis surprised me as I listened again to strained and complicated assertions made about art, race, and civic space. The featured artist Fred Wilson  and his controversial "E Pluribus Unum", a public art commission for Indianapolis were the focal-point for the day. It could just as easily have been the "Art, Religion, and Freedom Symposium" because the battle of Art Experts vs. Race Experts is just as sharp with each side confidently asserting that they alone own the truth. The symposium highlighted the ongoing difficulty of conversations about public art but also its importance, and that's why Wilson's now abandoned commission (above) is my NEWS OF WEEK.

In other Religious Art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Christianity in Art: Graffiti Church: Artist Hense wildly colorful makeover. [More News]
• Buddhism in Art: Creating the collection at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. [More News]
• Hinduism in Art: Satish Gupta solo show titled "Transcending Eternity". [More News]
• Islam in Art: Russia's Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts plans art exhibition. [More News]
• Interfaith in Art: Playstation's video game as religious art: "The Journey". [More News]

Are your friends members yet? If not, invite them today! We are believers, and also skeptics too united in seeking deeper human understanding through Religious Art. Some join by making the $100 commitment to become a member of the governing A&O Society; others join as smaller donors supporting the A&O Scholarship & Exhibition Prize; and still more as member-subscribers of this RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK. Please invite a friend to join the journey. It's for Believers and Skeptics too.

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Erika D. Smith: Being Part of the Process May Come at a Price to Art

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Erika Smith

INDIANA--It’s been more than two years since Fred Wilson has set foot in Indianapolis. I wasn’t sure he’d ever come back. The last time he was here, it wasn’t pretty. The New York artist, known for creating racially provocative exhibits for other cities, was lambasted by our city’s black community for his “reimagined” sculpture of the slave on Downtown’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument. But there he was on Friday, surrounded by academics at IUPUI’s Art, Race, Space Symposium, trying to make the best of bad circumstances. A new initiative is afoot, one that will culminate next year in a community-approved piece of art that will be installed somewhere along the Cultural Trail. Public meetings started last week and continue next month to collect ideas about what kind of art would best represent black culture in Indianapolis. [link]

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Brandeis University Arts Expert to Present "Truth or Beauty" Lecture in Arizona

ARIZONA JEWISH POST 

ARIZONA---The Brandeis National Committee will host its annual University on Wheels event on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. at Skyline Country Club. Scott Edmiston, director of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis University, will speak on: “Truth or Beauty: The Need for Art in the 21st Century.” Edmiston will explore questions such as: Do the arts play a role in creating and sustaining truth, justice, a more ethical society? In these days of proliferating reality shows, video games and media saturation, is there still a place for live theatre? Museums and art galleries? Symphony halls? Edmiston founded the Office of the Arts at Brandeis after more than 25 years as an artist, educator, administrator and arts advocate at universities and nonprofit organizations. [link]

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Religion News Roundup: Pope App is Live

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
By David Gibson

The “Pope App” is live. Only for iPapists right now; Android coming soon, reports CNS. Lutherans may not be signing up on either platform, and certainly not for the special carve out in the Catholic Church that the Vatican says it could provide for those Lutherans want to return to the Mother Ship. On the other hand, the Vatican can’t even bring its uber-Traditional Catholic friends back to the fold, it seems. [link]

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Polish Prisoners Put Paint to Paper Creating Religious Art

AFP | AGENCIE FRENCH-PRESS



POLAND---Behind the bars of a prison in the east of Poland, inmates are learning to recreate religious paintings, in a unique rehabilitation programme. Duration: 01:41.

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Exhibit Review: Islam at The Louvre

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Lee Lawrence

FRANCE---The Louvre's "Arts de Islam" places arts from the Islamic world on a par with those from the museum's seven other departments, including European "Paintings" and "Sculptures," "Ancient Egypt" and "Greek, Roman and Etruscan Antiquities." The museum thus presents Islam (which in French denotes a culture, not just a religion) as a civilization with distinctive artistic achievements. The narrative tries to insert into this chronological account a sense of what makes a work "Islamic." At one level, the museum showcases the breadth of Arab culture—from innovations in ceramics to charming clay water filters, from sumptuous textiles to poetry and music. At another, it strives to make the "Muslim other" more familiar by showing how Judaism, Christianity and Islam—all born and practiced in this region—have responded to such common impulses as wanting to express the sacred, facilitate prayer and disseminate holy writings. [link]

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Graffiti Church: Artist Hense Gives Place Of Worship A Wildly Colorful Makeover

THE HUFFINGTON POST

WASHINGTON, D.C.---We can certainly appreciate the beauty in the classical aesthetic that so often characterizes sites of religious observance. But sometimes even traditional venues need a radical makeover. Graffiti artist Hense did just that to a former church in Washington D.C.'s up-and-coming arts district. The artist got to work with the help of a small crew, using rollers, brushes, spray paint, inks, acrylics, mops, enamels and paint sprayers to cover every inch of the edifice in popping hues. [link]

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Impressive Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts

THE BOSTON GLOBE
By Sebastian Smee

Losang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Laman, about 1670-1680

MASSACHUSETTS---One of the great stories in the history of the arts in Boston — right up there with the writings of the Transcendentalists or the surging ambition of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky — is the story of the formation of the Asian collection at the Museum of Fine Arts. It’s great because it involved extraordinary people, because it sent out ripples of influence in every direction, and because it left behind such an impressive material legacy. The people were, first and foremost, Edward Morse, Ernest Fenollosa, and William Sturgis Bigelow. Today, the MFA is famous around the world for its Asian holdings. It has a collection of Japanese art unsurpassed anywhere outside Japan. [link]

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Video Games As Religious Art Experiences. Is The Time, Now?

VENTURE BEAT
By Louie Castro-Garcia

Screen shot from Journey

Video games are, arguably, the most interactive form of entertainment we have, and yet, they have been slow to achieve the kind of experiential status that is often associated with art, music, literature, and film. Last year saw the release of many titles that challenged this notion. Among them was Thatgamecompany’s PlayStation 3 exclusive, Journey, which has received heaps of praise and made many video game enthusiasts’ Game-of-the-Year lists. Those who have already played Journey already know that it has been hyped and lauded for good reason. Games are being talked about in religious contexts from Buddhism to Catholicism. It has to do with their ability to let us experience. [link]

What makes Journey stand out so much as an experience can perhaps be linked to its inherent spirituality. Thatgamecompany’s director Jenova Chen has openly discussed the game’s religious themes many times and has said that “many religions share an affinity with Journey.” Reviewers like James Plafke agreed and said “the game doesn’t shove any kind of religion or specific religious ideals down players’ throats but encapsulates broad, basic themes of a higher power and the journey toward self-discovery and motivation to which most religions adhere.” Some players even created a blog where they could share their experiences with the game. [Full video here...trailer below]

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Alabama Art Show Canceled Because of Ed Noriega's Offensive Images

DAILY HOME
By Chris Norwood

ALABAMA---A Troy University faculty art show at Heritage Hall Museum was canceled when board members deemed some of the images submitted by one of the artists to be offensive. According to Heritage Hall office administrator Kelly Williams, “There were nine artists that contributed, and the theme was ‘A Sense of Place.’ There was a piece by Ed Noriega that showed cans of Ajax, I guess, that had been relabeled, and had swastikas on the top. There were also some digitally altered images of the Virgin Mary holding a dead chicken in one hand and a broom and dust pan in the other. But the biggest problem was with the swastikas.” The pieces Noriega submitted were all meant to comment on HB 56, the controversial state immigration law. [link]

Relabled Ajax cans by Ed Noriega (1 of 3)

Artwork by Ed Noriega pulled from an art show by Heritage Hall Museum board (2 of 3)

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An iPad Dock as a Religious Relic? Yes, Really

CNET | CRAVE
By Michelle Starr

BAVARIA---Do you worship your iPhone? Then, perhaps you need something like this creation, which is more Gothic reliquary than dock. Created by 56-year-old Bavarian photographer Georg Dinkel, the dock — called TonSchrein 2.0 — is not the first in his series of iDevice shrines. Previously, he has created the original TonSchrein (literally "SoundShrine") for both the iPad and video iPod last year. This new creation has kicked it up a notch. In the style of German Gothic sacred architecture, TonSchrein 2.0 is a thing of ornate gorgeousness — out of all proportion to its actual function. Built out of wood and polymer clay, and clad in metal leaf and powders, the dock houses a 25W two-way speaker system below the iPad's prominent display space, with a power button and volume lever discreetly hidden among the moulding. You can see more pictures and information on Dinkel's website here. [link]

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Art Reviews: 'Dirty Dozen' at Blue Star Contemporary Museum, 'Hieroglyphs' at Linda Pace Foundation

CURRENT
By Scott Andrews

TEXAS---Every day we make choices that are so habitual we barely notice them. Up and quitting may cross your mind as a fantasy, but choosing ways to make the day amusing is rarely encouraged in the American workplace, nor sufficiently practiced — an unfortunate habit we've inherited from our Puritan forebears.  Two shows now on view exhibit these choices especially well. "Dirty Dozen," at Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, curated by Catherine Anspon, fine arts and social editor at Papercity magazine, presents seven San Antonio artists and five artists from Houston. The show, says Anspon, "exhibits themes of the supernatural, architecture, pop-culture … and cloning" but what one immediately notices is that the assembled pieces work together and fit the room. [link]

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NYC's Metropolitan Museum’s New Galleries for Islamic Art Department Draw One Million Visitors

ARTFIX DAILY

Incense Burner. Iran. dated A.H. 577/ A.D. 1181–82. 

NEW YORK---Attendance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s acclaimed New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia topped the one-million mark on January 18, 2013. In the 14 months since their grand reopening on November 1, 2011, the galleries have attracted an average of 2,550 people per day. This number represents approximately 14% of the total attendance in the Metropolitan’s main building during the same time period. [link]

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Islamic Art boosts Paris Museum Visitors Hitting 10 million in 2012

ABNA
FRANCE---The world famous Paris museum Louvre said its new Islamic art wing helped cement its position as the world's most-visited museum with nearly 10 million visitors in 2012, over a million more than last year. The exact figures will be released early next year, but in the meantime the Paris museum said there was a "remarkable progression in Chinese visitors, who now figure in the top three groups (of non-French visitors) alongside Americans and Brazilians". Next came Italians and Germans, it said in a statement that noted that its website had seen more than 11 million visitors and that its Facebook page had 800,000 followers. The museum's new wing of Islamic art, with about 3000 precious works from the seventh to the 19th centuries, opened to the public in September and since then has attracted 650,000 visitors. Costing nearly 100 million euros ($A126 million), it is funded by the French government and supported by endowments from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan. [link]

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Shiva, Vishnu and Devi Inspire Satish Gupta's Sculpture Paintings

THE HINDU
By Tanya Singhal

Mix: An experiment in merging dimensions.

INDIA---Satish Gupta experiments with sculpture painting Indian instrumental music playing in the background acts like a foil to the art work of Satish Gupta displayed at Zazen Studio. The artist’s solo after a gap of six years is titled ‘Transcending Eternity’. The underlying theme is Shiva, the energy that absorbs, Vishnu, the emanating energy and Devi, who transfers the energy. The first segment depicts nine different forms of Shiva from the Tanjore temple, the source of Satish’s inspiration. The Rudra Shiva, a major sculpture in the show, is the interpretation of Shiva revealing himself to Brahma and Vishnu in one mythological episode. The sculptures are in copper, Satish’s favourite material. “I like more organic and earthy materials instead of synthetic ones. Structurally, I use stainless steel, but it’s all hidden,” says the artist. [link]

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“Islamic Art” Exhibition Planned in Moscow

AHLUL BAYT NEWS AGENCY

RUSSIA---An exhibition of Islamic artworks will be held starting from February 20 at Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the largest museum of European art, in Moscow, Russia. The exhibition will be organized by Russia’s Muftiat Council and will run until March 24, 2013. Muslim artists from Central Asia, the Middle East, Volga region, Caucasia, Turkey, Iran, northern Afghanistan, China and Arab countries will present their artworks at the exhibition. A pavilion of the exhibition will be devoted to displaying various kinds of Sajjadahs (prayer mats) and carpets featuring inscriptions dating back to the 16th century. [link]

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Movie Review: "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest O. Britton

Sometimes miraculous films come into being, and they take you places you never imagined possible. That's the experience of "Beasts of the Southern Wild," starring Academy Awards' Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis. Rich with allegories for anything you want, it's a little girl's tale of living in "The Bathtub" a surreal place along the southern rim of Louisiana where a small community of self-reliant people live together, survive hurricanes together, and prepare for the storms of the future. It is full of quotable lines by Willis, including this concluding quote: "When I die, the scientists of the future, they're gonna find it all. They gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy, and she live with her daddy in the Bathtub." (4 "perfect" Stars: ★★★★)

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Adrian Santos Creates Star Wars Rosaries for $25

PASADENA STAR-NEWS
By Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer

CALIFORNIA---Adrian Santos has been working in this space in the garage behind his La Puente home, but is happy to take a break to chat about his art. "I love rosaries," Santos said.  For more information on Santos, visit www.babygimp.com. Six months ago, Santos started setting up his table at local festivals and art shows with his rosaries placed prominently front and center. It takes Santos two to three hours to make each rosary and they cost $15-$40 depending on the materials involved. He will make pieces by commission, but he doesn't sell anything that he doesn't like. [link]

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Art, Race, Space Symposium in Indianapolis

IU-PUI | INDIANPOLIS

Date: January 25, 2013
Location: Campus Center, IUPUI Campus, 420 University Blvd.
Time: 8:00 am–5:30 pm

Event Summary: Artists and scholars from across the country will join leaders from Indianapolis’s arts and culture sector in an interdisciplinary daylong symposium dedicated to exploring the complicated relationships between art, race, and civic space. Participants will begin by reflecting on artist Fred Wilson’s "E Pluribus Unum", a public art commission for the Indianapolis Culture Trail that was cancelled in 2011 due to controversy surrounding Wilson’s appropriation of a freed slave figure from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Building on the ideas about race, class, visual culture, and democratic debate that emerge from the Indianapolis project, presenters will also address related historical and contemporary examples from other parts of the United States. In order to encourage public dialogue about art, race, and space, the symposium will provide an opportunity for audience members and presenters to engage in conversations about these matters throughout the day. [link]

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Dreamkeepers: Honor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. With Creativity

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest O. Britton

The King, The Dream (2012). Courtesy of The IronLion

Ivan (aka TheIronLion), said of his work "The King, The Dream" (above), that it was: "My fourth attempt at emulating Shepard Fairey's groundbreaking style." I admire an artist who keeps working on fine-tuning his craft even when it emulates another. We all emulate. King emulated Ghandi; and Ghandi was a student of Jesus. Creativity and courage build on that which came before, because as scripture says, "There is nothing new under the sun." That's why on this day that we honor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., I also honor Ivan for his work as a Dreamkeeper because he keeps working the dream. Have a wonderful day...and "Celebrate the Dream." Also, if you like this image of Rev. King too, you can pick-up a copy of your own online via "TheIronLion."

King Breakfast 2013: Greg, Verneida and Ernest (Left to Right)

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RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

Ever ask yourself, "what's my core?" What drives--inspires and motivates you? At my core, is the desire for order, and peace. It's why I started this blog in 2008, to bring order to the religious complexities of NYC living. Traditions bring order too. Traditions and rituals such as Monday's inauguration of our U.S. President; our family's 22nd annual tradition with the Rev. Martin Luther King Breakfast organized by my mother; or the current Hindu festival for holy men that happens every 12 years. Art, traditions and rituals help bring a sense of peace in a disorderly world, and that's what I felt when I saw Corey Drieth's artwork (above), and that's why his "Devotional" exhibit in Montana is my NEWS OF WEEK.

In other Religious Art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhism in Art: Experience 1,000 statues at the Temple of the Lotus King. [More News]
• Christianity in Art: Mexican churches fighting back against looters. [More News]
• Hinduism in Art: 1.5 million Holy men plunge naked into sacred waters in India. [More News]
• Islam in Art: Ismail Md Zain spreads divine messages through digital paintings. [More News]
• Judaism in Art: Massive Jewish Art collection going up for auction in NYC. [More News]

Are your friends members yet? If not, invite them today! We are believers and also skeptics united in seeking deeper human understanding through Religious Art. Since 2008, some have joined by making the $100 commitment to be a member of the governing A&O Society; others joined as smaller donors supporting the A&O Scholarship & Exhibition Prize; and still more as member-subscribers of this RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK. Please invite a friend to join the journey. It's for Believers and Skeptics too.

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Millions of Hindus Enter River Ganges In Maha Kumbh Mela, Worlds Largest Religious Festival

THE HUFFINGTON POST
By Rueters

An Indian Hindu holy man prays during the royal bath at the start of
the Maha Kumbh Mela on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

INDIA---Once every 12 years, tens of millions of pilgrims stream to the small northern city of Allahabad from across India for the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Grand Pitcher Festival, at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet with a third, mythical river. The ritual "Royal Bath" was timed to match an auspicious planetary alignment, when believers say spiritual energy flows to earth. The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested from demons a golden pot containing the nectar of immortality. In a 12-day fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujain and Nasik. Every three years a Kumbh Mela is held at one of these spots, with the festival at Allahabad the holiest of them all. [link]

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‘We Are Patriarchs’ Series By Elke Reva Sudin

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest O. Britton

"The Rememberance of the Descendants" (2013).
Oil on wood panel, 30×40 in. $3,000

The Solo Show ‘We Are Patriarchs’ of works by Elke Reva Sudin opened on January 13 at the Hadas Gallery, Brooklyn. As promised, she posted images from the show following the opening. The artist  tweeted me, "So happy with how everything turned out Sunday! Can't wait to see people at the next event at my show on "Future History" by @JewishArtNow Feb 2nd." The following text is from her website and goes with the work (above) "The Remembrance of the Descendents" finished this year:

Then: The text is taken from the Torah, quoting the words Moses says to the people of Israel that they (all generations) have witnessed the revelation at Sinai. 

Now: The characters in the painting are reflective of how a contemporary generation yearns to uphold this commandment and find ways of keeping the revelation alive for themselves and for others. The image explodes with color atop a sepia background. 

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Art Gallery Threatened Over Talmud Artwork

YNET
By Kobi Nahshoni

Else places ancient Talmud pages into glass tubes and glue them onto canvas

ISRAEL---Israel's Chief Rabbinate has threatened to stop an art gallery in Tel Aviv from exhibiting works using original Talmud pages "sacrilegiously." Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said he hoped someone would purchase the artwork for thousands of shekels – so that they would be removed from the gallery. Radio Kol Hai revealed that the gallery, located on Dizengoff Street, displays dozens of such works designed from ancient Talmud pages inserted into glass tubes and glued onto canvas pictures. They works are called "Gmara" and the cheapest one is being sold for NIS 6,000 (about $1,610). The artist, a French woman who refers to herself as "Else," told Kol Hai reporter Dvora Ginsburg that the pages were taken from an ancient Talmud she bought from an art dealer in France. "I'm a traditional Jew, and two years ago, when I was drawing the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt, I got the inspiration to add the Talmud pages which I saw as a Jewish symbol," she explained. "I later combined the pages in my other works."[link]

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Will Religion Survive the Internet?

SALON
By Valerie Tarico, ALTERNET

The Vatican, and the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Southern Baptist Convention should be very worried. A traditional religion, one built on “right belief,” requires a closed information system. That is why the Catholic Church put an official seal of approval on some ancient texts and banned or burned others. Religions have spent eons honing defenses that keep outside information away from insiders. In October of 2012 the Pew Research Center announced that for the first time ever Protestant Christians had fallen below 50 percent of the American population. Atheists cheered and evangelicals beat their breasts and lamented the end of the world as we know it.  In all of the frenzy, few seem to give any recognition to the player that I see as the primary hero, or, if you prefer, culprit—and I’m not talking about science populizer and atheist superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson. Then again, maybe Iam talking about Tyson in a sense, because in his various viral guises—as a talk show host and tweeter and as the face on scores of smartass Facebook memes—Tyson is an incarnation of the biggest threat that organized religion has ever faced: the internet.  [link]

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Roman Catholic Church Begins Process to Beatify 9-year-old Brazilian Girl

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Associated Press

BRAZIL--- The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro has launched a process aimed at putting a Brazilian girl on the path to sainthood. Archbishop Orani Tempesta and Vatican representatives told reporters Friday that they had begun the process to beatify Odette Vidal de Oliveira, who was 9 when she died of meningitis in 1939. Nascimento said one miracle attributed to Oliveira was the recovery of a woman who suffered a serious hemorrhage after giving birth, leading doctors to tell her husband that she would die. “In prayers, the woman asked Odette for help and she recovered,” he said.  The priest said Oliveira came from a wealthy family and “always asked the household staff to help the poor who begged for food and money.  She also visited orphanages with her mother and serve food to the needy. She was a very religious girl who always accompanied her mother to church,” Nascimento said. “At age 4, she seemed to have intimate dialogues with Jesus.”[link]

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