US-Based Hindu Leader Asks Australian Govt to Withdraw Support of Theatre Group

ZEE NEWS

Photo courtesy of Back to Back Theater

AUSTRALIA - Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Monday, argued that taxpayer-funded organizations like Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Victoria, and City of Melbourne, which supported this play, should not be involved in projects resulting in upsetting a community group. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that these organizations should be more vigilant in their selections as Hindus were also taxpayers in Melbourne, Victoria and Australia. He urged City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, Arts Victoria Director Penny Hutchinson and Australia Council for the Arts Chief Executive Officer Kathy Keele to urgently convene a meeting and withdraw support from this play. The play `Ganesh versus the Third Reich` premiers at Melbourne Festival in Australia on September 29. [link]

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Redesigned Montreal Museum Makes Bold Statement

THE MONTREAL GAZETTE
By John Pohl

The Founding Identities section is part of the new galleries presented by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in a preview visit on Monday. To view a gallery of photos from the preview, visit montrealgazette.com-photos

CANADA - The unveiling Monday afternoon of David Altmejd's monumental bronze sculpture of an angel signals that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is about to invite the public into the Bourgie Concert Hall and its new pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art. Altmejd's The Eye, standing in front of a church that has been transformed into a concert hall, continues the artist's fascination with bodies in metamorphosis and is a fitting symbol for an art museum in its own great transformation. The former Erskine and American Church, now a 444-seat concert hall with comfortable seating, is also a space for exhibiting 81 restored stained-glass windows, 20 of them made by the Tiffany company of New York. The public grand reopening of the museum takes place Oct. 14 to 16. Information: http://www.mbam.qc.ca/. [link]

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Kehinde Wiley's "Sleep" at Corcoran Gallery of Art this Week

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

"Sleep" (2008) by Kehinde Wiley. Oil on canvas, 132 x 300 inches.
Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection, Miami.

WASHINGTON, DC - Opening this weekend at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, "30 Americans" is a wide-ranging survey of work by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades including 2008 A&O Prize honoree Kehinde Wiley. Selected from the Rubell Family Collection, the exhibition includes both long established artists, and featured in the exhibition is Wiley's "Sleep" (above) where a sleeping Christ-like figure of a man triggers one to think back to images of the "Deposition" and "Entombment of Christ" painted by religious art greats such as Caravaggio and Titian. According to the press release, the Corcoran Gallery of Art was formed in 1869 for the purpose of ―"Encouraging American Genius." Located at 500 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC, more information is available at(202) 639-1700 or www2.corcoran.org.

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Video of Week: Art & Faith Forum at Gordon College

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BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Rabbi Mark Kaiserman | NJ

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

Photo courtesy of Temple Emanu-El

RABBI MARK KAISERMAN of Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J. is a BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS. When the High Holy Days begin today at sundown, the Torah at his synagogue will be taken out of its everyday cover and "dressed" in its holiday best, a cover by reknowned Judaic artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren of Connecticut.

Traditionally, the holiday best is in white with muted tones but Rabbi Kaiserman said, “Her artwork is so striking, you’re drawn into looking. It’s so vibrant, you just look at it and it connects with you, with people of all ages.” He added. “It exhibits the joy and brightness you want the Torah to have. It sort of gets you in the mood for the holidays that are a about to happen.”

The Torah is a scroll containing the five books of Moses that are central to Judaism. The High Holy Days include Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. The holidays emphasize the personal, reflective and introspective.

The Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes MARK KAISERMAN of Temple Emanu-El (NJ) and includes him in its 2011 honor roll of Believer's For Artists!

**E-mail your NOMINATION for a BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS today!

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Wall Paintings Doing a Vanishing Act in India

THE TIMES OF INDIA
By Swati Chandra

Wall painting by Anupreet

INDIA - The bright coloured parrots, horses, gods and goddess painted on the walls of the houses, temples and ashrams of Varanasi were often seen while walking down the lanes of the city. The wall painting art, better known as 'bhitti chitrakala' is an exclusive folk art of Varanasi. But now it is struggling to breathe on the walls, ceilings and gateways of various temples, havelis and muths of the city. The paintings depicting mythological stories, colonial, Rajasthani and Mughal art at Jangambadi Muth, Bhonslaghat, Bageshwari Temple have already lost their lustrous look while various others are on the way to get extinct. "The main reason for the depletion of this art is negligence and unawareness," said Kamal Giri, a retired professor from the department of history of arts, Banaras Hindu University (BHU).According to historians and artists, the evidences of this folk art dates back to the end of 16th century. [link]

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The True Face of Jesus? Rembrandt's Face of Jesus Review

THE DAILY BEAST
By Blake Gopnik

Google “Jesus” (you get a few hits) and you know what kind of images you’ll find: Christ will almost always have a high forehead, blond-streaked locks parted in the middle, a straight nose, a hipster beard, and that faraway look. That sameness ought to seem strange: the artists didn’t exactly have the chance to paint him from life. Except Rembrandt, sort of. Somewhere around 1645, he went out into his Jewish neighborhood in Amsterdam, found a young man, dark, Semitic and brooding, and had him pose for some radically new pictures of Christ. Six that survive have been assembled in a big show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they face off against more conventional Christs by Rembrandt and others. Looking at Rembrandt’s “realistic” Jesus makes you realize how stereotyped other images of him have been, from the Middle Ages right to today. On Sunday, that stereotype, our commitment to it and Rembrandt’s daring revision will be the topic of an interfaith panel hosted by the Philadelphia museum. [link]

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Philosopher Alain de Botton Promotes Religion for Atheists

THE KOREAN HERALD
By Claire Lee

KOREA - Philosopher and author Alain de Botton grew up in a Jewish family where religion was thought to be “completely ridiculous,” and it took him a while for him to say he didn’t agree. “(My family thought) if you are intelligent, you believe in science. … And with respect to my parents, I nevertheless moved away from that position. And even though I am still an atheist, I am now much more sympathetic to many of the lessons and traditions of religion.” The newly released Korean edition, "Religion for Atheists" published five months ahead of the English edition, is de Botton’s philosophical account on how “people who don’t believe in supernaturals” can also benefit and learn from religious teachings and practices. There are many things that modern-day secular people could “steal” from religion, including its education, art and the way it perceives beauty. “Religions remember that we are not just brains but bodies,” he said. Religious art, on the other hand, is interested in what is beautiful but also in what is true, de Botton said. [link]

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Connecticut Artist's Vibrant Torah Covers Inspire

MILFORD-ORANGE BULLETIN
By Pamela McLoughlin

Jeanette Kuvin Oren, an artist who specializes in Judaic artwork,
sits in her Woodbridge studio with examples of Torah covers that she has created for clients.

CONNECTICUT - When the High Holy Days begin Wednesday at sundown, Torahs throughout the world will soon be taken out of their everyday covers and “dressed” in their holiday best, traditionally in whites with muted tones. At Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J. and dozens of other synagogues worldwide, that change is all the more artfully inspiring because the covers are made by reknowned Judaic artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren of Woodbridge. “Her artwork is so striking, you’re drawn into looking. It’s so vibrant, you just look at it and it connects with you, with people of all ages,” said Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of the New Jersey synagogue. “It exhibits the joy and brightness you want the Torah to have. It sort of gets you in the mood for the holidays that are a about to happen.” [link]

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Explore Common Ties between Christian & Buddhist Deities

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
By Michael J. Fressola

"Amitabha Buddha," by Tashi Dhargyal

NEW YORK — Renaissance painters imagined heaven as a luminous cloudbank overflowing with angels and saints. They didn’t own the concept. Traditional Buddhist artists had a similar hunch about the eternal after-party. They also put the land of the gods above the earth, but unlike their Christian counterparts, they imagined many, many deities — all adrift on lotus blossoms in yoga positions. Buddhism absorbed much of the existing Hindu myths and personnel and added more of its own. Traditional Tibetan painting has an established range of subjects and characters, all governed by customary formulas. Much as the Virgin Mary is always presented in a blue veil and white gown, Tibetan deities can be recognized by their distinctive attire, posture, complexion, weaponry or lack thereof. A small segment of the huge and lively Buddhist pantheon is portrayed in a nine-piece show at The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, where “Artist Tashi Dhargyal and the Menris Tradition of Thangka Art,” continues through Oct. 9. [link]

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The Many Aspects of Devi: Review of Mother Goddess Exhibit at Metropolitan

THE TIMES OF INDIA
By Uma Nair

NEW YORK - A small exhibition that is a cornucopia of artistic endeavour, gorgeous goddesses and soul stirring antiquity - New York City's Metropolitan Museum's jewel-like little display shows off 'Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting.' The 30 works from the museum's collection that depict Devi in all her various aspects in this show are a sumptuous summary of sorts. Perhaps the most widely worshipped deity in all India, Devi stands popular in the Hindu pantheon. The exhibition presents enduring images of the feminine in Indian art from the first millennium BCE through the late 20th century. Devi in her myriad forms - benign, maternal, empowering, and fearsome - expresses the range of human emotions. Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting, runs through November 27, 2011. [link]

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Video: Dr. Brown Explains, "What is Religious Art?"

What Is the Purpose of Religious Art? -- Powered by ehow

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The Museum of Russian Art's New Website Expands Access of Religious Icons

AOA NEWS

Archangel Michael, 18th century. Tempera on wooden panel. 150 x 92 cm.
Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl, Russia.

MINNESOTA – Late this summer, the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis launched its entirely redesigned website including an the online exhibition: "Transcendent Art: Icons from Yaroslavl, Russia." Made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the new site has been transformed from a relatively static space into a content-rich, interactive destination that fosters ongoing engagement with TMORA’s exhibitions including its extensive resources on religious icons. [View Exhibit]

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Not all Religious Art is Made by Believers: David Mach

THE GUARDIAN
By Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin

The Question: Do we need faith to see religious art?

"Die Harder" by David Mach is made from 3,000 coat hangers

UNITED KINGDOM - The question whether or not a non-believer can appreciate religious art without sharing in its maker's religious purpose seems to assume that all religious art is made by believers. This is a false assumption. Anybody doubting whether a non-religious person can produce religious art should go and see David Mach's mammoth exhibition Precious Light currently on display at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Works like Mach's challenge the assumption that only artists of faith can produce religious art. Indeed, it can sometimes be the artist without faith who does the better job, unencumbered by expectations of conforming to the standard interpretations of either the church or the history of art. This should give us pause. If it is possible for artists without faith to produce religious art why would the viewer need faith to appreciate it? [link]

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New Buddhist Stupa to Be Blessed at Earth Sanctuary in Washington State

AOA NEWS

WASHINGTON - A blessing ceremony for a newly completed holy Buddhist stupa monument and Tibetan prayer wheels will be held on Saturday, October 8 at Earth Sanctuary, a nature preserve and retreat center on south Whidbey Island off the state of Washington. The ceremony will be held outside and the general public is invited to attend, and encouraged to bring a cushion to sit on. According to the press release, a "stupa is the most important Buddhist monument and is a sacred structure designed to bring peace and harmony to a community and the world."

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Bruce Wall Lifts Ancient Art of Indian Kolam into High Tech

THE MORNING CALL
By Steve Siegal

Artist Bruce Wall is seated by a collection of his Indian Kolam art

PENNSYLVANIA - Kolam is an ancient folk art form still practiced daily on the floors of Hindu temples and on the doorsteps of homes by the women of South India. A fine mixture of rice powder, crushed stones, and sometimes spices for pigment is sifted between the thumb and forefinger, creating a geometric pattern of dots and lines on the ground. Kolam designs are a form of welcome mat, inviting all things auspicious to enter within. What Bruce Wall, associate professor of fine arts at NCC, has done in creating this remarkable show is to lift Kolam off the floor and place it into new media using new technology. "The Art of Indian Kolam: Traditional Designs and New Media" at Northampton Community College is on view through Oct. 23. [link]

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Rembrandt's Jewish Jesus Inspiring Discussion in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
By Kristin E. Holmes

PENNSYLVANIA - An exhibit of Rembrandt's paintings of Jesus at the Philadelphia Museum of Art has prompted conversations in Bible study groups, over lunch, and in adult-education classes before Sunday services. The subject is the image of a Christian savior whom Rembrandt depicts in a way that broke with tradition in the mid-17th century. Neither fine-boned nor fair-haired, the Dutch master's pivotal renderings show a Jesus with dark hair and Semitic features, a seeming embrace of his Jewish heritage. Since the exhibit's opening in August, the museum has been host to visitors from area churches and from other groups including a retreat house, a two-day Christian women's conference at the Wells Fargo Center, and a retirement community and its chaplains. The Presbytery of Philadelphia was host to hundreds of people at the museum during a special evening event organized by the denomination in August. [link]

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Jewish Museum in Cleveland Explores African-American Art

CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS

"15th Defense" by Elmer W. Brown, linocut

OHIO - Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage presents “Hardship to Hope: African-American Art from the Karamu Workshop” through Jan. 1. Art and artifacts from local archives and collectors depicting a turbulent time in Cleveland history. 1930s Cleveland, Ohio…labor strikes and riots…the “Mad Butcher” torso slayings…the city in the throes of the Great Depression. Hard times, but with them glimmers of hope. The Terminal Tower opened, Jesse Owens set records, Superman was created. Budding artists and performers were finding hope at a settlement that would become Karamu House, a center of community and gathering place for free expression. Working with Cleveland State University, Karamu House, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Artists Foundation, Western Reserve Historical Society and a private collection, the Museum has gathered more than sixty-five pieces, art and artifacts that open a window to a turbulent and creative time in Cleveland. On display through January 1, 2012, http://www.maltzmuseum.org/ or 216-593-0575. [link]

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Palestinian Kids' Art Deemed Unsuitable For Children

NPR | Morning Edition
By Richard Gonzales

CALIFORNIA - An exhibit of children's art from Palestine was supposed to open last Saturday at the Oakland Museum of Children's Art, but the show was canceled. Museum officials say community members raised concerns about whether the art, depicting scenes of Israeli-Palestinian violence, was appropriate for children. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports. [Listen]

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Oakland Organizes to Produce Interfaith Art Exhibit

J-WEEKLY.COM

“Children of Abraham: Learn” by Sharon Siskin

CALIFORNIA - “Diverse Visions of Harmony: An Interfaith Art Exhibit,” which opened with a Sept. 17 reception at a mosque in Oakland, brings together artists and community members from a wide range of religious faiths. It was organized largely by the Faith Trio, an Oakland-area coalition that includes the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, Kehilla Community Synagogue and the Montclair Presbyterian Church. Sharon Siskin’s piece “Children of Abraham: Learn” (above) combines pages from Hebrew and Arabic children’s schoolbooks. photo/courtesy of islamic cultural center of northern californiaFeaturing more than 90 pieces by 40 local artists — some professional, some amateur, made by a range of people ages 16 to 93 — the exhibit will run through Oct. 22 at Islamic Cultural Center in downtown Oakland. [link]

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Islamic Art Feature: Pick of the Month

MUSLIM MATTERS

"Ramadhan" by asyraaf.azahari

To view of the images selected for the month of September, click here.

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Tour Photographer Danny Goldfields Inspiring "NYChildren" at Ground Zero's Islamic Cultural Center

ARTINFO

NYChildren

NEW YORK - Danny Goldfield's "NYChildren" series gives New York City's diversity a face — make that many faces. The photographer's mission is to find one child from every country in the world living in New York and take their portrait. So far, children from 171 countries have been photographed. This is the first time the full series will be on view. What makes this exhibition even more striking is that it is hosted at a temporary space for Park51, the Islamic cultural center that was planned for downtown New York as a gesture of healing but that has been the subject of fearsome debate by those playing to Islamophic stereotypes. [link]

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RELIGIOUS ART | TALK OF WEEK

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

KEHINDE WILEY's painting “Alios Itzhak” (above) was purchased by the Jewish Museum of NY, and helps to launch this year's dialogue about Judiasm's High Holy season. Wiley is the 2008 honoree of the A&O Prize for Contemporary Religious Art (first honoree). The three AOA questions for this week are:

1. What can the visual arts teach non-Jews about the High Holydays? (Comment Here)
2. Will Americans learn about Buddhism by attending Buddhist art shows? (Comment Here)
3. Why should young Americans participate in interfaith Religious Art exhibits? (Comment Here)

Listed below are the other stories of this past week in the world of religious art. The stories are grouped by the five largest faith traditions, with an additional category for other.

BUDDHIST ART:

• Buddhist ''Thangka'' Paintings Enrich Tibetan Culture (MSN | Pakstan Matters)
• Do Americans Miss the Point of Buddhism? (Huffington Post)
• So Serene: Buddhist Art Show Graces Tadao Ando's Pulitzer Foundation in St. Louis (ArtInfo)

HINDU ART:

• Australian Play About Hindu God Concerns Hindu Leader from USA (The Herald Sun)
• Asia Dominates New Season of Art Shows (The New York Times)

ISLAMIC ART:

• Islamic Center Near Ground Zero Launches with Art Exhibit (MSNBC)
• Asia Dominates New Season of Art Shows (The New York Times)
• Met Museum Places Islamic Art on a New Pedestal (The New York Times)

JUDAICA FINE ART:

• Pittsburgh's Beth Shalom Art Show Gets Under Way This Week (The Jewish Chronicle)
• Philadelphia Art Museum exhibit puts Jewish Face on Rembrandt (Jewish Community Chronicle)
• Shofar FlashMob Around The World (Huffington Post)
• 'Art of High Holidays' Video Casts New Light on Jewish Culture (The Examiner)
• Kehinde's Wiley's Painting that Begat a Whole Show (The New York Times)

CHRISTIAN ART:

• Video of Week: Artist, Maku Fujimura (McManus Studios)
• Believer For Artists: Lutheran Pastor Mike Frankowiak (AOA News)
• Earliest Known Images of Christ on Display at NYU (The New York Observer)
• Nude Art Exposes Christianities Original Sin (The Guardian)
• After 15-Yrs: Hand-drawn St. John’s Bible, Now Finished (The Christian Post)
• Symposia on Art & Faith in Massachusetts (AOA News)
• First Museum of Christian Art Opens Doors Tomorrow in Mumbai, India (Time of India)

RELATED ARTS:

• Indiana's Religious Art Prize for Youth, Oct. 26 (AOA News)
• Video: Prayer installation wins Blake Prize (ABC News)
• Official Blake Prize 2011 Video (Blake Society)
• Sada Mire: Uncovering Somalia's Heritage (BBC World News)
• Indian Paintings Sell for $9.7 Million at Christies, Sotheby's (Bloomberg)
• Rare and Provocative Religious Imagery at Bangkok Gallery (Bangkok Post)
• Gods and Monsters Haunt Sweet-briar Art Exhibit (WSLS10)

Get your daily dose of Alpha Omega Arts on Facebook and/or Twitter! This "Religious Art | Talk of Week” is a weekly educational project of the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts in connecting artists, faiths and communities through art.

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So Serene: Buddhist Art Show Graces Tadao Ando's Pulitzer Foundation in St. Louis

ARTINFO
By Janelle Zara

MISSOURI - At the entrance of the Pulitzer Foundation of the Arts in St. Louis, visitors are greeted by "Standing Prince Shōtoku at Age Two," a wooden sculpture of Japan's storied early follower of Buddhism, poised in silent prayer as the noise and light of the outside world are lost behind closed doors. Beyond this Entrance Gallery, there are two dozen incarnations of Buddha, his teachings, and his followers, dating back to the second century, B.C., spanning all across Asia and a bit into the Western world. They make up "Reflections of the Buddha," the first exhibition in the foundation's 10th anniversary season. The exhibition is quite a tranquil experience. Although the Pritzker Prize-winning architect behind the structure, Tadao Ando, is not a practicing Buddhist, it resonates with Zen-like qualities, according to curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra. It's what inspired her to put together this show. [link]

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Kehinde Wiley's Painting that Begat a Whole Show

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Carol Vogel

“Alios Itzhak” (2011) by Kehinde Wiley, oil and enamel on canvas,
was recently acquired by the Jewish Museum.

NEW YORK - Kehinde Wiley, 34, is an artist preoccupied with global culture. He is also a history painter whose multicultural images of primarily good-looking men recall the work of old masters like Rubens and Jacques-Louis David. The lush and intricately painted backgrounds make them more interesting still. In “Alios Itzhak,” a 2011 canvas that is part of the artist’s series “World Stage: Israel” (March 09 - July 29, 2012) for instance, Mr. Wiley depicts a handsome Ethiopian-Israeli man in a T-shirt and blue jeans, one hand on his hip, staring with attitude straight at the viewer. Behind him is a delicate paper cutout, inspired by a traditional 19th-century Judaica piece in the Jewish Museum in New York’s permanent collection. The members of its curatorial team were so enamored of his work that when they saw “Alios Itzhak,” they decided it was something the museum had to acquire. [link]

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