MOCRA joins Facebook, MySpace
October 31st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
According to a release from the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, MOCRA is now on Facebook (link here) and MySpace (link here).
Archive for October, 2008
artdaily.org shows Raphael’s “Madonna of the Goldfinch” pre- and post-restoration
October 31st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Sacred Art is not Idolatry
October 30th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
“Father Joe,” a.k.a. Father Joseph Jenkins, pastor of Holy Family Church in Mitchellville, Maryland, has a great post on religious art and idolatry. He correctly points out that the “prohibition against images was never absolute,” and he rallies four biblical references to prove his point (three OT and one NT). Here’s the money quote:
It is peculiar that some critics will oppose the Church’s use of sacred art and yet they often have trophies, statuary, toy dolls, photographs, and paintings in their homes. Images that inspire faith and remind us of particularly holy and courageous members of our faith are no more wrong than such pictures of family and friends in our homes.
This all gets messy though if we ask ourselves whether images are religious requirements. I’ve had a lot of religious folks tell me that they worry about the temptation of religious art, and if someone genuinely wants to avoid art so as not to fall on an idolatrous path, it’s hard to know what to respond to that. Father Joe, if you are reading this, I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on this topic…
“The Hamsa in Jewish Mysticism and Art”
October 30th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article about hamsas in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions appears on MyJewishLearning.com. Here’s a selection:
The symbol of an eye embedded in the palm of an open hand has had several names throughout the ages, including the hamsa, the eye of Fatima, the hand of Fatima, and the hand of Miriam. The form is sometimes rendered naturally and other times symmetrically with a second thumb replacing the little finger.
The hamsa has been variously interpreted by scholars as a Jewish, Christian, or Islamic amulet, and as a pagan fertility symbol. Yet even as the magical form remains shrouded in mystery and scholars debate nearly every aspect of its emergence, it is recognized today as a kabbalistic amulet and as an important symbol in Jewish art.
“Reviving Sacha Kolin”
October 30th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of Lisa Thaler’s new book “Look Up: The Life and Art of Sacha Kolin” (info on the book here) appears in The Jewish Press.
Here’s the beginning of the story:
Lisa Thaler’s obsession with Sacha Kolin dates back to a modernism show in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1998. Just before she and her husband, Martin, were ready to leave the exhibit, they both found them-selves coming back to a certain painting, which they later learned was Kolin’s “Departure.” Martin was sure he saw the Hebrew letter lamed in the work, while Thaler insisted the work was abstract. Indeed, “Departure” seems to have a crimson lamed just to the left of the painting’s center, but one is tempted to dismiss the form as an abstract geometric shape, especially given the larger context. It is flanked by blue, green, tan, purple, white, gray and red shapes, which are decided un-Hebraic.
WORLD Magazine: Has Christian art become too sentimental?
October 25th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
At the end of an interesting interview, WORLD Magazine’s Marvin Olasky asks Max McLean, president of the Christian arts ministry, Fellowship for the Performing Arts, “How do you prevent Christian art from becoming saccharin and soaked in sentimentalism?”
McLean answers:
The reason there is that sort of saccharin aesthetic is because there’s a kind of isolation. In New York that kind of saccharin art is challenged. But on the flip side, there’s a message in theater today: “There is no God, get over it.” The worldview in secular theater is pretty dark. We do need people to produce [good] plays, to put the money behind it, to write those plays, to direct those plays because that’s when the culture making happens. I would like to see more people thinking about “How do I create culture?”
With McLean, I’d love to see more religious people consciously trying to create culture, but I think it’s pretty important not to set this up as secular-dark theater is bad, and religious-light theater is optimistic, happy, and holy. Leaving the playwrights’ religious beliefs aside, it is hard to watch the plays of Kafka, Jarry, or Beckett without contemplating a world without underlying structure. This will strike some viewers as the most terrifying of scenarios and others as the most liberating thing imaginable. But even religious viewers ought to be able to be inspired by dark art.
I think the hurdle many religious artists need to overcome is not the tone of their art, but the audience. It’s so easy to think that a personal religious experience — since it has changed your own world — will inspire the entire world that many artists forget to look at the larger context. For art to rise above the sentimental, it needs perspective, and for better or for worse it needs to (like all good communication) find a way to combine the personal and the general. This is particularly tough to do with emotions or transformational religious experiences, but that also means that there is more potential reward in the proposition.
Mention in Marilyn Banner’s Newsletter
October 18th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Which just arrived in my email box. Banner begins, “In such unsettled and confusing times, it is always important to go back to the basics - to the source - whatever that means for each of us. Much of my art work, perhaps ALL of my art work, is about that process of centering and connecting to the deepest part of the self. In this newsletter I share some images that I hope will help center you, the viewer - and remind you of the security to be found in your innermost self and your relationships to others.”
Further down, Banner writes:
The person who recently purchased “Listening” saw a printed copy of the Menachem Wecker review and said to me “I want this.” I said, sure, I have plenty of copies of this article. She answered “No, I mean I want this painting. I have to have it!” She “felt” the painting from the photographic image, and it went right to her heart. This is an example of someone listening to “the still small voice,” and following it.
It’s nice to hear that someone was inspired by my review, which is accessible here.
“The Prophet’s beautiful name on a scenic sky”
October 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Image from Ikram Kurdi’s blog.
Kurdi, a 19-year-old male from Baghdad according to his profile, gives permission for free use of the image.
The blog carries the motto “A Muslim’s view of life, religion, spirituality and sex.”
Two Arnold Friberg Paintings For Sale
October 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Info on the auction here and here. Image of one of the paintings, “The Light of Christ,” from ldsartcollector.com.
“Taking The Diaspora’s Portrait”
October 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of Chrystie Sherman’s photography show “Lost Futures: Journeys into the Jewish Diaspora” at the Austrian Embassy in Washington appears in The Jewish Press.
LDS Art on Exhibit in Salt Lake City
October 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Info on the show here. If you go, I’d be very interested to see photos and reactions to the exhibit. (See here for a discussion of LDS art amid a heated debate on Times & Seasons.)
Article on Jewish Republicans
October 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article, “‘The pundits are wrong’: At VP debate party, Jewish Republicans praise Palin,” appears in the Washington Jewish Week.
Boston Globe profiles the Museum of Russian Icons
October 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The museum, which “is an hour west of Boston - and a world away from St. Petersburg,” was conceived of by Gordon Lankton, 77, who was told he was crazy to try to pull off an icon museum outside a major city. Full article here.
“‘Paying homage’ Exhibit on dwindling Jewish communities at the Austrian embassy in the District”
October 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of Chrystie Sherman’s photographs appears in the Washington Jewish Week. For more info, click here.