“Is There A Theatrical Definition Of ‘Never Again’?”
November 26th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of “Honey Brown Eyes” by Stefanie Zadravec appears in The Jewish Press.
Archive for November, 2008
News Roundup 11/24/08
November 24th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Bruce Herman of Gordon College (Wenham, Mass.) journeyed closer to Catholicism through painting triptychs of the Virgin Mary.
Buddhist monk Geshe Sangpo plays with his food … which he turns into sacred butter art and then unleashes upon the squirrels.
Esther O’Connor explains why she so enjoys the “earthy and raw” quality of Peter Howson’s “Christ before the crucifixion.”
The Met’s Christmas tree and Baroque crèche go up tomorrow.
AJ Sabatini wonders whether Pres. Obama will be good for the arts. The short answer: expect more of the same.
Jewish Greenhouse art — sort of.
Roundup of attention to Qater’s new Islamic art museum
November 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Al Jazeera on Qatar’s new museum, which it hails as the world’s largest Islamic art collection. See the video below, and the writeup in the UAE National, the Bahrain News Agency, and Qatar’s Gulf Times.
“The mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine”
November 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
So says the judge who has become the latest player in the Holocaust restitution narrative.
Sotheby’s annual auction of “important Judaica”
November 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Info here on the Dec. 17 event (more info at Artdaily.org). Here’s the link for the Israeli and International Art auction.
Why Jews ought to be flattered by Mormon baptisms: It’s just like saying kaddish
November 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the LDS Church baptizing the souls of Jews who died during the Holocaust. The Church has been controversial for posthumous baptisms in the past, and AP writers Deepti Hajela and Jennifer Dobner explain that the Church has volunteered to take action to change its “massive genealogical database” in an effort to “make it more difficult for names of Holocaust victims to be entered for posthumous baptism by proxy.” But the honorary chairman of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors says, “We ask you to leave our six million Jews, all victims of the Holocaust, alone, they suffered enough.” (See also NPR’s story here.)
Manya Brachear has an interesting story here, which draws from her own experience learning of the baptism of her grandfather, who was not murdered in a concentration camp but did not consider himself a Mormon. Brachear focuses on the ways the baptisms can divide families, but doesn’t actually answer her own question, “Should Mormons baptize dead Jews?”
I honestly do not understand why this is such a controversial topic. For centuries, the living have tried their best to help their dead relatives make it to the afterlife, from burying maps, food, and other useful tools in tombs to the Jewish tradition of reciting the kaddish.
There is no kaddish clause that I know of that declares: Mourn for relatives lost if and only if they would have approved of the help.
In “Out, Out” Robert Frost writes of the last breaths of a young boy:
And then–the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little–less–nothing!–and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
To many religious people, it is impossible to just forget the dead and walk away, as kaddish and posthumous baptisms testify. It is easy to ask how the dead would respond to the extra help from below, but isn’t it better to focus on how beautiful it is that the living still want to connect with those they have lost? Discussions like this one about the exact ramifications of purgatory are very important but dangerous if they make us lose sight of the larger story here, which is love and friendship rather than hatred and anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.
Continue reading ‘Why Jews ought to be flattered by Mormon baptisms: It’s just like saying kaddish’
“Endless Prayers V”
November 21st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
According to Artdaily.com, Y.Z. Kami’s work on paper “Endless Prayers” was made by “gluing countless minute brick-shaped cut-outs from poetry and prayer texts on to the canvas often in circular arrangements, but also according to some Islamic architectural detailing of domes.”
The circular and spiralling patterns are inspired by the whirling motions in the rituals of dervishes found in the Mawlavi order of Sufism, who profess that the act of spinning undoes the ego, cleanses them of the self and finds the sole unity of God. The Mawlavi order of Sufism was founded by the thirteenth century Persian poet, Rumi, whose work has played an important role in Y.Z. Kami’s life and work since he began studying it as a young man. The work entitled Konya, 2007, was made in homage to the poet and bears the name of the town where Rumi spent his last years of life, died and has today his mausoleum.
“Far too many people have made a name for them self off of Francis Schaeffer”
November 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Angina Pectoris reviews God in the Gallery: A Christian Embrace of Modern Art by Dan Siedell.
Ron Arad at Pompidou
November 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Not this Ron Arad, the designer. He was born in Israel, though Artdaily calls him British and only adds the Israeli piece lower down.
“Will Obama be good for Israel?”
November 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article on how Israelis are responding to president elect Barack Obama appears in National Catholic Reporter.
Upside Down Rothkos
November 18th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
A.k.a. “caviar for modern art skeptics,” says Art History Newsletter.
Do Artists “always get a free ride when it comes to moral condemnation for bad behavior”?
November 16th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Laurie Fendrich says they do on her CHE blog. (HT: Art History Newsletter.) Fendrich, writing on fascist artist Morandi, claims:
it’s interesting that artists, unlike writers, always get a free ride when it comes to moral condemnation for bad behavior. No art historian I’ve encountered seems to give a damn that Caravaggio killed a man. In fact, they’ve always seemed to relish the delight in surprising their audience with this fact.
Fendrich cites Nazi-sympathetic and writers Ezra Pound and Paul de Man, but argues that no one cares that André Derain “along with several other famous French artists” visited the “oversized studio of the Nazi sculptor Arno Brecker. And here we have Morandi, basking in the great honor conveyed on him by the Metropolitan Museum of art.”
This leaves Fendrich wandering through the Met feeling guilty for enjoying Morandi’s works, “caught in the great, sad gulf that exists between the realm of moral action and the realm of art.” I understand her feelings, and I think it is important for art appreciators to examine their favorite artists’ lives for moral imperfections if they so choose.
I’d caution though that we’d have to empty the canon if we ejected immoral artists, and further, I see more of a danger in the words of a fascist writer than in the images of a fascist artist. I know visual propaganda can be very powerful (as I argued in a New Voices article and an interview with The Jewish Channel), but I still think there is a difference between words and images.
It is not inconceivable for an evil person to draw from a human side of his/her otherwise monstrous self when creating art. I suppose some would make the same case for writers. Still others, I’m sure, will say I am naive and it’s ridiculous to even think about enjoying artwork by a despicable person. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Is writing on Kinkade like “reviewing the bottom of the film barrel”?
November 13th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The short answer: yes and no, and it “certainly isn’t the mess many would expect.”
Art News Blog on Religion
November 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
In case you’ve been missing it, Art News Blog has quite an interesting discussion on religious art here, as a follow-up to an earlier post here. The posts are generating quite a lot of interesting comments as well. I am going to think a bit more about the threads before weighing in fully, but I think the conclusion that ANB arrives at that all art is necessarily religious is a bit problematic to say the least. (Walter Michael Miller said something similar to me in the beginning of my interview with him.) More on this soon.
RIP: Joel Weinstein (1946–2008)
November 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
See artforum and The Oregonian. With his name, I must assume he is Jewish, but I can’t find much about his biography. Does anyone have more information?
“Was Oppenheimer A Defender Or Destroyer Of Worlds?”
November 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My review of John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic,” which explores the 1945 production of the atomic bomb under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer, at the Metropolitan Opera appears in The Jewish Press.
“It’s an interesting way to understand a culture and a religon that we’re not too familiar with by looking at it through its art”
November 10th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Thus Christopher Wilson, spokesman for BYU’s Museum of Art, on a lecture by Sabiha Al Khemir on “the nature of Islamic art and how it, over time, place and medium, reflects a cohesion of Islamic civilization.”
I am a bit confused though. If understanding a culture by examining its art is unusual for BYU’s museum, what does it normally do in its exhibits?
Click here for the full article by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Islamic art gallery
November 10th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
It’s called Nushva, Arabic for “a feeling of elation and joy.” The elation and joy on this gallery is pricey, but the approach is commendable:
Welcome to Nushva, where we share our joy as Muslims through art. Islamic art encompasses a wide spectrum of methodology which unfortunately has dwindled and lessened in presence. Here we hope to illuminate all visitors to its beauty.
V & A and Doha’s Islamic Art Museum reach loan “understanding” about Flask
November 10th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
More on the “Clive of India Flask” from The Art Newspaper.
“A passion to create religious art” to the order of 46k “outsider” pieces
November 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Meet Howard Finster, profiled in Rome News-Tribune. You can find a great slide show (movie) here.
My Submission to America’s Essay Contest: “An Artful Case for God”
November 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
America Magazine has announced the winner of its essay contest (see here), which had the topic:
At a time when atheism and religious belief have become prominent issues of discussion and debate in both our nation and our church, the editors chose as the general theme: “A Case for God.”
Clearly my essay didn’t win, but I include it below:
An Artful Case for God
A successful case for God must begin with God’s role as the creator rather than an outdated disciplinarian. If faith is to have any chance in the modern era it must convince young people, the unaffiliated, and atheists alike that it is still relevant in an age of iPods, blogs, sophisticated video games, alternate cyber-realities, and high definition television. One reason many people are not voting for God with their feet and filling church pews is because they see so much optimism, potential, and ingenuity in their technology and media and so much responsibility and antiquated repression in religion. Many religious institutions are increasingly turning to technology to disseminate their messages, but they are using new media to preach old messages and are effectively crossing their fingers and hoping an interested audience miraculously materializes and keeps coming back just because there are JPEGs, megabytes, and podcasts involved. God could surely help that square peg find its way into that circular hole, but we should not rely on Him to intervene when we are quite capable of developing a fresh strategy that can repair it ourselves.
Continue reading ‘My Submission to America’s Essay Contest: “An Artful Case for God”’
“When is a painting not a painting? When it is a hot line to God.”
November 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
At least according to David Byrne. The post is a bit tough to decipher, but I don’t like the idea one bit that sacred icons need not be aesthetically sound works of art as well. Byrne writes:
A copy, maybe every copy, maybe even bad copies, of the original icon was believed to somehow partake of the power of the original. This is digital technology from 1000 years ago! … Needless to say, one doesn’t judge these “artworks” in the same way one judges other portraits, just as a splinter allegedly from the cross is no mere chunk of kindling. Art criticism in this case becomes useless, and aesthetics too — it all becomes irrelevant.
The notion that poor art can deliver true religious experience is fascinating, and in theory great saints could surely see God even in kitsch, but art criticism is quite useful in analyzing icons, which in my view double as both religious objects and art.
“How did museums become looters?”
November 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The NY Times‘ Hugh Eakin reviews Sharon Waxman’s new book Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World. Eakin observes:
The larger problem is Waxman’s portrayal of the antiquities crisis as mainly a “tug of war” over coveted museum pieces. In fact, the more important battle concerns unprotected archaeological sites, and it is far less a matter of repatriating objects than of figuring out how to stop latter-day looters from destroying our collective past. That vital challenge remains unsolved.
This is a good observation; we can hardly take the entire effort of restitution seriously if it has nothing to say about contemporary looting. But in such a large battle as this perhaps even little victories matter.
“As the Spertus Museum courts controversy, is it trying too hard—or not hard enough?”
November 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article about tefillin barbie and the recent censorship and the current provocative show at Spertus appears on nextbook.
iTunes Star of David
November 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Looking at my iTunes window, I noticed the logo for “iTunes Genius” (above) looks like the Star of David in the middle. Unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, I see that Wired beat me to the story, noting the similarity to the American Atheists logo.
Brian Mann: Islamic art provides hope, moral guidance
November 5th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Writing on the elections on his blog The Ballot Box, Brian Mann, reporter and Adirondack bureau chief of NCPR, makes some insightful points about Islamic art and our ability, as Americans, to become more open-minded through studying it.
Mann, who felt a “surge of hope” seeing exhibits of Islamic and Persian art at major NY museums just after 9/11, writes:
We have the capacity, I thought, deep within our culture, to think in complex and hopeful ways about the difficult and morally ambiguous times ahead.
As Mann observes, there was not a whole lot of tolerance in the post-9/11 era, but with the election of the new American president, Mann feels there are hopeful signs:
I remember marveling at those amazing sculptures of glass and clay in New York’s museums.
I remember thinking, How fragile they look — but how tough they must be to have survived all these hard centuries.
That’s America all over again. A fragile, diverse and beautiful community. And tough enough, I think, for whatever lies ahead.
Shoutout from Philip Weiss
November 5th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss has an insightful post on “self-hating Jews” in which he refers to my interview with Chomsky for my Jewish Currents article. Read Weiss’ post here.
If only U.S. leaders were this interested in Islamic art…
November 5th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Said Sheykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, of his meeting with Prince Charles:
“He talked about how Islamic art and in particular the geometrical patterns help us to connect with the nature of the cosmos,” he said. “He is so genuinely concerned with every individual, in what they do and what they are saying.”
Should Dr. Atomic be panned?
November 4th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Slate’s Ron Rosenbaum thinks so (”Oppenheimer, our Faust!” yet the libretto was “pedestrian”), and Greg Sandow agrees on ArtsJournal. Both Rosenbaum’s and Sandow’s pieces are well worth reading. My review is forthcoming (I will post it next week when it runs, and yes it has a Jewish angle), but I will just say now that for all of its faults, I was really moved by some of the music. The opera site is here.
Israeli police solves “one of the country’s greatest crimes”
November 4th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The theft of a clock collection (which was on display at the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, though they weren’t Islamic clocks).