The Cohasset, Mass.-based First Parish Church’s furniture and silver
December 31st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Could be yours for few hundred thousand. more (PDF).
Archive for December, 2008
Brandon Withrow’s blog gets a facelift
December 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
See the great redesign here. The content is just as worth a regular read as it was before the facelift. (My interview with Brandon here.)
2 art parables in Spurgeon
December 29th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
In the course of reading C. H. Spurgeon’s little book All of Grace, I’ve already hit two art references:
- A man hangs a cup near a fountain to benefit thirsty travelers and is told that a “great art critic” denounced his design. Told that many people drink from the fountain, the man smiles and declares that he could care less about the critic’s observation, “only he hoped that on some sultry summer’s day the critic himself might fill the cup, and be refreshed, and praise the name of the Lord.” Spurgeon adds, “Here is my fountain, and here is my cup: find fault if you please; but do drink of the water of life. I only care for this. I had rather bless the soul of the poorest crossing-sweeper, or rag-gatherer, than please a prince of the blood, and fail to convert him to God.”
- “Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make yourself something other than you really are; but come as you are to Him who justifies the ungodly,” Spurgeon writes, amidst an argument that just as a doctor ought to work amongst the sick and not the healthy, Christ has come to save sinners not the innocent. To illustrate this, Spurgeon cites a story of a “great artist” who wanted to capture the city where he lived, so he invited a “crossing-sweeper, unkempt, ragged, filthy,” to pose in his studio for a fee. When the man showed up with a washed face, combed hair, and respectable clothes, he was turned away, for “He was needed as a beggar, and was not invited in any other capacity.”
It’s interesting to me that Spurgeon relies so heavily on art references, and also that both the critic and the artist are “great.” The thing I am having trouble with, and perhaps Spurgeon will explain this later on in the book, is his argument that this plan of saving sinners is so remarkable in design that it proves that it is divine. Spurgeon argues, “none but God would think of justifying the ungodly, and none but God could do it, yet the Lord can do it” and therefore:
The doctrine of the atonement is to my mind one of the surest proofs of the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. Who would or could have thought of the just Ruler dying for the unjust rebel? This is no teaching of human mythology, or dream of poetical imagination. This method of expiation is only known among men because it is a fact; fiction could not have devised it. God Himself ordained it; it is not a matter which could have been imagined.
I welcome any help in explaining this. Either this divine mode of operation of forgiving sinners is wholly divine and something we can’t understand (in which case why does Spurgeon try to explain it in simple language), or it is something we can grasp. If the latter is true, which it seems to be, then surely people who are capable of understanding the notion of saving sinners could have invented the notion of saving sinners, and it does not prove there is a God who so ordained it.
A Hannukah exhibit
December 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Mel Alexenberg writes to me about his current show at Jerusalem’s Emuna College, “Rotating Light Before Darkness.” That’s “גולל אור מפני חשך” for those keeping score in Hebrew. Learn about the show, which focuses on Jewish morning prayers, here.
“I think I saw God when I was listening to this music”
December 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
It was Messiah of course. more.
Religious art one of several grievances in suit against Scientology company
December 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Article here. If anyone has more insight into what sort of art gets official recognition from the Church of Scientology, please share in the comments or email me. Particularly, I’d love to hear from Scientologists, even if they are not artists.
Are religious ad campaigns like “money changers in the temple”?
December 23rd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Are the Mormon ones “whoring out the name of the Lord”? more (see comment two). See here for a different approach to “Mormon Art” as “a complex subject that intertwines and challenges questions of testimony, talent, spirituality, identity, calling, culture, and recognition.”
Southern Methodist U. opens prayer book exhibit
December 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The gorgeous image above comes from: artdaily.org.
Idolatry News Roundup
December 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
- 1. Rabbi Marc Gellman: “Praying to the Buddha would be idolatry whether you’re a Catholic, a Jew, or a Muslim.” more.
- 2. James L. Evans: “There are many who look to their earthly treasures as the true source of their security and meaning. You used the word idolatry to describe that kind of thinking.” more.
- 3. Outrage at Nativity figures. more.
- 4. On Esau kicking in utero when his mom passed a house of idol worship. more.
Examiner confuses Jewish views on art-making
December 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Writing on the 10 commandments and U.S. politics, Jim Stillman, of Tampa Politics Examiner, observes of the first two commandments:
Jewish and Christian interpretations of these clauses are vastly different. To a Jew, a painting of God is forbidden; Christian art is replete with statutes and paintings of God, Jesus, and icons which may constitute “idols.” I’ll leave that to theologians; I am not qualified.
Stillman is not alone in misstating Jewish views on art. Many people have no idea there are so many depictions of God in Jewish art.
See for example the c. 1300 Spanish Haggadah on the right from the Granger Collection. God (or at least the divine hand) reaches out to prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Obviously, there is more to idolatry in the Jewish tradition than just representing the divine form.
UCLA conference links Buddhist studies with art
December 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Or something like that. more.
“Is contemporary Middle Eastern art the next big thing?”
December 22nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
And is Shirin Neshat, who aims to “untangle the ideology of Islam through her art,” its custodian? more.
The line between porn and religious ecstacy
December 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Sally Big Woods cautions that Playboy is neither art nor religion, but she raises the important question of where art ends and porn begins. more.
Slideshow (with music) on life of Christ
December 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
HT: A Catholic Mom in Hawaii, Da Mihi Animas (Padre Steve).
Boston Globe’s Images of the Year, 2008
December 20th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Number 36, “Images of books on shelves are seen projected on the walls of the Tower of David in Jerusalem’s Old City - part of a show called “Or Shalem, Jerusalem Lights the Night”, staged by a group called Skertzò on October 7, 2008. The Tower of David is a massive citadel that, over the centuries, has served as a fortress, military barracks and cannon position. These days, the Tower serves as a popular tourist site. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)” more.
Pro-God ads
December 18th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
To fight atheist ones. Story from NY Times, via Gawker, HT: Grand Forêt. The ad appears below:
Photographer Annie Leibovitz addresses her book at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue in DC
December 18th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
My article on Annie Leibovitz’s stop in DC on her book tour appears in the Washington Jewish Week. Annie’s brother Phil told me in an interview that his sister is a Zionist. “She is not overly religious, but she sees the importance of raising her kids Jewish. Our parents taught us that,” he added.
Kunsthal in Rotterdam shows Iranian photographer
December 16th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
More on Kaveh Golestan here.
Exhibit site here (via Google translate).
According to Artdaily:
Golestan was an eyewitness to many important political events. During the Iranian Revolution (1978-80) he was right there on the street in the middle of protesting crowds: burning cars, the Shah’s army and demonstrators throwing stones were just a few metres away. The unrest and anger are palpable; you can almost hear the noise.
Ritual objects in danger
December 15th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
A six-foot menorah was stolen from Calif., perhaps to be sold for parts, according to Police (more). Either thieves or anti-Semites vandalized a Czech Holocaust memorial (more). And a statue of a Buddhist revivalist was desecrated in India (more).
Boston Celtics visit the Holocaust Museum
December 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Steve Bulpett reports for the Boston Herald (full story) that Ray Allen organized the trip.
Allen, who has been to the museum five times (students at Jewish day schools who see trips to the museum as boring and depressing can learn from this), said, “So many times we get caught up in our everyday lives and what’s going on around us, and that was an opportunity for us to see something that I think is about the human condition.”
Coach Doc Rivers chimed in that he knew the Holocaust was bad but didn’t realize it was six million Jews who had been killed.
What a great example of athletes also being role models for the community.
Thomas Merton, 40 Years Later
December 12th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
A couple of days ago was the 40th-year anniversary of Trappist monk Merton’s (Wiki) tragic death. Yet according to Busted Halo, Merton still remains controversial perhaps because his writings are so human, because of his love affair, and/or because of his interest in Eastern thought (full post, HT: America). BH concludes:
A final paradox: the man who preached against war returned to the States in the belly of an Air Force bomber bringing back the bodies of dead soldiers from Vietnam. His grave in the abbey cemetery is next to the abbot who had denied him permission to travel, an irony that would have delighted this saint of paradoxes.
National Catholic Reporter’s Rich Heffern (HT: DMN Religion Blog) makes no mention of the controversy (full article). Here’s a gem from Heffern’s intelligent piece:
Thomas Merton was an activist for the spirit, an Argonaut exploring the Christian soul, a bridge between East and West, a very human man who shared his inner discoveries with all.
See a review I wrote of Merton’s art in Arlington Catholic Herald here. See also Father Robert P. Imbelli’s piece about Merton and Barth sharing the same death-day at dotCommonweal (HT: beliefnet).
RIP: Robert Prosky, 77
December 10th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
The actor, whose most recent performance was at Theater J (see my review here), has died. AP story here.
Theater J “In Memoriam” here.
Here’s a quote from Prosky from Post:
“This hair and this gut are the two reasons I got started as an actor. I could play men 50 when I was 30, maybe 25. I could always play the funny fat man.” … Looking back on his career, Mr. Prosky told The Post: “Survival is of utmost importance for an actor in this society. I remember doing a commercial with Arena actors Terrence Currier and Mark Hammer. We played bugs in tights and leotards, with wings pinned on our backs and a sequined number on our fronts. We were the price of the television set and we did a tap dance. When my eldest son saw it, he said, ‘Dad, do we need the money that badly?’
“At the time, I recall, I was performing Willy Loman in the evenings.”
Did Chagall Know Hebrew?
December 10th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Short answer: Not as well as you might have thought. My article in The Jewish Press appears here.
Interview: Philip George
December 9th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
I recently posted about Australian artist Philip George’s Islamic surf boards (BBC story/exhibit site and here). Philip was kind enough to reply to some questions about his work via email, which appear below.
ICONIA: In a time when art dealing with Islam has proven very controversial, can you describe the process of conceiving of and developing “Inshallah surfboards”? Do you see the pieces as religious art, or more political in nature? Do you think artists grappling with religious content have a particular obligation to weigh how their work will be received in religious communities?
PHILIP GEORGE: The Borderlands exhibition is the result of many years of travel throughout the Arabic, Ottoman and Persian worlds and a lifetime of surfing in Australia. The work has arrived out of the contemporary geo-political situation.
The work in many ways is photo-media based, many of the inscribed images are photographically based images of around the Middle East and some are collections of tile I have made
The work moves through the geo-political and the religious and even the sublime at heart it is a show about great beauty. When one moves through all these areas one needs to be clear about intent my intent is respectful.
I have been doing many radio interview including Islamic radio and the response have been very heart-warming.
ICONIA: At first glance, Islam and surf boards probably conjure two very different mental images in most Western people’s minds (surfing seems to be a very permissive, physical culture, while Islam surely strikes many outsiders as quite the opposite). How did you come to see the two as connected? Do you see the project as bringing Islam to the surfing culture, or vice-versa?
PG: The Borderlands exhibition celebrates the metaphysical art of Arabic, Ottoman and Persian worlds and the transcendental nature of surfing, both traditions speak to the wonder and complexity of the universe. The subtitle of “Inshalla surfboards” acknowledges the metaphysical from both the Islamic and surfing worlds. “Inshalla” in Arabic translates to “God willing,” a saying that punctuates daily conversation with the Islamic world, God willing this will happen, or God willing, we will meet again and then there is the Australian adaptation, God willing, there will be good surf today or God willing, I will not be eaten by a shark while surfing…
The Borderlands celebrates Australia and the divergent nature of the country and its people. Borderlands combines the territorial traditions of surf culture and the culture arriving from Arabic, Ottoman and Persian territorial traditions, making connections with these divergent tribes, via their vastly different traditions, operating simultaneously at the local and transnational level, Borderlands seeks to negotiate alternate means of engagement across cultural boundaries.
The project in a way brings the other to the other and maps the intersection…
The price (in fines) for driveway Hindu art
December 8th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Despite the economic woes, this piece cost $900. Generally, religious art just suffers from being ignored, but this kolam somehow became “unapproved modifications.” more.
Should Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio have left the Holocaust bit out of his brilliant Nobel lecture?
December 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
In his lecture to the Swedish academy, Le Clezio, 68, said the reason he writes is war (which he defines a bit more liberally than the dictionary would), and he cited Stig Dagerman’s articulation of the paradox that writers hope to write for the hungry, but only the rich can afford to read literature, while the truly poor hunger for food rather than words.
Here’s a particularly brilliant paragraph:
To act: that is what the writer would like to be able to do, above all. To act, rather than to bear witness. To write, imagine, and dream in such a way that his words and inventions and dreams will have an impact upon reality, will change people’s minds and hearts, will prepare the way for a better world. And yet, at that very moment, a voice is whispering to him that it will not be possible, that words are words that are taken away on the winds of society, and dreams are mere illusions. What right has he to wish he were better? Is it really up to the writer to try to find solutions? … How can the writer act, when all he knows is how to remember?
But Le Clezio may have gotten himself into some trouble with his suggestion that globalization and communication can solve conflicts. “Who knows,” he wonders aloud, “if the Internet had existed at the time, perhaps Hitler’s criminal plot would not have succeeded—ridicule might have prevented it from ever seeing the light of day.”
I understand what he means by it (though the internet is hardly helping save Darfur from genocide), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets condemned by Jewish watchdog organizations for his Holocaust comment, which ignores the fact that even after Hitler’s designs were public knowledge it was a question of people’s morality rather than their news awareness. (It’s certainly the headline of many pieces like this.) So should he have left it out? No, but maybe he could have explained it a bit more.
Full lecture transcript here. HT: Marjorie Kehe.
Meet Sasha Okun
December 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Who was a member of Aleph, translated Wiesel into Russian, taught at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, blames the academy for pushing a religious agenda, and who demands:
“What is Jewish art? … There’s no such thing. Look at three famous Jewish artists: Pissarro, Levitan, and Modigliani - stylistically each of them has more in common with their contemporary countrymen than they do with each other. That they all had beautiful sad dark eyes doesn’t mean you can lump them together.”
Oh and he also says of himself, “I was born in the 20th century and live in the 21st. But I’ll die in the 16th.” Okun is definitely witty, but I am not sure I buy the line about the three Jewish painters. Modigliani’s art has Jewish content, as I argued here, as does Cezanne’s. Levitan is a bit more complicated.
more.
Islamic art surfboards, Judas’ kiss found
December 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Recovered: Caravaggio’s Kiss of Judas. more.
A German museum asks what traces Jewish artists have left in 19th and 20th centuries. more.
A show in California studies the art of “one of the world’s oldest yet least known religions,” Jainism. more/images.
Move over Sufism; this artist is creating Islamic-art surfism, a.k.a. “Inshallah surfboards.” more/YouTube.
Rosa Martinez:
“A reporter recently asked Anish how it was that he could be Hindu and Jewish and a practitioner of Buddhist meditation, and at the same time have this ‘Islamic’ mirror installed inside a Christian convent — he wanted to know what is coming out of all this. Anish said: ‘Art.’” more.
“Religious Arts of Asia” at Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. more.
Folk art collector Dorothea Rabkin (Jewish father, fled the Nazis) has died at 87. more.
Qatar’s new Islamic art museum: a mixed bag (e.g. no daylight), reports the IHT. more.
Vatican show comes to Houston, National Cathedral in Trouble
December 6th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Economic woes hit the National Cathedral. more
Houston gets “only exhibit of Vatican artifacts outside the papal capita,” and wait until you see the topic. more
A cantor who is “James Taylor-meets-the-synagogue.” more
The Christian Oprah of blogging. more