Review: Buddhist Art Inspired Illusions at NYC's Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery

NEW YORK OBSERVER
By Will Hienrich

Desktop (Cave Paintings) by Allyson Vieira.

NEW YORK - The title of this small but powerful exhibition, Discursive Arrangements, or Stubbornly Persistent Illusions, is either an ironic feint or it’s begging the question. Centered discreetly but unmistakably around what a Buddhist art critic might call the “emptiness” of images, the show forcefully makes the point that it can’t be quite right, in light of their persistence, to call images illusions. [link]

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Crucifix with a Penis: Art Exhibit Riles Catholics in Philippines

ABS-CBN NEWS
By David Dizon

PHILIPPINES - A crucifix with a wooden penis and a Christ the King figurine with rabbit ears. These and other art pieces exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) have earned the ire of various lay Catholic groups who are now considering the filing of charges against those behind the "sacrilegious and blasphemous" art exhibit. A CBCP News report said the groups have demanded CCP and the artists, all from the University of Santo Tomas, to stop the exhibit in 48 hours or face the legal consequences. The CCP exhibit which opened last June 17 and will run until August 21, has received flak from various groups, including the Catholic Church, for the unconventional use of religious figures in the art pieces. [link]

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Christians Outraged Over Art with Jesus & Penis Symbols

RUETERS
By Michaela Cabrera

PHILIPPINES - An art installation that mixes Christ with kitschy symbols of pop culture and includes a crucifix with a movable penis has set off an uproar in the Philippines among conservative Catholics, who say the installations are a mockery of their faith. Mideo Cruz, the artist responsible for the installation -- intended to be a commentary on icon worship -- has been branded a "demon" and bombarded with death threats and hate mail since his work featured in an exhibit in Manila that began June 17. Cruz, a 37-year-old visual and performance artist who has exhibited in such international art centres as New York, Paris and Tokyo, said he had wanted to provoke a reaction but was surprised by the violence of the response. "You can't force people. But I just hope that when we look at something, the process doesn't stop at the surface," he said. Cruz said his installation, "Poleteismo" or "Polytheism," is about the worship of relics and how idolatry evolves through history and modern culture. Cruz's work is part of the group exhibition, KULO runs through August 21.  [link]

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Indianapolis Hosts Interfaith Fair, BBQ & Art Exhibit

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

INDIANA - It was a fun day for many in Indianapolis on Saturday as the Center for Interfaith Cooperation hosted its first Community Fair at the Indiana Interchurch Center. The fair which celebrated the culture and traditions of central Indiana's interfaith community, included an International Barbeque competition, Asian, Middle Eastern and American cuisine, the opening of Asra Burney's photo exhibit, America the Beautiful: Through the Eyes of a Pakistani Immigrant, as well as other family and children's activities. With dozens of ethnicity's and faiths participating, this fair was a great opportunity to get familiar with the interfaith world right in the heart of Indiana. Expected to be an annual event, the fair was sponsored by BRIDGE, International Interfaith Initiative, Indiana Interchurch Center, Muslim Alliance of Indiana and OBAT Helpers.

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Comedian (Artist) Ricky Gervais’ Evangelical Atheism

BIG HOLLYWOOD
By John Nolte

Rick Gervais "Stand up for what you believe"

HOLLYWOOD - Why Christian symbols? We’re awfully easy pickings. If you’re a rich Hollywood star, offending us takes about as much courage as bringing a case of beer to a frat party. He’s one of those obnoxious non-believers always pushing his non-belief on you. He’s like a Mooonie without the charm, flowers or airport. That’s why I call [Rick] Gervais an “evangelical atheist.” He’s one of those obnoxious non-believers always pushing his non-belief on you. He’s like a Mooonie without the charm, flowers or airport.[link]

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A Christian Lens Defines the Lens of NYC's Cobi Moule

ART DAILYNEW YORK - Cobi Moules creates a fantasy world in which only he exists. Throughout, there are many different narratives, coexisting to create an alternate world with a sense of excitement, self worth and play. Through the figure's multiplication and overwhelming presence within the landscape, it takes precedence over the landscape and integrates into it. The landscape, based off the Hudson River School style, is a stand in for the artist's own Christian upbringing, seeking to renegotiate his relationship, as a queer and transgender person, with his religious upbringing and of being seen as 'unnatural' through such Christian lens. The importance becomes the experiences of his multiple and overall presence in the landscape; engaging in different activities: playing, exploring his selves and nature, and thus becoming part of it. Cobi Moules,"Untitled (Coast of Mount Desert Island)", 2010 (above). Oil on canvas, 44 x 68 inches. Moules is part of an eight member exhibition currently on view at Lyons Wier Gallery through August 21.[link]

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Artist Wins $20K for "Christian Country"

SYDNEY STAR OBSERVERAUSTRALIA - 2011 Mardi Gras Art Prize winner Liam Benson was last week awarded the 2011 Hazelhurst Works on Paper Prize for his photographic self-portrait, "A Christian Country". The prize, valued at $20,000, was judged by artist Ben Quilty, winner of the 2011 Archibald Prize. The announcement was made as part of the Hazelhurst Art Award 2011 Art on Paper exhibition. A Christian Country is a digital photographic print featuring Benson clad in body paint representing the Australian flag and wearing a tiara bearing the words "A Christian Country". The work focuses on national as well as gender identity. [link]

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Controversial Indian Painter is Subject of New Documentary

HINDUSTAN TIMES
By Priyanka Jain

BOLLYWOOD - Ketan Mehta’s ambitious project Rang Rasiya has been in the cans for almost a year and a half. However, after receiving accolades at the London Indian Film Festival, the biopic based on controversial painter Raja Ravi Varma, will be finally be released this September. Ketan says, “The film charts Raja Ravi Varma’s life, from his early days under the patronage of a king in Kerala to his time in British Bombay in the late 1800s, where he makes his fortune. Here, he gives birth to Indian modern art and helps inspire the freedom movement and Indian cinema with his depictions, which bring to life Hindu Gods and Goddesses.” [link]

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A&O Prize for Young Artists Seeking Central Indiana Talent

AOA NEWS

INDIANA - The Indiana Interchurch Center will name its first central Indiana high school student recipient of the Alpha & Omega Prize for Young Artists on November 12, 2011, but first they are spreading the word to congregations, schools and arts organizations to help identify the best in the region's multi-faith talent.

The A&O Prize, a $750 scholarship for the winners of an interfaith arts competition is part of the 16th annual Spirit & Place Festival and run collaboratively by Indiana Interchurch Center, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation and Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts. It gives high school students the opportunity to explore inter-religious themes through visual art.

This first year’s exhibition & competition title, Beyond Dead: A Student Response will showcase the art work from central Indiana high school students, both those attending private and public schools. The title, Beyond Dead was selected in response to the Spirit & Place Festival's 2011 theme, The Body.

Mel Jolliff, executive director of Indiana Interchurch Center formed this partnership to harness the power of the arts to connect Indiana communities of faith and to respond to the social needs of Indiana youth.

“Young people today, of all faiths, are wrestling with far more complex issues than the youth of my day, and we wanted to provide a visual arts forum for them to express their feelings through both art and dialogue. Jolliff said. “Indiana Interchurch Center wants to represent the diversity of all faith traditions in central Indiana, and this is another important opportunity to build that interfaith connection.”

Ernest Britton, director of the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts, said the A&O Prize is an expression of the deep and abiding relationship between the visual arts and religious beliefs.

“We are seeking young people who will create wonderful artworks so that we all gain deeper insights into the ideas and issues that students contemplate as they negotiate their complex worlds,” he said. “The A&O Prize demonstrates the importance of having a belief system and of a visual arts education to express that faith.”

Entry forms and more details for the fine arts competition are available onsite at the Indiana Interchurch Center's main office at 1000 West 42nd Street, Indianapolis or online at http://www.alphaomegaarts.org/. Space at the IIC gallery is limited so registrations are currently being accepted for all entries at aoprize@alphaomegaarts.org or 317-755-8400. The exhibit will run from November 1 through December 31, 2011.

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Help is Still Needed for Korean Art Installation

AOA NEWSSOUTH KOREA - Canadian artist, Christian, and father Mark Philip Venema has returned from his successful journey to Korea to install "Entrenched Thought", an international bridge-building project, and he is anxious to share the photos with those who missed the experience. The mammoth outdoor project cost thousands of dollars to conduct but is still in need of financial support. To-date, the project has raised just under $1,000 and there is only one day left on his Indie GoGo online campaign. As one of his "Good Soul" supporters, AOA wants others to know there is still time to help. Every Good Soul out there (or better souls) can help.

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Dali Lama Visit to Chicago Inspires Interfaith Art Project

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Manya A. BrachearILLINOIS - The Dalai Lama's message of compassion long has transcended Tibetan Buddhism and enchanted people of all faiths — and no faith. The anticipation of his arrival inspired a dozen religious communities to undertake an unusual artistic endeavor that [provided] the backdrop to the Dalai Lama's appearance Sunday on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Framing the Dalai Lama on stage [were] a dozen towering religious icons created by artists of other traditions. "It's an amazing show of support and unity that different people of different faiths actually came together," said Nina Norris, a member of St. Matthias Catholic Church in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. [link]

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Patrick King's 'Star Wars' Art Gets Imperially Religious

COMIC ALLIANCE
By Brian WarmouthTEXAS - Religious fervor among Star Wars fans is no rarity. Take the International Church of Jediism, for instance. Patrick King's Star Wars artwork exhibits a similar level of piety melding some traditional Christian symbolism with recognizable costumed characters from the Empire's ranks. King even goes as far as to make them saints. There probably aren't many galactic citizens under Imperial control who would vote to canonize Darth Vader, but in the print you'll find on King's website (and his Etsy page) that's precisely what the man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker is depicted as. He's got a halo of light behind his head and a lightsaber in his hand. [link] Follow Patrick King on Twitter.com/patking13.

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Indianapolis Museum of Art Offers Peek at Life with African Sacred Rulers

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Jay HarveyINDIANA - The largest and most inclusive display from the ancient spiritual home of Africa's Yoruba people ever to tour the West [is now on view] at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria" has just three other stops on its U.S. tour -- Houston, Richmond, Va., and in a still-to-open New York City museum. That museum, the Museum of African Art, organized the display of 104 items with the Fundacion Botin of Santander, Spain, collaborating with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Descendants of the creator-god became the sacred rulers ("Ooni") of Ife,a monarchical line that continues to this day.[link]

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Film Director Steps Out on a Ledge with New Atheist Movie

THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY
By Kimberly Winston
HOLLYWOOD - In the new film "The Ledge," a man perches high above the city, ready to jump to save the woman he loves. As storylines go, perhaps it's not the most original. But what is unusual about this film, said writer/director Matthew Chapman, is that its hero is an atheist, set aloft to illustrate two themes close to Chapman's heart. Chapman says the film is a work of both art and activism. He hopes it will entice atheists and other freethinkers "out of the closet" and into the mainstream. "I am hoping that people will watch this, both atheists and believers, and have a discussion about this," he said. The film has met with almost universally bad reviews from the media and mostly positive reviews from the freethought community. Greta Christina, an atheist, praised the film on Alternet and examined its potential to be the atheist version of "Brokeback Mountain," which was credited with broadening the acceptance of same-sex relationships. Whether "The Ledge" will advance freethought remains to be seen. There are no plans for a wider release. The film can viewed online through video-on-demand at iTunes and SundanceNow. [link]

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Creator of Idaho Sculpture Explains Sculpture

SPOKESMAN REVIEW
Posted by DFO
IDAHO - Artist Rick Davis left the following comment on the Dogwalk Musings blog re: why he designed the controversial Ganesha public art work that will be on display in downtown Coeur d'Alene for the next year: "The reason I originally chose to do this piece was at the suggestion of my Yoga teacher. But as the project progressed, and I did more research into Ganesha, the themes that surround him seemed to be unfolding in my life. So he became a 3 1/2 year teaching/learning moment for me.”[link]

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Thornton Dial Show at Atlanta's Bill Lowe Gallery

AOA NEWS

GEORGIA - In conjunction with the Soul Grown Deep Foundation, the Bill Lowe Gallery presents "Disaster Area" an exhibition of the works of Thornton Dial on the occasion of the National Black Arts Festival. This exhibition examines works made by Dial over the past four years dealing with various disasters, natural and man-made. From the wreckage and rubble of destruction Dial constructs complex and beautiful assemblages that illustrate the fragility of the human condition but affirm the profound belief that we are all in this together. [link]

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African Religious Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

AOA NEWS
By TahlibINDIANA - "Dynasty & Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria" opens at the Indianapolis Museum of Art tonight and runs thru January 16. Previously shown at the British Museum , the exhibition was described by critics as “flabbergasting”, “once in a lifetime” and containing “artworks that rank with the Terracotta Army, the Parthenon or the mask of Tutankhamun as treasures of the human spirit”. Artists of the Kingdom of Ife (in what is today southwestern Nigeria), created sculptures that were among the most beautiful and sophisticated works of art being produced anywhere in the world at the time. Dating from the 12th to 15th centuries A,D., the arts of Ife are noteworthy for their visual power, iconic complexity and variability of form. The exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art in New York, in collaboration with the Fundación Marcelino Botín of Santander, Spain, and the Nigerian National Commission on Museums and Monuments.

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Jerry Springer, the Opera: It's Just Art, or is It?

SPERO NEWS
By Kenneth Fisher
CALIFORNIA - On Friday, July 1 at approximately 7:00 PM, I was privileged by God to join my brothers and sisters of “Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP)” in a demonstration of reparation to God and His Mother for the blasphemous play “Jerry Springer, the Opera”. I was there representing “Concerned Roman Catholics of America”. We were doing so because according to TFP, the play “is full of profanity, nudity and blasphemous content.” [link]

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Idaho Man & Church Join Forces to Have Hindu Statue Removed from Street

THE CORUR D' ALENE PRESS
By Tom HasslingerIDAHO - A Coeur d'Alene man, supported by a church, is circulating a petition to get the statue of Ganesha removed from its spot at the corner of Sixth Street and Sherman Avenue in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Ronald J. Vander Griend is soliciting help from other churches besides Lake City Lighthouse Church, which has already pledged its support, in Vander Griend's attempt to remove the public art piece on grounds that it's offensive. In his interpretation, the symbol of Ganesha is too similar to the swastika, the elephant's trunk depicts a phallic symbol, and the weapons in the statue's hands represent tools used to put fear in Hindu followers to the "gods who control their lives," according to the petition. Some religious scholars said Vander Griend is misinterpreting symbolism associated with Ganesha, including the charge that its trunk is a phallic symbol. It's the second time since the June ribbon cutting that the Hindu god has caused a stir. It's one of 14 pieces dedicated to the city's inaugural ArtCurrents program, an art on loan agreement that places art pieces in public view for a year while the artists and city attempt to sell them. [link]

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Anti-opera Review: 'Jerry Springer: The Opera'

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Mark Swed

CALIFORNIA - “Jerry Springer: The Opera,” which won the 2004 Olivier Award in London for best new musical and which opened Saturday night at the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, is hardly an opera, but neither is it a musical. It is something new. It is a religious operetta posing as anti-opera, silly words and music working hand in hand in pseudo-sacrilege. A parody of a panoply of biblical figures, the show is clearly blasphemous. But it does not commit blasphemy. There is a difference. Springerian salvation is not out of the question. [link]

"Jerry Springer: The Opera." Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. Through August 7. (714) 777-3033 or http://www.chancetheater.com/.

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