RELIGIOUS ART | TALK OF WEEK

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

AOA PICK OF WEEK:

Controversial artist, Enrique Chagoya's gift of a painting about Jesus as Love to a Colorado evangelical church is among the most talked about religious art stories of the week. Today, you can "comment online" about it (Sunday only). Americans are also talking about:

1. Are recent auctions of Hindu and Islamic artworks a sign of the return of interest in religious art? (Comment online)
2. Is the future for Christian art to be on eBay? (Comment online)
3. Should the city council in Encinitas, CA have forced the "Surfing Madonna" artist to remove the city's most popular mosaic? (Comment online)

Below are the week's best in religious art news. The stories are grouped by the five largest faith traditions, with an additional category for "other".

BUDDHIST ART:

• Ai Weiwei Released from Chinese Police Custody (The Guardian)
• The Naxi of Ancestral China at Rubin Museum of Art, Thanks to a Roosevelt (New York Observer)
• The Buddha: The Story in Manga and Art, Tokyo National Museum (Financial Times)

HINDU ART:

• Birmingham Museum of Art Exhibiting Hindu Deities (The Daily Hindu)
• The Art at Hinduism's Tamil Temple is Deteriorating (North India Times)
• Symbolism in Saffron Clothes or Robes Worn by Hindu Saints (Hindu Blog)
• Green Hindu Goddess Sold for $1.3 Million at Auction (Bloomberg)

ISLAMIC ART:

• Iconography in Islamic Art: Defining Islamic Art for Westerners (Islam Online)
• Three Pages of Koran Woven into Carpet (Tehran Times)
• Islamic Art, Pick of the Month (Muslim Matters)
• Recently Discovered Islamic Art Masterpiece to be Displayed at Pergamon Museum (ArtDaily)

JEWISH ART:

• Final Days for the "Art of Marriage" at NYC's The Jewish Museum (AOA News)
• NYC's Jewish Art Salon Panel Discussion: Diversity in Jewish Art (AOA News)
• $100 Million Face lift Transforms the Israel Museum (The Jewish Chronicle)

CHRISTIAN ART:

• Chagoya's Original Painting, Music Surprise Father's Day Worshipers (Examiner)
• Evangelical Church Accepts Painting from Controversial Artist (The Denver Post)
• Artist, Chagoya's "Uncorrupted" Jesus Unveiled at Church (The Coloradan)
• Video News: 60 Artists for Pope's 60 Years of Service (Rome Reports)
• Serbia's Icon Painting Nuns (AFP)
• Vatican Offers iPODS to Reduce Tourist Noise (The Washington Post)
• ABC's Nightline News to Profile America's Only Marian Shrine (WBAY)
• Unknown Caravaggio's St. Augustine Discovered in Great Britain (Guardian)
• Review: Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum (London Evening Standard)
• Blackstone’s Studzinski Backs British Museum Show of Relics (Bloomberg)
• Jesus Chair for Sale on eBay for $25,000 (Huffington Post)

OTHER ART:

• Cultural Entrepreneurship in Indianapolis (Indianapolis Star)
• The Immovable Surfing Madonna Removed in 2-Hrs Unharmed (Associated Press)
• Artist to Pay all Costs for Removing Surfing Madonna (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• The Solstice isn't what it used to be...or is it? (The Independent)

Do you want to get a daily dose of religious art news? Join me on "Facebook.com" and/or "Twitter.com". Tumblr is coming soon too! The "Sabbath Art News" is a weekly project of Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts, "connecting artists, faiths and communities" through art.

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Ai Weiwei Released: 'Life is never guaranteed to be safe'

GUARDIAN
By Tania Branigan

"Zodiac Heads" By Ai Weiwei,
On display in NYC through July 15

CHINA - Chinese police have released detained artist Ai Weiwei on bail after he confessed to tax evasion and because he suffers from a chronic disease, according to the state-run news agency. Beijing police said they released him on bail "because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes" and because he has a chronic illness, Xinhua news agency reported. No mention was made of his whereabouts. Ai's detention on 3 April sparked an international outcry. He vanished after he was detained by police at Beijing airport. [link]

'Life is never guaranteed to be safe'
~ AI WEIWEI (March 2010)

• Reports: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei freed  (Aljazeera)
• Ai Weiwei Release, "Not Linked" to Chinese PM's visit to Europe (The Guardian)
• Dissident Chinese Artist Is Released (The New York Times)
• Artist Ai Weiwei released, Chinese police say (Christian Science Monitor)

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