Nomination's Open for America's Religious Art Prize

AOA NEWS

NEW YORK - Nominations are now open for the 4th annual Alpha & Omega Prize for Professional Artists, sponsored by the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts. "Throughout this month, nominations will be solicited from the religious & artistic communities," says Ernest Britton, Project Director. "Unlike typical visual arts awards, the A&O Prize celebrates both artistic excellence and the faith dialogue the artwork inspires." Open to artists of all faiths, past honorees include Kehinde Wiley (2008) for his painting, "Dead Christ"; Helen Zughaib (2009) for "Midnight Prayers"; and last year's honoree was Thomas Blackshear (2010) for his US Postage stamp honoring Mother Teresa. In keeping with past practice, the winner of the annual prize will be announced on November 1st following the meeting of the board in NYC. To make a nomination, please send an email recommendation of 200-words (or less) to aoprize@alphaomegaarts.org by August 31.

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INSPIRE ME! Artist, Francisco Goya

By CHARLIE GOETZ

Plate 34: Por una navaja (For a clasp knife).
A priest tied to a stake grasps a cross in his hands.

On my shelf--frequently taken down--is a slim volume of etchings by Francisco Goya (1746-1828) entitled The Disasters of War. The eighty aquatint plates are unrelenting, nightmarish depictions of the 1808 Spanish insurrection and the consequent conflict with Napoleonic France.

Goya saw first-hand the bloody combat and the related Madrid famine and he did not stint in his re-creation of the savagery of these events. Captions accompany each characterization: "With or without reason"; "And are like wild beasts"; "Bury them and keep quiet."

The Disasters of War constitutes some of the most effective propaganda art ever created. So strong is Goya's case that one forgets that his point of view was obviously not shared by the military and political prosecutors of the suffering Goya portrays. Indeed, publication of the artist's decade-long efforts (1810-1820) did not happen until 1863, 35 years after Goya's death. Clearly, the delay muted the collection's impact which would have been explosive had the pictures appeared during the time of the actual events Goya recorded.

Now, with considerable distance from the occurrences that wrenched the art from the artist, his propaganda is generalized, powerful still, but antiquated, particularly in the overshadowing realities of our own suspensions of civilization, from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to--well, pick one from the array of current conflicts visiting suffering and deprivation on our fellow earth-tenants. (Would that we had a Goya to remind us of our own beastliness.)

The effectiveness of Goya's work notwithstanding, one cannot dismiss the propagandistic elements. And his POV leads to the question, how much other art also has propaganda dimensions? Michelangelo's subjects are famously Biblical: The Creation (Sistine Chapel ceiling); David; The Pieta, et al. Raphael, DaVinci, and Salvador Dali, among many others, have made liberal use of Judaeo-Christian inspiration.

Then there are the Handel oratorios and the Bach Masses. And whether or not the output of so-called Christian rock and pop music-makers can be called art, they seem clearly propagandistic, urging hearers toward the performers' POV. (Also, remember the Soviet-era symphonies, operas, etc., glorifying the industrial and agricultural might of the USSR?)

Are artists from other cultural traditions grinding axes, too? Are the Buddahs and Indian deities in some way the products of quasi- "missionaries"? (Interesting that Islam frowns on images of its prophet. And Judaism's God must not be named.)

Obviously, the creations I'm citing here are different in kind from Constable landscapes, Rembrandt portraits, self and otherwise, and VanGogh's (and O'Keeffe's and Mapplethorpe's) flowers: no axes to grind in these. And some art seems absolutely to contradict the propaganda elements in offerings inspired by religious figures: the Francis Bacon Cardinal portrait, Andres Serrano's photo, "Piss Christ,"of the small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of Serrano's urine.

What a flap that work engendered among believers! But maybe there is a clue here to a more important truth about Jesus, Mary and Moses (and Buddha) art as well as its antitheses and alternatives. Get beyond the provocative title--and what you know about the medium--of the Serrano work and just look at it; you'll find it quite lovely.

A good friend is an atheist, but, were he an archbishop, he could not be more enthusiastic about churches. His travels abroad have been focused on visiting houses of worship from village chapels to the great cathedrals. He's seen the inside of more churches than the most assiduous adherent to Christianity.

Obviously, his interest, intense as it is, is aesthetic--as is altogether appropriate. To work its transformative magic on our senses and our spirits, art has to be approached on its own terms, no matter its inspiration, no matter its subject. It can only be gelded if it lives in the shadow of what--and who--brought it into being.

A work of art is like the guy (or woman) we meet at a party. Of course the new acquaintance has a job, a function, a work life. But this is a party, play time, and the person with whom we shake hands transcends his/her function as a lawyer, doctor, Indian chief.

For it to have its full impact, an art work has to be greeted that way. The subject doesn't matter. Questions regarding beauty, magnetism, do. As with a potential friend, the important query is does this connection trigger in me a sense of appreciative agreement? Does it, in some way, make me happy?

chasgoetz1@gmail.com

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A&O Meetup in NYC, October 28-30, 2011

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"Market in Jerusalem" (1927) By Ludwig Blum

NEW YORK - Once again celebrating creative and religious freedom in the city of our founding in 2008, the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts is planning an annual meeting/meetup:

• Tony ward winning musical "The Book of Mormon"
• An exhibition featuring internationally acclaimed painter of Jerusalem, Ludwig Blum (above) at the Museum of Biblical Art
• Visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on this, the 10th anniversary of the tragedy
• Guided tour at the Museum at the Eldridge Street Synagogue
• And a DJ Party of the Rubin Museum of Asian Art. You will not want to miss this annual pilgrimage to New York City.

Broadway Shows, Religious Art Collections, Houses of Worship and America's largest Halloween Parade are waiting for you in New York City this coming October.

Contact education@alphaomegaarts.org to get signed up.

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The Generous Gifts of Islamic Art at California Museum

PALISADIAN-POST
By Elizabeth Marcellino

"Sindukht Comes to Sam Bearing Gifts," a folio from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, Tabriz (1525-35)

CALIFORNIA - Ramadan begins next week [today]. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar is a time for spiritual reflection and fasting, and the fast will be broken with a celebration that includes gifts for children, those in need and loved ones. It is just one of several occasions for gifts in a culture that promotes giving as an essential practice. The Gifts of the Sultan, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, uses that custom of generosity as a thematic frame for a notable exhibition of Islamic art. Organizing a show around the notion of gifts was an entirely new idea, as gift-giving has been an area of more interest to anthropologists than art historians, until recently. But Komaroff hoped that such a universally understood concept would emphasize our shared humanity. Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts will run through September 5 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [link]

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Islam's Most Sacred Site: The Kaaba in Mecca

AOA NEWSSAUDIA ARABIA - The Kaaba is a cube-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham and his son Ishmael, after Ishmael had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram. All Muslims around the world face the Kaaba during prayers, no matter where they are. One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime if they are able to do so. Multiple parts of the Hajj require pilgrims to walk seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from above). This circumambulation, the Tawaf, is also performed by pilgrims during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage). However, the most dramatic times are during the Hajj, when about 6 million (officially) pilgrims simultaneously gather to circle the building on the same day.

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Catholics Eye Charges vs Cultural Arts Center Over 'Blasphemous' Exhibit

GMA NEWS

Artist Mideo Cruz speaks about his art installation ''Poleteismo'',
on exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila July 29, 2011.

PHILIPPINES - Lay Catholic groups are considering filing charges against the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Pasay City over what they called a “sacrilegious and blasphemous" art exhibit. Pro-Life Philippines sent a letter to the CCP and the artists who claimed to be from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and demanded that the exhibit Kulo be stopped by Thursday. The exhibit “Kulo" will run from July 17 to August 21. [link]

A poster of Jesus Christ with a wooden penis on his face. Courtesy: Huff Post

“Poleteismo” by Mideo Cruz

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Doris Duke Foundation Awards $1 Million for Islamic Art's Building Bridges Program Across USA

WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Associated Press

RHODE ISLAND — Providence is one of five cities across the country that will participate in a pilot program designed to showcase the diversity of Islamic societies through their art. The Providence-based organization FirstWorks will host an artistic and cultural exchange program known as Caravanserai: A place where cultures meet. It is funded by a $1 million grant from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art's Building Bridges grants program. Officials said the program will focus on music and film from Pakistan. It will feature contemporary vocal and instrumental music and an award-winning Pakistani filmmaker. A public performance is scheduled for November. The other participating cities are Littleton, N.H.; Oswego, N.Y.; West Long Branch, N.J.; and Helena, Mont. [link]

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