INSPIRE ME! Artist of Month for August is Teresa Mas (Again)

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

Baby Krishna by Teresa Mas

Since we began this journey in 2008, we've come across some truly amazing religious artists working in America but Teresa Mas stands out, and especially among Hindu artists. We first saluted her in December 2011 as our INSPIRE ME! Artist of the Month and she continues to fascinate and inspire with her fresh and colorful works. This month however is especially special because this month we are joining the 950 million followers of Hinduism around the world in celebrating the birth of the Hindu god Krishna. The holyday of "Krishna Janmachtami" is August 17th, and we are proud celebrate that "auspicious" day by featuring Florida artist Teresa Mas as our Artist of the Month.

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Garden of Eden Exhibit Takes Artists Back to Where it all Began

THE WASHINGTON POST

By Chris Herlinger | Religion News Service

"Gowanus" (2013) by Alexis Rockman

NEW YORK---Environmental themes are particularly prominent in “Back to Eden: Contemporary Artists Wander the Garden,” which is on view at the museum through Sept. 28. The nearly two dozen pieces on display include paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and installations containing video elements. Of particular interest to the environmentally minded, and those who like large-scale paintings, is Alexis Rockman’s striking and dystopian “Gowanus,” a 2013 work depicting the Gowanus Canal, a long-polluted Brooklyn site that, as museum notes describe it, is notorious among New Yorkers as a “toxic wasteland” reflecting “the disastrous potential for the destruction of nature” by humanity. [link]

Museum of Biblical Art: “Back to Eden: Contemporary Artists Wander the Garden,” (Ends Sept. 28); 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, NYC; mobia.org

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Chinese Artist B. Nomin Uses Traditional Buddhist Aesthetics to Evaluate Current Norms

THE UB POST
Trans. by L.NANDINTSETSEG

"Ersdel Daguulsan Togloom (Naughty Game)" by B.Nomin

CHINA---Mongolia’s leading contemporary art hub, 976 Art Gallery, moved to Best Western Premier Tuushin Hotel, and opened with solo shows from emerging talents B.Nomin and B.Baatarzorig. The exhibitions are on view through August 14. Nomin was trained in traditional painting methods at the Fine Arts School of the Mongolian University of Arts and Culture. She uses the aesthetics of Mongolian and Buddhist art, commissioned by ancient religious and imperial institutions, to comment on contemporary issues, examining the themes of wealth, politics, nature, and human relationships. Nomin’s goal is to displace current conventions and encourage viewers to evaluate cultural norms from the point of view of Mongolia’s ancient history. [link]

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An Indian Sculptor With Monumental Ambition

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Gardiner Harris

Ram V. Sutar at his studio. Credit Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

INDIA---He may be history’s most prolific monumental sculptor, and now he hopes to win what may be one of history’s largest artistic commissions. Ram V. Sutar, 89, has already created more than 200 distinct statues, many of them massive. Now, he is a leading contender for the commission to produce the world’s largest statue: a 597-foot-tall rendering — which would be nearly twice as high as the Statue of Liberty — of Sardar Patel, an independence leader who played a crucial role in uniting India’s fractious states. Called the Statue of Unity, the work is to be placed in the western state of Gujarat, where India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, was born, grew up and became a powerful politician. Mr. Modi has long pushed for the project, and his party’s landslide electoral victory in May vastly improved prospects for its completion. [link]

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The Forgotten Jewish Painter, Salomon Adler

JEWISH JOURNAL 
By Milad Doroudian

Self-portrait of the German painter Salomon Adler (1630-1709). Exposed in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts

GERMANY---[Salomon] Adler lived in a period when Judaism in Europe was still clinging to rigid lines of conservatism. Most Jews held on to the idea that any art or imagery not related to the Tanakh was idolatrous and prohibited by the Second Commandment. As a result of this many Jews did not publicly dwell in the arts, in fear of angering their communities. Adler was one of the first secular Jewish artists to have opened the door for Jews who wished to break away from rigid conservatism to the realization  of liberal Jewish artistry. He, and the few others like him, were in essence the beginning of Jewish secular artistry in European form prior to the granting of mass emancipation to Jews. [link]

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Fuller Theological Seminary: Where God and the Arts Meet

THE DAILY AMERICA
By Chandra Johnson, Deseret News

CALIFORNIA---In 1956, a teenage Richard Muow committed a major violation against his Evangelical faith: He snuck off to a movie theater to see John Huston’s “Moby Dick.” As the president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, in the early 1990s, Muow continued to see a chasm dividing the faith world and Hollywood with the release of films like 1988’s “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Through continued collaboration with industry professionals, Muow spearheaded Fuller’s Theology and the Arts program, which looks to link entertainment and ministry and is now in its 14th year. [link]

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Cleveland Synagogue's Ark is Guarded by Some Fierce Beasts

JEWISH DAILY FORWARD
By Menachem Wecker

Add caption

OHIO---The ark at Cleveland’s Orthodox Green Road Synagogue looms on an intimidating platform above the congregation. Alternating tan and umber rays — evocative of the divine lights that emanate from the sun in ancient Egyptian art and of St. Francis’s stigmata in Christian paintings — culminate in diamond-shaped niches above the chairs reserved for synagogue officials. There is, as one would expect, an eternal light, and beneath it, a depiction of the Ten Commandments: the double-humped variety recalling the McDonald’s logo. But the two fierce beasts guarding the ark in the synagogue — which traces its roots back to immigrants from Marmaresher Sziger, Hungary, who built a congregation in Cleveland’s Woodland Hills neighborhood in 1910 — are unusual. [link]

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IDF Veteran, Painter Tomer Peretz Wins Inaugural Arthur Szyk Prize of Disruptive Thought and Zionist Art

THE ALGEMEINER

Funeral,' by Tomer Peretz. Photo: Tomer Peretz.

CALIFORNIA---Israeli-American painter, and Israel Defense Forces veteran, Tomer Peretz, 32, was selected for the inaugural Arthur Szyk Prize of Disruptive Thought and Zionist Art, the organizers of the award told The Algemeiner on Monday. Peretz’s work was selected out of more than 100 submissions for the $1,000 award, announced last year, that aims to provide more exposure to young artists by recognizing work that “challenges the static conception of Zionism with ideas that extend beyond the work of art itself.” The jury of The Arthur Szyk Prize included [Craig] Dershowitz, [Ashley] Rindsberg, and [Allison] Chang, as well as David Laxer, founder of Tel Aviv design and branding firm Brandalism, and Deborah Danino, Tel Aviv University PhD Candidate in French Literature. [link]

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Why I Backed a Kickstarter Effort to Redesign the Bible

YAHOO TECH
By Rob Walker

The Old Testament gets divided into three: the “books of Moses and the former prophets”
; the “latter prophets”; and the “writings.” The fourth volume is the New Testament. 

UTAH---Someone is redesigning the Bible. Perhaps your reaction is similar to mine when I encountered this news: somewhere between a smirk and an eye roll. Is there nothing that designers don’t want to reenvision? Does the most popular book of all time really need an aesthetic overhaul?And yet, roughly 20 minutes after I instinctively dismissed the idea, I had backed it on Kickstarter. [Lewis] Greene’s solution involves splitting the Good Book into four volumes, each about the size of a standard hardback novel. [link] This $37,000 project was successfully funded on July 27 at $1,440,345.

Lewis Greene has also made a new typeface and eliminated verse numbers and notes.

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On the Bowery, Questions About the Catholic Church’s Shifting Mission

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By David Gonzalez

The Sheen Center complex encompasses 2 Theaters, 4 rehearsal studios and an Art Gallery.

NEW YORK---The Bowery was once synonymous with being down and out, but, Mr. Howard said, services for homeless men have become harder to find there. He used to work at the Holy Name Center for Homeless Men, a stalwart presence on Bleecker Street since the 1940s, where each day about 100 men took morning showers, grabbed a meal and got their mail. The Archdiocese of New York closed the center in 2011, citing “changing demographics” and low demand. It renovated the building and turned it into a Roman Catholic cultural center containing a 250-seat auditorium, a black box theater, rehearsal rooms and a small gallery. The building will also house eight campus ministry volunteers. [link]

Men lined up outside St. Joseph House on the Lower East Side on a recent morning.

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The Stone: What Would Krishna Do? Or Shiva? Or Vishnu?

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jonardon Ganeri

Baby Krishna by Teresa Mas

The essence of Hinduism is that it has no essence. What defines Hinduism and sets it apart from other major religions is its polycentricity, its admission of multiple centers of belief and practice, with a consequent absence of any single structure of theological or liturgical power. Unlike Christianity, Buddhism or Islam, there is no one single canonical text — the Bible, the Dialogues of the Buddha, the Quran — that serves as a fundamental axis of hermeneutical or doctrinal endeavor, recording the words of a foundational religious teacher. (The Veda is only the earliest in a diverse corpus of Hindu texts.) Hinduism is a banyan tree, in the shade of whose canopy, supported by not one but many trunks, a great diversity of thought and action is sustained. [link]

This is Gary Guttings ninth in a series of interviews about religion that I am conducting for The Stone. The interviewee for this installment is Jonardon Ganeri, currently a visiting professor of philosophy at New York University Abu Dhabi and the author of “The Lost Age of Reason: Philosophy in Early Modern India 1450–1700.”

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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary

CITY BEAT
By Nick Swartsell

The first tombstone of Salmon P. Chase, an anti-slavery lawyer and the Chief Justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court is on display at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

OHIO---The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center celebrated its 10th anniversary Sunday. After contention about its creation and financial struggles early in its existence, the museum and conference center looks to be on a very positive trajectory. Despite debt and a $1 million-plus operating deficit as recently as 2011, the Freedom Center has proven resilient. A July 2012 merger with the Museum Center has helped, as well as contributions from donors and the Center’s continually nationally recognized exhibitions and events. Attendance revenue is up 35 percent at the Center, a Cincinnati Enquirer article says, and the Center’s endowment is growing. On a personal note, this is one of my favorite places in the city, and the news that it’s doing well is great to hear indeed. [link]

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Ancient Skulls Show Civilization Rose as Testosterone Fell

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION 
By Matt Picht

An ancient modern human and a recent modern human. (Robert Cieri/University of Utah)

Researchers at Duke University and the University of Utah say the rise of human civilization as we know it is linked to a drop in testosterone levels. The paper, published in the journal Current Anthropology, posits that a testosterone deficit facilitated the friendliness and cooperation between humans, which lead to modern society. Study lead Robert Cieri posits "reduced testosterone levels enabled increasingly social people to better learn from and cooperate with each other." Comparing the newer skulls to the ancient ones, researchers noticed a sharp decline in features sculpted by testosterone; modern skulls have smaller brows and more rounded faces. [link]

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RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

After reading the entire King James Bible, Jewish artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin were inspired to create a Bible guide to modern conflict. The result is a perfect replica of the Bible most Christians probably have on their shelf at home, but with images collaged over parts of the text to illustrate the messages. The artists described the experience as "profound" as they moved from the "ambiguity" of words about violence to the clarity of actual photographs. The "Holy Bible Project" (above) is my NEWS OF WEEK because the Bible is filled with violent prophecies that we, like the Jews of ancient times don't seem to hear. This month however you can see their images on display in, "Divine Violence" in Wales, or buy your own Bible online at Mackbooks.com.

Holy Bible by Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

In other religious art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhist Art of Week: Ven. Hyedam's Goryeo Kingdom Buddhist paintings [More News]
• Christian Art of Week: Sister Corita Kent's pop art ends at MOCA Cleveland [More News]
• Hindu Art of Week: Ajay Garg's miniature art works with a Hindu touch [More News]
• Islamic Art of Week: Muslims in Gaza, end their Ramadan surrounded by war [More News]
• Judaic Art Week: Rabbi to be the next U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom [More News]

Join the journey. When you follow religious artists, you look for others who do the same. Some of us join as "Collectors" and make policy decisions; others join as "Friends" who gather for the dialogues; and most of us join as "Subscribers" to this "free" weekly newsletter; (or follow on: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, or Soundcloud).

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Op-ed: In Defense of Zionism

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Michael Oren

The founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl

They come from every corner of the country—investment bankers, farmers, computer geeks, jazz drummers, botany professors, car mechanics—leaving their jobs and their families. They risk their lives for an idea. The idea is Zionism. It is the belief that the Jewish people should have their own sovereign state in the Land of Israel. They believe their idea is worth fighting for. Yet Zionism, arguably more than any other contemporary ideology, is demonized. In a region reeling with ethnic strife and religious bloodshed, Zionism has engendered a multiethnic, multiracial and religiously diverse society. Arabs serve in the Israel Defense Forces, in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court. To live in peace and security with our Palestinian neighbors remains the Zionist dream. [link]

Mr. Oren was Israel's ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2013. He holds the chair in international diplomacy at IDC Herzliya in Israel and is a fellow at the Atlantic Council. His books include "Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East" and "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present." 

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Sunday Review: Where Reason Ends and Faith Begins

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By T. M. Luhrmann

CALIFORNIA---NOT long ago, I was at an event in which many people, most of them professors, were arguing for the existence of things that many of their colleagues did not believe in. If faith is a conjecture, or, as Soren Kierkegaard framed it, a leap into the unknown, perhaps being clear about what is foolish makes people feel safer about where that leap might land them. Gods are invisible, the future is inscrutable, and much of life is bushwhacking over uneven terrain. In the face of your own uncertainty, being precise about what you don’t believe in can shore up your confidence in what you do. [link]

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Philbrook Museum of Art Announces Receipt of the Hyatt Collection of Hopi Art

ARTDAILY

The Hyatt family began traveling to the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona in the late 1980s.

OKLAHOMA--- Philbrook Museum of Art announced the important gift of 364 works of Hopi art, including katsinas, basketry and other media from Atlanta and Santa Fe-based collector, Wayne S. Hyatt. Featuring works by more than 160 artists, the Hyatt Collection both expands and strengthens the impressive survey of 20th and 21st century Native American art within the Philbrook holdings. Highlights of the collection include 25 katsinas (carved wooden figures of Hopi spiritual beings) by brothers Wilmer and Wilfred Kaye of the Badger/Butterfly Clan of Third Mesa. [link]

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Fitzwilliam Museum Bids to Acquire Weeping Virgin by Spanish Sculptor Pedro de Mena

ARTDAILY

Pedro de Mena (1628-1688), The Virgin of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa), about 1670-5.

UNITED KINGDOM---A remarkably realistic painted wood bust of the Mater Dolorosa (Virgin of Sorrows) by Pedro de Mena (1628-1688), one of the most celebrated sculptors of the Spanish Golden Age, has gone on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge as part of an appeal to acquire the sculpture. It was most likely created for the private chapel, study or bedchamber of a devout patron, and would almost certainly have been protected under a glass dome and originally paired with a similarly-sized bust of the Ecce Homo (Christ as the Man of Sorrows). The Fitzwilliam Museum has already raised a substantial amount towards the work (including £30,000 from the Art Fund and £10,000 from The Henry Moore Foundation) but needs to secure a further £85,000 by the end of September 2014 in order to acquire the remarkable bust. [link]

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The Race to Find New Art Collectors

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Kelly Crow

Korean collector Hong-gyu Shin bid on a $142 million Francis Bacon, but lost Nicholas Hunt/Patrick McMullan

In early May, Christie's invited a group of 18 new collectors from China to visit New York. The auction house threw the guests a lavish dinenr at its Rockefellor Center ballroom, escorted them on guided tours through the Museum of Moden Art and arranged VIP tickets to a local art fair. Christie's efforts paid off: During its May 13 contemporary art ales, members of the grip placed bids on at least half the top 10 priciest pieces in what became an historic $745 million auction. [link]

A quarter of all art-auction sales were made to first-time buyers this year. An inside look at Sotheby's and Christie's global quest to identify and recruit them.

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The Problems With Seeking Greater Conservative Representation in the Arts

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ross Douthat

My post on conservatives and the arts has prompted an interesting reply from Micah Mattix, of the “Prufrock” blog and newsletter: "It inescapably treats art or culture as a tool, or weapon, in the struggle for power." Not surprisingly, I have a “yes, but …” reply here. Yes, a project specifically intended to get more conservatives into the arts would tend to suffer from the instrumental vices Mattix identifies. But if such a project did get more conservatives into the culture industry it might still improve that industry’s productions, notwithstanding the problems with the motives behind the project. [link]

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Sunday Review: Really? You’re Not in a Book Club?

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By James Atlas

NEW YORK---“WHAT’S your book group reading?” By some estimates, five million Americans gather every few weeks in someone’s living room or in a bar or bookstore or local library to discuss the finer points of “Middlemarch” or “The Brothers Karamazov.” I used to think that the popularity of this institution was a quirk of life in New York, like restaurants where you can get a reservation only by calling a month in advance or parties where every single person you meet is smarter than you are. But the book-club boom is nationwide. But the most prevalent way of conducting a book club is still in someone’s living room. It may be social, but it’s also serious; members devote long hours over many weeks to getting to the last page. For most of them, it’s all about the book. [link]

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Goryeo Buddhist Paintings Are 'Resting Place' by Ven. Hyedam

KOREA TIMES

"Water, Moon Gwaneum" by Ven. Hyedam. Courtesy of KyeTae Temple

KOREA---She's not one to count how many hours she spends re-creating Goryeo Buddhist paintings, because for her, it is a way of practicing Zen. But Ven. Hyedam, 63, who, for more than four decades, usually spends 16 to 18 hours a day on such paintings, thinks it comes down to some 200,000 hours. Since she was a child, Ven. Hyedam has been enraptured by Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) Buddhist paintings. She will show her work based on the paintings at her special exhibition at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, which will run from Dec. 9 through Dec. 15. [link]

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Obama Nominates First Non-Christian to Lead Religious Freedom Initiative

RELIGION DISPATCHES
By Peter Montgomery

“O. C. Blue Amulet” (2009) by Yona Verwer; print 16” x 20"

S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced yesterday (Monday) that President Barack Obama is nominating the first non-Christian, Rabbi David Saperstein, to the post of ambassador for international religious freedom. Saperstein has served as head of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism for more than 30 years, been a member of the advisory council for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and teaches First Amendment and Jewish law at Georgetown Law school. In his remarks on Saperstein’s religious freedom pedigree, Kerry called him “the gold standard,” pointing to his work “across faith lines,” with “women of faith networks,” and with “American Muslim communities.” [link]

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Miniature Art Works With a Hindu Touch

THE TIMES OF INDIA
By Zeenia Baria,TNN

Miniature art works with a religious touch

INDIA---Jaipur-based artist Ajay Garg is no stranger to Mumbai. Having exhibited his works in the city in the past, the talented artist is back with his latest collection of Rajasthani miniature paintings. The works, done in a traditional miniature style, feature Lord Ganesha, Krishna, Shrinathji and other religious figures. A miniature art work can at times be as small as just four to five inches and is filled with a plethora of details. Recent works by Ajay Garg can be viewed at Jehangir Art Gallery, AC - III, 161-B, M G Road, Kala Ghoda, from August 4 to 10, 11 am to 7 pm.  [link]

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Roman Convent’s Profane Frescoes Restored

ARTNET NEWS
By Sarah Cascone

The profane frescoes at the Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome. Photo: courtesy the Santi Quattro Coronati.

ITALY---For the first time ever, the public will have the opportunity to view the profane medieval frescoes of Rome’s Santi Quattro Coronate basilica, rediscovered during the course of a decade-long conservation project that started in 1996, reports the Art Newspaper. The Santi Quattro Coronate paintings, which date to the 13th century, are significant as the country’s most important cycle of profane medieval frescoes. It’s no “Nikasitimos was here mounting Timiona,” as reads the world’s oldest erotic graffiti (recently reported by artnet News), but the subject matter is still pretty daring for a group of medieval nuns. [link]

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The Most and Least Bible-Minded Cities in the U.S. in 2014

BARNA GROUP

Jan. 23, 2014 – The social, economic and political values of any given city compose a richly distinct cultural climate—but what about the spiritual values? How does one city differ in spiritual profile to the next? Barna Group’s latest Barna:Cities study, conducted annually in partnership with the American Bible Society, examines a combination of regular Bible reading with belief in the Bible’s accuracy across the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States. The result reveals a geographical portrait of the most and least Bible-minded U.S. cities. Yet even in one year, the spiritual climate has notably shifted, as evident by comparing to last year’s study. [link]

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Bold Color, Pop Culture and Religious Ecstasy: the Art of Corita Kent at MOCA Cleveland

THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
By Steven Litt

OHIO---The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland prides itself on being an up-to-the-minute kind place that serves as Northeast Ohio's window on the latest doings in the art world. This summer, however, it's taking a vacation from its typical role with a retrospective glance at the colorful, ecstatic and faith-infused art of Sister Mary Corita, whose career peaked in the 1960s and '70s when she taught at a Catholic college in Los Angeles and then broke away to become an independent artist.[link]

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Katie Longmyer Connects Young Artists to Corporate Types

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jennifer Miller

NEW YORK---On a chilly night not long ago, Katie Longmyer sat behind the D.J. in the Living Room Bar at the W New York Downtown hotel and surveyed her creation: fashion-industry denizens, purveyors of high art and Lower East Side hipsters, all dancing with gleeful abandon. That’s tricky. She calls herself a “business artist,” a title she made up. As she explains it, companies are eager to harness the “authenticity” of young artists, but they lack access to those subcultures. Artists, meanwhile, want a platform for their work, but they don’t want to be co-opted or accused of selling out. [link]

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Brussels Jewish Museum Gunman Charged

ARTNET NEWS
By Alexander Forbes

A memorial that sprung up outside the Brussels Jewish Museum, where four were killed as
a result of the May 24 shooting. Photo: Virginia Mayo, courtesy the Associated Press.

BRUSSELS---The man alleged to have shot and killed four people at the Brussels Jewish Museum on May 24, Mehdi Nemmouche, was charged with “murder in a terrorist context” in Brussels on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post reports. Nemmouche was extradited to Belgium from France on Tuesday, a little over a month after French authorities announced their intention to do so. The 29-year-old is a French citizen of Algerian descent. The attack was carried out using a AK-47 style assault rifle and a handgun, according to surveillance footage released by Belgian police. [link]

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Terror Threat Closes Norway Jewish Museums

ARTNET NEWS 
By Hendrik Hansson

Jewish Museum Olslo Photo: Kjetil Ree via Wikimedia Commons

NORWAY---Jewish museums in Norway were closed on Friday, following an announcement of a possible imminent terror threat according to Art Daily. Norway’s intelligence service (PST) said it had, “recently received information that a group of extremists from Syria may be planning a terrorist attack.” The museums remained closed at the time of writing. Jewish museum officials are concerned that their institutions mat be targeted following the deadly attack on Brussels Jewish museum in May that left four people dead after a man opened fire. [link]

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Spiritual Strivings: A Celebration of African American Works on Paper

ARTDAILY

Elizabeth Catlett, Sharecropper, 1952, Linoleum cut; 17 5/8 x 16 7/8 in., The Harmon & Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art, Art © Catlett Mora Family Trust/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

PENNSYLVANIA---The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts presents "Spiritual Strivings: A Celebration of African American Works on Paper." Spiritual Strivings is a summer-long, museum-wide celebration of African American works on paper, featuring two exhibitions of over 90 works of art: The Kelley Collection on view in the Annenberg Gallery in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building (through October 12), and Eldzier Cortor: Theme and Variations in the Richard C. von Hess Foundation Works on Paper Gallery in the Historic Landmark Building (through August 31). Together, these exhibitions present a rare opportunity for visitors to view master graphics spanning two centuries of African American art. [link]

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Television: What Happened to Gladys in ‘The Leftovers’ Recap?

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Daniel McDermon

Marceline Hugot as Gladys, left, with Ann Dowd as Patti in
Sunday Episode 5 of “The Leftovers.”Credit Paul Schiraldi/HBO

Season 1, Episode 5: “Gladys.” In serial television, the showrunner is God. And one indisputable theme of “The Leftovers” so far is that God is capricious. Horrible things happen all the time, with no explanation: A man loses his grip on reality; a plastic baby Jesus is stolen; or there’s a supernatural culling of 140 million people. A moment of silence, please, for Gladys, one of the Guilty Remnant’s most effectively irritating scolds, whose squinty glower could disturb a kitten sleeping alongside an altar boy. Her abduction and murder by stoning was tough to witness, perhaps most of all because her final act was to violate the Remnant’s vow and beg her killers for mercy. Even the dogs killed in the show’s first few episodes have mostly suffered offscreen. What kind of creator would subject the faithful to this? [link]

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Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin: Bible Mashers

THE TELEGRAPH
By Lucy Davies

Holy Bible by Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin

UNITED KINGDOM---There are 788,258 words in the King James Bible. How many people can claim to have read every one of them in a single attempt? Two years ago, over a 12-month period, the artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin did just that. The pair began the Holy Bible project by underlining sentences in the text that referred to image-making. “It made me nauseous to be surrounded by so many graphic images,” admits Chanarin. “But also curious. The Bible is so violent, but there’s something acceptable about it. We’re more at ease with violent words than violent pictures.” [link]

'Broomberg & Chanarin: Divine Violence' is at Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales, from July 19; mostyn.org 

Chapter and Verse: A spread from Ezekiel in 'Holy Bible'

'Exodus' from Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s new collage work, 'Holy Bible’

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Sinful Saints and Saintly Sinners at the Margins of the Americas

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

CALIFORNIA---Sacred figures all walk the fine line between sinfulness and sanctity, even if we choose to only remember the sacred portions of that walk. That's why the Fowler Museum's "Sinful Saints and Saintly Sinners at the Margins of the Americas" exhibition was so important. Featuring an array of paintings, sculptures, digital arts, mixed-media works, and site-specific installations,  the exhibition examined a series of crucial, and often controversial, divine beings in Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, and the United States. The sin is that exhibition, which opened in March closed on July 20, 2014, but a video is still available to share how artists have interpreted these diverse stories.  The Fowler Museum is located on the north campus of UCLA.

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Changing Skyline: Hit by Lightning, Church Reinvented Itself

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
By Inga Saffron, Inquirer Architecture Critic

The Rev. Donna L. Maree offers communion during a mass to recognize the 20th anniversary of lighting strike

PENNSYLVANIA---Trinity Memorial Church at 22d and Spruce Streets was failing in the summer of 1994, and the few dozen remaining congregants knew it. Then, in the midst of their collective soul-searching, the historic church and its congregation were saved, oddly enough, by a bolt of lightning. Instead of seeing the fire as a sign to call it quits, the congregation vowed to reinvent its 1874 building as something more than just another church where people go to sit on hard benches once a week. On Sunday, Trinity celebrated the 20th anniversary of its transformation into a bustling community hub that operates in concert with a nonprofit called the Trinity Center for Urban Life. [link]

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Saint Wilgefortis is a Popular Figure of the Religious Imagination

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

Saint Wilgefortis in the Museum of the Diocese Graz-Seckau in Graz, Austria, 18th century

AUSTRIA---Some of the most fascinating Christian art stories get shared weekly on "Jesus In Love," a popular gay Christian art blog. Each week, there is something new to astound me. Recently, I read about a 14th century bearded-lady who was also a Roman Catholic Saint: "Legend says that Wilgefortis was the teenage Christian daughter of a king in medieval Portugal. She had taken a vow of chastity, but her father ordered her to marry a pagan king. She resisted the unwelcome marriage by praying to be made repulsive to her fiancé. God answered her prayers when she grew a beard. Unfortunately her father got so angry that he had her crucified and Wilgefortis joined the ranks of virgin martyrs." [link]

“Santa Wilgefortis” from “Queer Santas” series by Alma Lopez

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Movie: John Michael McDonagh Carves His Own Niche With ‘Calvary’

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Cara Buckley

Brendan Gleeson as a beleaguered Irish priest

HOLLYWOOD---John Michael McDonagh is no altar boy, at least not anymore. But when he was 11, this future screenwriter and director could be found most Sundays carrying processional crosses and ringing Sanctus bells while his little brother, Martin, now a playwright and filmmaker, sang in the choir. Now 47, John Michael McDonagh is revisiting Catholicism in force with his new film, “Calvary,” the second installment in what he has taken to calling his “glorified suicide trilogy.” Opening Friday, the film stars Brendan Gleeson as a beleaguered Irish priest who receives a death threat from a local man who was raped in childhood by another clergyman. [link]

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Gertrude Stein’s Legacy Lives On in Pop-Up Art Salons

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Marisa Meltzer

NEW YORK---On a Saturday afternoon in Chelsea, a group of a few dozen people milled around the International Print Center New York, drinking Champagne and making small talk about the show New Prints 2014/Winter. But this wasn’t a gallery opening, nor was it an artist’s talk. Rather it was a salon by Gertrude, a new company organizing events to discuss art. The company is named for the writer and art collector Gertrude Stein, who was well known for the gatherings of artists and writers she organized in her apartment on the Left Bank of Paris. [link]

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For Muslims In Gaza, End Of Ramadan Marred By Fighting

NPR NEWS
By Emily Harris

Members of a Palestinian family break their fast with the iftar meal during the holy month of Ramadan.

ISRAEL--The Muslim holiday, which began Monday, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. This year, it also marks three weeks since the current war in Gaza started. Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday and a family celebration. Relatives offer each other gifts of cash and chocolate. Kids look forward to special cookies and new clothes. But on the first day of what is traditionally a three-day holiday, Israeli jets continued their offensive in Gaza, and Hamas militants continued to launch rockets into Israel — despite a call by the United Nations for both Israel and Hamas to implement a humanitarian cease-fire for "the Eid period and beyond." [link]

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The Yak Brains and Crushed Insects That Made Tibetan Buddhist Bookmaking Beautiful

HYPERALLERGIC
By Allison Meier

Scattered fragments of rare 12th-century illuminated Tibetan texts from Keu Lhakang Temple, Central Tibet, before being digitised, restored and re-ordered. (Photograph by Psang Wangdu, 2002, courtesy the University of Cambridge)

CHINA---From the earthy mineral pigments ground from azurite to paint a sky, to paper given its luster from yak brains, the creation of Tibetan Buddhist texts is being examined down to its bare materials at the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. "Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond," opened in May, with some objects never before on public display joining 11th-century illuminated manuscripts, printing blocks, and other artifacts relating to the history of these texts. [link]

"Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond" continues at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (Downing Street, Cambridge, UK) through January 17, 2015.

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In Pictures: China's Yellow River by Kechun Zhang

THE TELEGRAPH

Buddha in a coal depot, Ningxia Province, 2011

CHINA---Chinese photographer Kechun Zhang has won the prestigious Discovery Award at this year's Rencontres d'Arles for his series 'The Yellow River.' He was chosen by photography professionals and press at the opening week of the festival from a group of ten shortlisted artists, and receives 25,000 euros in prize money.His work is on show at the Parc des Ateliers, Arles until 31st August 2014. [link]

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Lessons From Behind The Counter At A Comic Book Store

NPR NEWS
By Lidia Jean Kott

Jason Aaron, who writes the Thor series for Marvel, says the female Thor is here to stay.

BROADCASTING---When the news broke that Thor, the hyper-masculine thunder god, had become a woman, my Twitter feed exploded. But like any good journalist, I wasn't about to let total ignorance keep me from chasing down a good story. I saw in Marvel's press release that Jason Aaron was writing the new Thor — so I decided to give him a call.  I clearly needed to find out what the experts thought. When I first entered Fantom Comics, here in Washington, D.C. I left Fantom with a stack of titles — Thor, Ms. Marvel, The Wicked + The Divine — my first comic books ever. All of them have (or will soon have) female leads. While they are all about superheroes who have super strength, they're all also about fighting with your family, sometimes feeling alone and inadequate, and trying to figure things out — in short, they're the opposite of boring. I read them all in a week. [link]

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Television: Making Dramas About Mideast Can Be Complicated

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Dave Itzkoff

Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in the mini-series “The Honorable Woman.” Credit Des Willie

BRAODCASTING---The fourth episode of “The Honorable Woman,” a serialized thriller that makes its Sundance TV debut on Thursday, opens on a world-weary MI6 officer, sitting at a dinner party where two other guests are discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the camera zooms in on the officer, the conversation can be heard degenerating into a vulgar, name-calling argument and then a silverware-rattling wrestling match. [link]

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Naked Body Art Enlivens New York

BBC NEWS

Some 30 artists were involved in the public bodypainting session

NEW YORK---A group of artists in New York have painted a group of 40 nude models in public to celebrate the human form. The bodypainting session in Central Park was followed by a march along Broadway and a photo shoot in the city's Times Square. Artist Andy Golub claimed New York was the only US city where the bodypainting day would be allowed. Public nudity as part of a performance or a show is permitted in New York. As the organiser, Golub was granted a licence to hold Saturday's event which had the agreement of police. Golub says on his website that "art shouldn't be limited to canvases or bound to be in only indoor spaces. To me, art is about self-discovery and sharing it with people". [link]

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Why the Jesuits (including Pope Francis) Are on The Frontlines of Faith

CNN | BELIEF
By Matt Emerson, special to CNN

Sometimes called "God's Marines" (not all appreciate the nickname) for their willingness to go to the frontlines of faith, Jesuits form the largest order of Catholic priests in the church, with approximately 18,000 members worldwide. And, at a time when most religious orders are shrinking and pining for new candidates, the Jesuits say inquiries about joining their ranks are surging. What explains the Jesuits’ enduring appeal? Much of it has to do with their academic legacy. In the United States alone, there are 60 Jesuit high schools and 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. They are part of a network of secondary and post-secondary institutions that stretch from Los Angeles to Lagos to Tokyo. A good number of those schools are named after the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola.[link]

Andrew Garfield is reading “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything,” the Rev. James Martin’s insightful overview of Jesuit life and spirituality as he prepares to play a Jesuit in a film adaptation of “Silence,” a novel about Catholic missionaries in Japan.

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Sinéad O'Connor Interview: "I Deserve to be a Priest. Music is a Priesthood."

THE GUARDIAN
By Tim Jonze

"I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss" is an album influenced by Chicago blues – O'Connor cites Buddy Guy and Howlin' Wolf as influences – and has what she calls a "dirty edge". The Vishnu Room, for instance, is sung from the viewpoint of a woman who feels under pressure to perform on her wedding night, and asks her man if she can just lie with her head on his chest instead "because Vishnu lives at the core of your heart". I mention an old quote in which O'Connor described Hinduism as the religion she most identified with and say I found that surprising. "Why?" she says. "Oh, because I'm a priest?" – O'Connor was ordained in 1999 by the breakaway Latin Tridentine church – "Yeah, well being a priest was just civil disobedience. Although I deserve to be a priest, frankly, better than any of them, in terms of the actual faith and respect [I have] for the holy spirit. [link]

I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss is released on 11 August. 

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RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

I have a bad habit. As Palestinians and Israelis clash and die in Gaza, I've remained a bystander. Tomorrow evening on Monday, July 28, the Islamic holydays of Ramadan end following a month of fasting and prayer to rid ourselves of bad habits. Prayers are said in the direction of the Kaaba, a cubed black building at the center of Mecca, and my prayer is that before Ramadan ends that I will stop being a bystander. That's why "Diversity" by Siddiqa Juma (above) is my NEWS OF WEEK.

In other religious art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhist Art of Week: Takashi Kikuchi and Park Dong-ki team-up for exhibit [More News]
• Christian Art of Week: Mannerist paintings of Pontormo, aka Jacopo Carucci [More News]
• Hindu Art of Week: Hindu deities get muscular makeovers; a ripped Vishnu [More News]
• Islamic Art of Week: Palestinians and Arabs hang tough at the New Museum [More News]
• Judaic Art Week: Jews and the first kosher comic books blazing trails [More News]

Join the journey. When you follow religious artists, you look for others who do the same. Some of us join as "Collectors" and make policy decisions; others join as "Friends" who gather for the dialogues; and most of us join as "Subscribers" to this "free" weekly newsletter; (or follow on: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, or Soundcloud).

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Dog Passes Out From Overwhelming Joy When This Girl Comes Home After Two Years

THE HUFFINGTON POST
By Sarah Barness

PENNSYLVANIA---When this schnauzer saw a familiar face after two whole years away, the pet could barely keep it together. Watch the video above posted by Rebecca Ehalt to see what happiness looks like. It really is too much to handle for the little pooch who whimpers with pure joy until it's time to lie down. A description of the video, which was uploaded on Thursday, notes "the schnauzer was taken to the vet, the vet saw the video, and everything is fine." [link]

 

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Movie Review: In ‘Lucy,’ Scarlett Johansson Transforms Into a Superwoman

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Manohla Dargis

“Lucy” Review: What did Ref Souto think?

HOLLYWOOD---Thank goodness (or the goddess) for male directors who dig strong female characters. Mr. Besson’s particular kink for fatal female beauties receives an entertaining workout in his latest film, “Lucy,” in which he again introduces a young woman who undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis that leads to convulsions of extreme violence and an increasingly frenzied visual style that lay waste to both men and any semblance of story sense. He may be a hack, but he’s also a reliable entertainer, even when he’s recycling other directors’ ideas (a pinch of David Fincher here, a dash of Christopher Nolan there), or giddily engaging in slaughter and racist stereotypes. [link]

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