Utah Museum Exhibits Explore Art and Hindu Belief

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

Bhajan Ashram at Dawn, Vrindavan, India, 2003. Archival carbon inkjet print on handmade
Hahnemuhle photo rag 308 g/m2 paper. © Fazal Sheikh; courtesy Pace/McGill Gallery, New York.

UTAH---The Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah is pleased to announce two exhibitions exploring Hinduism in art. The first is "Moksha" a visual story by artist-activist Fazal Sheikh about the widows who've taken refuge in India's holy city of Vrindavan and their hopes of achieving moksha, or heavenly release. A companion exhibition to Moksha that explores the Hindu god Krishna—and the concepts of bhakti (devotion) and moksha (salvation)—through sacred and secular artworks, dating from the 11th century to the 20th, from the UMFA's Asian art collection. Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) mission is to engage visitors in discovering meaningful connections with the artistic expressions of the world's cultures.

Utah Museum of Fine Arts: "Moksha: Photography by Fazal Sheikh" (Ends November 30, 2014) 410 Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, UT; (801) 581-7332; umfa.utah.edu

Utah Museum of Fine Arts: "Krisha: Lord of Vrindavan" (August 8–November 30, 2014); 410 Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, UT; (801) 581-7332; umfa.utah.edu

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Hamblin & Peterson: Art and the Language of the Divine

DESERET NEWS
By William Hamblin and Daniel Peterson

Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave, Saturday, April 16, 2005. Pier Paolo Cito, AP

UTAH---Editor's note: Portions of this column were previously published in Meridian Magazine. Today our world is overwhelmed with an almost infinite number of images — too many are degrading or disgusting, others merely banal. Art in many of its forms has largely been co-opted by commerce and advertising in the never-ending quest to sell one more product. Yet throughout most of history, the vast majority of art has been based on religious themes and patronage. [link]

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Museum of Art’s ‘Sacred Gifts’ Exhibit Gets 2-Week Extension

DAILY HERALD
By Court Mann

An onlooker takes in Carl Bloch's "The Resurrection" at the
BYU Museum of Art's "Sacred Gifts" exhibit, which was just extended to May 26.

UTAH---Originally scheduled to conclude Saturday, “Sacred Gifts” has been extended to May 26 — for the same reason the MOA is packed on the Monday after graduation. To accommodate this final rush of patrons, the MOA has extended its operating hours to 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, from now until the exhibit’s conclusion. In many ways, “Sacred Gifts” has been unprecedented. First is the attendance: More than 190,000 people from mid-November to mid-April. These patrons have also donated nearly $60,000 for the conservation of the exhibit’s paintings, as a gift to the nine institutions lending art for it. [link]

Museum of Art: "Sacred Gifts: The Religious Art of Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hoffmann and Frans Schwartz" (Ends May 26); Brigham Young University; (801) 422-8258, sacredgifts.byu.edu

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Artwork Lenders Agree to Extend BYU's 'Sacred Gifts' Exhibit

DESERT NEWS
By Whitney Butters

"The Sermon on the Mount" is a well-known painting by Carl Bloch. (Det Nationalhistoriske Museum Frederiksborg)

UTAH---BYU’s Museum of Art’s “Sacred Gifts" is going to continue giving the rare opportunity to view the works of Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann and Frans Schwartz a little while longer. The museum announced in a news release that the exhibit has been extended through May 26, two weeks past its original closing date. [link]

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