The Society for the Art, Religion and Contemporary Culture (ARC) was established in 1961 and is based in Kutztown, PA. Its archives are maintained at the Harvard Divinity Library and Nelvin Vos is the executive director. The Society meets three times each year, normally in New York City, on the first Saturday of November, February and May. It's purpose and program are based on the belief that the roles of the arts and religion are decisive. The Society believes that "Religion in isolation from the arts is starved of concrete embodiment of its insights into the fullness of human life. Art gives religion the eyes to see ourselves in all our dimensions." (Source: SARCC)
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Saturday, 20 March 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ken Johnson
NEW YORK - In a recent essay in The New York Review of Books about R. Crumb’s illustrated “Book of Genesis,” the literary critic Harold Bloom seems bemused by Mr. Crumb’s graphic style, which reminds him unpleasantly of Mad magazine. Mr. Crumb may be irreverent, but in his attention to every detail of word and image he is as devout as any medieval manuscript illuminator. Scanning the 207 drawings on gallery walls is not the best way to take in the epical narrative, but it is good to see them in the original, undiminished by the inferior reproductive quality of the $24.95 book published by W. W. Norton. The inks are blacker, the pages whiter and the artist’s touch visibly subtler. [link]
By Ken Johnson
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
John Logan’s two-man Broadway show, "Red" revolves around an episode in Abstract Artist Mark Rothko’s life in the late 1950s, when the architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson commissioned him to paint murals for the Four Seasons, the fashionable new restaurant in the Seagram Building. (Read NYT Review)
Monday, 1 March 2010
YALE PRESS - One of the most important artists of the twentieth century, Mark Rothko (1903–1970) created a new and impassioned form of abstract painting over the course of his career. Rothko also wrote a number of essays and critical reviews during his lifetime, adding his thoughtful, intelligent, and opinionated voice to the debates of the contemporary art world.
Although the artist never published a book of his varied and complex views, his heirs indicate that he occasionally spoke of the existence of such a manuscript to friends and colleagues. Stored in a New York City warehouse since the artist’s death more than thirty years ago, this extraordinary manuscript, titled The Artist’s Reality, is now being published for the first time. (Read All)
Although the artist never published a book of his varied and complex views, his heirs indicate that he occasionally spoke of the existence of such a manuscript to friends and colleagues. Stored in a New York City warehouse since the artist’s death more than thirty years ago, this extraordinary manuscript, titled The Artist’s Reality, is now being published for the first time. (Read All)
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
The heart of every museum is its collection. In most museums, only a fraction of the collection is ever even on display which allows for a constant change for returning visitors. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has 2 million works of art in its collection. Those who maintain its collection are called "curators" and their most important role is to determine what to buy and what to sell (accession and deacession).
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
The Cloisters of NYC is a complex built from and modeled after medieval monasteries. The visionary and monetary source behind the enterprise was Ohio native John D. Rockefeller. Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, its collection of over 5,000 is focused on medieval art ranging from 9th century tapestries to 15th century stained glass, and other works of art. Located in the northern end of Manhattan, it's well worth the short trip when in the city.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Joe Carter's post in First Things on "Religious Art for the Non-Believer" alerted me to Aaron Rosen's piece in The Humanist. Rosen is an author and art critique with a special interest in jewish art. I beleive he is also a secularist but that's just a guess based on this post.
He begins his piece with:
He begins his piece with:
Next time you’re taking a Sunday stroll into the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, be sure to cast your eye upward. As you ascend the grand staircase to the main floor, you’ll find your gaze drawn into the heavens, where it’s returned by no less a security guard than the enthroned Christ, encircled by his ministering angels. (Read All)
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Sunday, 1 November 2009
AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton
NEW YORK CITY - In recognition of his role as a rock-n-roller in Harlem and as a young Priest, Tahlib, a co-founder of the blog, Alpha Omega Arts announced today that Father Luke is the first inductee for the new A&O Prize for Clergy Advocates.
Tahlib said, "I certainly didn't expect to find a Roman Catholic monk who was also a rock musician as I boarded the flight from Indianapolis back home to NYC." Dressed, in the frigid January cold wearing a pair of sandals with woolly black socks, a thick grey robe, and a dusty-looking rope tied around his waist from which a huge wooden cross dangled, he hardly knew what to make of the monk waiting not far from him at the Indianapolis International Airport.
Once the passengers were called for boarding however, Tahlib quickly dismissed him as an eccentric, but God had other plans. "When I made my way to my seat on the plane," said Tahlib, "I found that the strange monk was already seated in the chair next to mine." Forced into an uncomfortable situation with a strange looking man, Tahlib began to share his life in NYC, and the young monk from a farm in Indiana began doing the same. Both idealists, Tahlib, a Civil Rights activists and Luke a Priest the too were soon engaged in an exciting conversation about faith, commitment and the power of art.
Father Luke is a one member of a group of young musicians & Franciscan Friars who are now giving rock concerts at their growing monastery in Harlem/NYC, all as part of their evangelizing efforts. Tahlib is a day-time Civil Rights activist, full time Christian and artist advocate. [link]
By Ernest Britton
Tahlib said, "I certainly didn't expect to find a Roman Catholic monk who was also a rock musician as I boarded the flight from Indianapolis back home to NYC." Dressed, in the frigid January cold wearing a pair of sandals with woolly black socks, a thick grey robe, and a dusty-looking rope tied around his waist from which a huge wooden cross dangled, he hardly knew what to make of the monk waiting not far from him at the Indianapolis International Airport.
Once the passengers were called for boarding however, Tahlib quickly dismissed him as an eccentric, but God had other plans. "When I made my way to my seat on the plane," said Tahlib, "I found that the strange monk was already seated in the chair next to mine." Forced into an uncomfortable situation with a strange looking man, Tahlib began to share his life in NYC, and the young monk from a farm in Indiana began doing the same. Both idealists, Tahlib, a Civil Rights activists and Luke a Priest the too were soon engaged in an exciting conversation about faith, commitment and the power of art.
Father Luke is a one member of a group of young musicians & Franciscan Friars who are now giving rock concerts at their growing monastery in Harlem/NYC, all as part of their evangelizing efforts. Tahlib is a day-time Civil Rights activist, full time Christian and artist advocate. [link]
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
GOD'S ART MUSEUMS
By TAHLIB
"Robo-priest" delivered the Easter homily in French today at Saint Vincent de Paul Church. I nicknamed him that because of his robot-like efficiency during weekday noon masses, but today he was different. Backed by an all Haitian choir, he was on fire before the packed congregation of pasty Parisian-born New Yorkers dressed in white. It was a beautful yet broken experience for me. Monday - Friday, this is my home church but on this Easter Sunday, I was an alien. Yesterday, at MOMA I saw Martin Kippenberger's retrospective, and his crucified frog is my image for Easter 2009. Everyday in NYC, wonder surrounds me but I remain an alien.
As a Christian, this holyweek is the most special week of my year:
While the facade is elegantly preserved, it is the opulent interior of the 1869 structure, as refined in 1939 by architect Anthony H. Depace that most takes your breath away. There are grandiose marble columns, intricate mosaics, murals and colorful stained glass which effectively combine to produce a kind of super spiritual atmosphere found in the greatest of Christian churches. St. Vincent de Paul is a masterpiece but one that is in a state of decay, and needs a resurrection for the modern day.
By TAHLIB
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| "Feet First" (1990) by Martin Kippenberger at MoMA |
As a Christian, this holyweek is the most special week of my year:
- Good Friday: "Crucified Frog" by Martin Kippenberg [link]
- Easter 2009: St. Vincent de Paul, Chelsea, NYC [link]
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| Facade of Church |
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| Interior of the church |
Friday, 10 April 2009
ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB
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| "Feet First" (1990) by Martin Kippenberger at MoMA |
Sunday, 5 April 2009
ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB
NEW YORK---Built in 1932, All Souls - a Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Manhattan has "zero" religious imagery in this elegant space in pastel colors with six large chandeliers and five magnificent clear glass windows. It is located at 1157 Lexington Ave on the Upper East side.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB
NEW YORK---Last night, I attended a preview opening of "Reel Religion" (2009) a retrospective exhibition on films inspired by the bible (1898-2006) at the Museum of Biblical Art. AKA MoBIA, the contemporary museum is located on the Upper West Side and is unlike any other that I've ever imagined. It is the ultimate museum exploring the intersections of religious art with religious life. While I am still thrilled to have choosen living on the Upper East Side with its proximity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoBIA could make me rethink that choice in the future. The exhibition originated at the Saint Louis Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in 2007, another of God's Art Museums that I never heard about but hope to visit one day soon.
By TAHLIB
Friday, 13 February 2009
Sunday, 7 December 2008
ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB
Long before I moved here to NYC, I already knew that this move was not about my new job but about finding "something lost." I have no idea what I am seeking, but here I wander anyway. Today, I visited The Riverside Church on the Upper Westside, and I felt a rush like I'd experienced long ago during my Christmas pageants in our grandmother's living room. I had forgotten that feeling-- that joy. I'd also forgotten the framed print of "Christ in Gethsemane" that hung on her wall facing us on stage my Dad assembled. The original by Heinrich Hofmann is here in an amazing art collection owned by the church (donated by a Rockefeller born in Ohio). Gethsemane is a place we go in agony seeking something lost. This massive and beautiful church, rich with diversity, artistry, and led by a black Baptist minister from Cincinnati (Rev. James Forbes) might just be where I find that "something lost" that I came searching for in New York City. It's the first time that NYC has come close to feeling like home.
By TAHLIB
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| "Christ in Gethsemane" (1890) by Hienrich Hofmann. Collection of Riverside Church, NYC. |
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