Disney-Britton

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  TAHLIB INDIANA--- First Congregational Church  bills itself as a progressive,  inclusive, spiritually alive servant community. I was invited to attend for the Good Friday, a stoic and somber experience for any church, and this was true for First Congregational Church as well. They are part of the United Church of Christ family of churches. However in general, they offer two distinct opportunities for worship. First, their "New Creation" worship which is varied and nontraditional with drama, contemporary music and dance. “You never know what will happen this week,” said one worshipper. The second at 11am is their Traditional worship which offers "challenging and thoughtful preaching" along with traditional music. The structure is a huge beautiful New England style sanctuary, and starkly unadorned in terms of artistry or scultptural works, but it does sit on a nice parkland campus, and even as a Bapt...

GOD'S ART MUSEUMS By  TAHLIB "Feet First" (1990) by Martin Kippenberger at MoMA "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.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  TAHLIB NEW YORK - Adi Nes is an Israeli gay artist whose works, like this one entitled, " Christ " go for $40K+ at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  TAHLIB "Feet First" (1990) by Martin Kippenberger at MoMA "Feet First" (1990) by Martin Kippenberger is a four foot high wooden sculpture of a crucified frog in loincloth, brandishing a mug of beer and an egg. The Pope called it "blasphemous ." The exhibition, " Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective " at the Museum of Modern Art embraces the full range of his output and while the curators don't make the claim that it is comprehensive, this exhibition introduced me to one of the most inventive and influential bodies of artwork of the late twentieth century. It begins however with this message: "Everything in moderation," counseled Aristotle. Martin Kippenberger never got this message, as a good friend pointed out after the artist's death at age forty-four in 1997. The exhibit ends on May 11, 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.