Disney-Britton

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS By TAHLIB   INDIANA---The first exhibition to examine the religious visual culture of 17th-century Spain and Latin America will open at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on October 11, 2009. " Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World " brings to life the challenges faced by visual artists such as El Greco, Francisco Zurbarán, Alonso Cano, Franciso Ribalta, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan de Valdes Leal, Juan Correa, Cristobal Villalpando and others, who were charged with the creative task of making religious imagery that was useful, truthful and moving. The exhibition will feature 70 works—including paintings, polychrome sculpture, metalwork and books, many of which have never before been seen in the United States—that not only illustrate religious iconography and allegory, but also bring to light the significant role of the artist in 17th-century Spain. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Ernest Britton INDIANA - Located in the southside of Indianapolis metropolitan area, Saints Francis and Claire Roman Catholic Church  is a beautiful modern church eclipsed by the oversized religious art. The clean modern architecture based on classic, historical cruciform feels like an open amphitheater and it's monochromatic colors are an ideal backdrop for the massive near life-sized crucifix and statuettes of the Saints Assi and Clare.

“Art…is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings,and is indispensible for the life and progress towards the well being of individualsand of humanity.” – LEO TOLSTOY, What is Art?

A young rival of Michelangelo, the renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520), learned from that master but also sought to mischievously out do him. In his work, “The School of Athens” for the Vatican, he depicts the Greek philosophers, but paints the cynical Heraclitus as Michelangelo. Raphael also paints himself into the work looking on at Heraclitus with a smirk. Noted works : The School of Athens (1511) and Sistine Madonna (1514)

The Pre-Raphaelites dominated English art from 1848-1854. With an eye for heroism and romance, much of their work was in recreating scenes from the Bible. While professed advocates of morality however they often caved into their own lusts for others wives. Prominent among this brotherhood of adulterers are Edward Burne-Jones and John Everett Millais.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  TAHLIB Thinking about a great show I saw six months ago at the Halvai Gallery in Soho, " Purdah 2.0: Body Matters ." The private gallery exhibit featured S. Asian artists exploring the intersections of the body, ritual and religion.