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THE MONTREAL GAZETTE By John Pohl The Founding Identities section is part of the new galleries presented by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in a preview visit on Monday. To view a gallery of photos from the preview, visit montrealgazette.com-photos CANADA - The unveiling Monday afternoon of David Altmejd's monumental bronze sculpture of an angel signals that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is about to invite the public into the Bourgie Concert Hall and its new pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art. Altmejd's The Eye, standing in front of a church that has been transformed into a concert hall, continues the artist's fascination with bodies in metamorphosis and is a fitting symbol for an art museum in its own great transformation. The former Erskine and American Church, now a 444-seat concert hall with comfortable seating, is also a space for exhibiting 81 restored stained-glass windows, 20 of them made by the Tiffany company of New York. The public grand reopening of t...

AOA NEWS By Tahlib "Sleep" (2008) by Kehinde Wiley. Oil on canvas, 132 x 300 inches. Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection, Miami. WASHINGTON, DC - Opening this weekend at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, " 30 Americans " is a wide-ranging survey of work by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades including 2008 A&O Prize honoree Kehinde Wiley. Selected from the Rubell Family Collection, the exhibition includes both long established artists, and featured in the exhibition is Wiley's "Sleep" (above) where a sleeping Christ-like figure of a man triggers one to think back to images of the " Deposition " and " Entombment of Christ " painted by religious art greats such as Caravaggio and Titian. According to the press release, the Corcoran Gallery of Art was formed in 1869 for the purpose of ―"Encouraging American Genius." Located at 500 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC, more inf...

AOA NEWS By Tahlib Photo courtesy of Temple Emanu-El RABBI MARK KAISERMAN of Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J. is a BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS. When the High Holy Days begin today at sundown, the Torah at his synagogue will be taken out of its everyday cover and "dressed" in its holiday best, a cover by reknowned Judaic artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren of Connecticut. Traditionally, the holiday best is in white with muted tones but Rabbi Kaiserman said, “Her artwork is so striking, you’re drawn into looking. It’s so vibrant, you just look at it and it connects with you, with people of all ages.” He added. “It exhibits the joy and brightness you want the Torah to have. It sort of gets you in the mood for the holidays that are a about to happen.” The Torah is a scroll containing the five books of Moses that are central to Judaism. The High Holy Days include Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. The holidays emphasize the personal, ref...

THE TIMES OF INDIA By Swati Chandra Wall painting by Anupreet INDIA - The bright coloured parrots, horses, gods and goddess painted on the walls of the houses, temples and ashrams of Varanasi were often seen while walking down the lanes of the city. The wall painting art, better known as 'bhitti chitrakala' is an exclusive folk art of Varanasi. But now it is struggling to breathe on the walls, ceilings and gateways of various temples, havelis and muths of the city. The paintings depicting mythological stories, colonial, Rajasthani and Mughal art at Jangambadi Muth, Bhonslaghat, Bageshwari Temple have already lost their lustrous look while various others are on the way to get extinct. "The main reason for the depletion of this art is negligence and unawareness," said Kamal Giri, a retired professor from the department of history of arts, Banaras Hindu University (BHU).According to historians and artists, the evidences of this folk art dates back to the end of 16th ...

THE DAILY BEAST By Blake Gopnik Google “Jesus” (you get a few hits) and you know what kind of images you’ll find : Christ will almost always have a high forehead, blond-streaked locks parted in the middle, a straight nose, a hipster beard, and that faraway look. That sameness ought to seem strange: the artists didn’t exactly have the chance to paint him from life. Except Rembrandt, sort of. Somewhere around 1645, he went out into his Jewish neighborhood in Amsterdam, found a young man, dark, Semitic and brooding, and had him pose for some radically new pictures of Christ. Six that survive have been assembled in a big show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art , where they face off against more conventional Christs by Rembrandt and others. Looking at Rembrandt’s “realistic” Jesus makes you realize how stereotyped other images of him have been, from the Middle Ages right to today. On Sunday, that stereotype, our commitment to it and Rembrandt’s daring revision will be the topic of an inte...

THE KOREAN HERALD By Claire Lee KOREA - Philosopher and author Alain de Botton grew up in a Jewish family where religion was thought to be “completely ridiculous,” and it took him a while for him to say he didn’t agree. “(My family thought) if you are intelligent, you believe in science. … And with respect to my parents, I nevertheless moved away from that position. And even though I am still an atheist, I am now much more sympathetic to many of the lessons and traditions of religion.” The newly released Korean edition, "Religion for Atheists" published five months ahead of the English edition, is de Botton’s philosophical account on how “people who don’t believe in supernaturals” can also benefit and learn from religious teachings and practices. There are many things that modern-day secular people could “steal” from religion, including its education, art and the way it perceives beauty. “Religions remember that we are not just brains but bodies,” he said. Religious art,...

MILFORD-ORANGE BULLETIN By Pamela McLoughlin Jeanette Kuvin Oren, an artist who specializes in Judaic artwork, sits in her Woodbridge studio with examples of Torah covers that she has created for clients. CONNECTICUT - When the High Holy Days begin Wednesday at sundown, Torahs throughout the world will soon be taken out of their everyday covers and “dressed” in their holiday best, traditionally in whites with muted tones. At Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J. and dozens of other synagogues worldwide, that change is all the more artfully inspiring because the covers are made by reknowned Judaic artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren of Woodbridge. “Her artwork is so striking, you’re drawn into looking. It’s so vibrant, you just look at it and it connects with you, with people of all ages,” said Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of the New Jersey synagogue. “It exhibits the joy and brightness you want the Torah to have. It sort of gets you in the mood for the holidays that are a about to happen.” [ link ...

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE By Michael J. Fressola "Amitabha Buddha," by Tashi Dhargyal NEW YORK — Renaissance painters imagined heaven as a luminous cloudbank overflowing with angels and saints. They didn’t own the concept. Traditional Buddhist artists had a similar hunch about the eternal after-party. They also put the land of the gods above the earth, but unlike their Christian counterparts, they imagined many, many deities — all adrift on lotus blossoms in yoga positions. Buddhism absorbed much of the existing Hindu myths and personnel and added more of its own. Traditional Tibetan painting has an established range of subjects and characters, all governed by customary formulas. Much as the Virgin Mary is always presented in a blue veil and white gown, Tibetan deities can be recognized by their distinctive attire, posture, complexion, weaponry or lack thereof. A small segment of the huge and lively Buddhist pantheon is portrayed in a nine-piece show at The Jacques Marchais M...

THE TIMES OF INDIA By Uma Nair NEW YORK - A small exhibition that is a cornucopia of artistic endeavour, gorgeous goddesses and soul stirring antiquity - New York City's Metropolitan Museum's jewel-like little display shows off 'Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting.' The 30 works from the museum's collection that depict Devi in all her various aspects in this show are a sumptuous summary of sorts. Perhaps the most widely worshipped deity in all India, Devi stands popular in the Hindu pantheon. The exhibition presents enduring images of the feminine in Indian art from the first millennium BCE through the late 20th century. Devi in her myriad forms - benign, maternal, empowering, and fearsome - expresses the range of human emotions. Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting , runs through November 27, 2011. [ link ]

What Is the Purpose of Religious Art? -- Powered by ehow

AOA NEWS Archangel Michael, 18th century. Tempera on wooden panel. 150 x 92 cm. Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl, Russia. MINNESOTA – Late this summer, the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis launched its entirely redesigned website including an the online exhibition: " Transcendent Art: Icons from Yaroslavl, Russia ." Made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the new site has been transformed from a relatively static space into a content-rich, interactive destination that fosters ongoing engagement with TMORA’s exhibitions including its extensive resources on religious icons. [ View Exhibit ]

THE GUARDIAN By Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin The Question : Do we need faith to see religious art? "Die Harder" by David Mach is made from 3,000 coat hangers UNITED KINGDOM - The question whether or not a non-believer can appreciate religious art without sharing in its maker's religious purpose seems to assume that all religious art is made by believers. This is a false assumption. Anybody doubting whether a non-religious person can produce religious art should go and see David Mach's mammoth exhibition Precious Light currently on display at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Works like Mach's challenge the assumption that only artists of faith can produce religious art. Indeed, it can sometimes be the artist without faith who does the better job, unencumbered by expectations of conforming to the standard interpretations of either the church or the history of art. This should give us pause. If it is possible for artists without faith to produce religious art...

AOA NEWS WASHINGTON - A blessing ceremony for a newly completed holy Buddhist stupa monument and Tibetan prayer wheels will be held on Saturday, October 8 at Earth Sanctuary , a nature preserve and retreat center on south Whidbey Island off the state of Washington. The ceremony will be held outside and the general public is invited to attend, and encouraged to bring a cushion to sit on. According to the press release, a " stupa is the most important Buddhist monument and is a sacred structure designed to bring peace and harmony to a community and the world."

THE MORNING CALL By Steve Siegal Artist Bruce Wall is seated by a collection of his Indian Kolam art PENNSYLVANIA - Kolam is an ancient folk art form still practiced daily on the floors of Hindu temples and on the doorsteps of homes by the women of South India. A fine mixture of rice powder, crushed stones, and sometimes spices for pigment is sifted between the thumb and forefinger, creating a geometric pattern of dots and lines on the ground. Kolam designs are a form of welcome mat, inviting all things auspicious to enter within. What Bruce Wall, associate professor of fine arts at NCC, has done in creating this remarkable show is to lift Kolam off the floor and place it into new media using new technology. "The Art of Indian Kolam: Traditional Designs and New Media" at Northampton Community College is on view through Oct. 23. [ link ]

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER By Kristin E. Holmes PENNSYLVANIA - An exhibit of Rembrandt's paintings of Jesus at the Philadelphia Museum of Art has prompted conversations in Bible study groups, over lunch, and in adult-education classes before Sunday services. The subject is the image of a Christian savior whom Rembrandt depicts in a way that broke with tradition in the mid-17th century. Neither fine-boned nor fair-haired, the Dutch master's pivotal renderings show a Jesus with dark hair and Semitic features, a seeming embrace of his Jewish heritage. Since the exhibit's opening in August, the museum has been host to visitors from area churches and from other groups including a retreat house, a two-day Christian women's conference at the Wells Fargo Center, and a retirement community and its chaplains. The Presbytery of Philadelphia was host to hundreds of people at the museum during a special evening event organized by the denomination in August. [ link ]

CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS "15th Defense" by Elmer W. Brown, linocut OHIO - Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage presents “Hardship to Hope: African-American Art from the Karamu Workshop” through Jan. 1. Art and artifacts from local archives and collectors depicting a turbulent time in Cleveland history. 1930s Cleveland, Ohio…labor strikes and riots…the “Mad Butcher” torso slayings…the city in the throes of the Great Depression. Hard times, but with them glimmers of hope. The Terminal Tower opened, Jesse Owens set records, Superman was created. Budding artists and performers were finding hope at a settlement that would become Karamu House, a center of community and gathering place for free expression. Working with Cleveland State University, Karamu House, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Artists Foundation, Western Reserve Historical Society and a private collection, the Museum has gathered more than sixty-five pieces, art and artifacts that open a window to a turbulent and cr...

NPR | Morning Edition By Richard Gonzales CALIFORNIA - An exhibit of children's art from Palestine was supposed to open last Saturday at the Oakland Museum of Children's Art, but the show was canceled. Museum officials say community members raised concerns about whether the art, depicting scenes of Israeli-Palestinian violence, was appropriate for children. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports. [ Listen ]

J-WEEKLY.COM “Children of Abraham: Learn” by Sharon Siskin CALIFORNIA - “Diverse Visions of Harmony: An Interfaith Art Exhibit,” which opened with a Sept. 17 reception at a mosque in Oakland, brings together artists and community members from a wide range of religious faiths. It was organized largely by the Faith Trio, an Oakland-area coalition that includes the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, Kehilla Community Synagogue and the Montclair Presbyterian Church. Sharon Siskin’s piece “Children of Abraham: Learn” (above) combines pages from Hebrew and Arabic children’s schoolbooks. photo/courtesy of islamic cultural center of northern californiaFeaturing more than 90 pieces by 40 local artists — some professional, some amateur, made by a range of people ages 16 to 93 — the exhibit will run through Oct. 22 at Islamic Cultural Center in downtown Oakland. [ link ]

MUSLIM MATTERS "Ramadhan" by asyraaf.azahari To view of the images selected for the month of September, click here .

ARTINFO NYChildren NEW YORK - Danny Goldfield's " NYChildren " series gives New York City's diversity a face — make that many faces. The photographer's mission is to find one child from every country in the world living in New York and take their portrait. So far, children from 171 countries have been photographed. This is the first time the full series will be on view. What makes this exhibition even more striking is that it is hosted at a temporary space for Park51 , the Islamic cultural center that was planned for downtown New York as a gesture of healing but that has been the subject of fearsome debate by those playing to Islamophic stereotypes. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib KEHINDE WILEY's painting “ Alios Itzhak ” (above) was purchased by the Jewish Museum of NY, and helps to launch this year's dialogue about Judiasm's High Holy season. Wiley is the 2008 honoree of the A&O Prize for Contemporary Religious Art  (first honoree). The three AOA questions for this week are: What can the visual arts teach non-Jews about the High Holydays? ( Comment Here ) Will Americans learn about Buddhism by attending Buddhist art shows? ( Comment Here ) Why should young Americans participate in interfaith Religious Art exhibits? ( Comment Here ) Listed below are the other stories of this past week in the world of religious art. The stories are grouped by the five largest faith traditions, with an additional category for other.

ARTINFO By Janelle Zara MISSOURI - At the entrance of the Pulitzer Foundation of the Arts in St. Louis, visitors are greeted by "Standing Prince Shōtoku at Age Two," a wooden sculpture of Japan's storied early follower of Buddhism, poised in silent prayer as the noise and light of the outside world are lost behind closed doors. Beyond this Entrance Gallery, there are two dozen incarnations of Buddha, his teachings, and his followers, dating back to the second century, B.C., spanning all across Asia and a bit into the Western world. They make up "Reflections of the Buddha," the first exhibition in the foundation's 10th anniversary season. The exhibition is quite a tranquil experience. Although the Pritzker Prize-winning architect behind the structure, Tadao Ando, is not a practicing Buddhist, it resonates with Zen-like qualities, according to curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra. It's what inspired her to put together this show. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Carol Vogel “Alios Itzhak” (2011) by Kehinde Wiley, oil and enamel on canvas, was recently acquired by the Jewish Museum. NEW YORK - Kehinde Wiley, 34, is an artist preoccupied with global culture. He is also a history painter whose multicultural images of primarily good-looking men recall the work of old masters like Rubens and Jacques-Louis David. The lush and intricately painted backgrounds make them more interesting still. In “Alios Itzhak,” a 2011 canvas that is part of the artist’s series “ World Stage: Israel ” (March 09 - July 29, 2012) for instance, Mr. Wiley depicts a handsome Ethiopian-Israeli man in a T-shirt and blue jeans, one hand on his hip, staring with attitude straight at the viewer. Behind him is a delicate paper cutout, inspired by a traditional 19th-century Judaica piece in the Jewish Museum in New York’s permanent collection. The members of its curatorial team were so enamored of his work that when they saw “Alios Itzhak,” they decid...

WSLS10 TV By Casey Gillis VIRGINA - Sweet Briar College’s latest exhibit might just have you looking underneath your bed or checking your closet before bedtime. "Gods and Monsters: Images of Faith and Horror from the Permanent Collection" features just that — images of both sinister and benevolent beings. "It’s about how humans, throughout time, have dealt with the unexplained or the common things that scare us all, like death. The common things that fascinate us, like monsters," says Karol Lawson, curator and director of the college’s galleries. "(It’s about) the things that scare us and the things that comfort us. The exhibit grew out of a portfolio of 1937 woodblock prints by German artist Renate Geisberg-Wichmann. "It’s a very, very powerful work," says Lawson. "You can imagine what’s going in Germany in 1937. It’s a very spooky and troubling portfolio. Death is sort of stalking the people of Germany." The "Gods" side of the...

THE TIMES OF INDIA By Ashley DeMello INDIA - A burnt face of Christ stares straight at you as you enter the room, while another statue of him looks upwards. Silver chalices (cups), metal crosiers (walking sticks) and beautifully embroidered old robes of priests are all around... Welcome to the Museum of Christian Art, which will be inaugurated on Sunday. Fr Warner D'Souza, priest who heads the Church committee that has put the museum together explains that the face is part of a larger wooden statue that was damaged in a fire. "We have been working on the project for over three years,'' he said. Housed in a section of St Pious College, Goregaon, most of the artifacts have come from old churches while others are from attics in pastoral houses. "We decided not to buy old statues and artifacts as it will indirectly lead to more destruction of the centuries-old Church heritage in the region,'' said Fr D'Souza. [ link ]

BANGKOK POST THAILAND - Bringing together three modern Indian artists from different backgrounds, Serinda Gallery presents its latest exhibition, "Tales of Love and Betrayal". The ancient Ramayana tale is presented as a contemporary epic through the eyes of Hindu, Christian and Muslim artists. Anand Gadapa, a painter born to a Brahmin family in southern India, introduces the viewer to the demon character Ravana, delving into his past and the forces that turned his heart to darkness. Nirmala Biluka, a Christian known for her commentaries on the role of women in Indian society, explores the character of Sita from a feminist perspective by revealing the divine power she embodies in the epic and which is often suppressed by the powerful men around her. Finally, a rare and provocative series made in 1981 by the late, great grandfather of modern Indian art, MF Husain (1915-2011), presents the monkey god Hanuman as a self-doubting but supremely powerful being who represents the m...

AOA NEWS By Jeff Schapiro INDIANA - LifeJourney Church in Indianapolis has taken its message to the streets through a billboard campaign that is designed to get both Christians and non-Christians to consider whether or not the Jesus they know is the same Jesus portrayed in the Bible. Thirty-two of these "Who Stole Jesus?" billboards will be posted around Indianapolis as part of a campaign by LifeJourney Church. Jeff Miner, senior pastor of LifeJourney Church, in an interview with The Christian Post Thursday described his church, which has an average weekly attendance of about 400, as “progressive evangelical” and said they support committed, lifetime, monogamous relationships, regardless of whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. [ link ]

AOA NEWS INDIANA - This fall, young artists in central Indiana will explore issues of death, faith and identity in a new show at the Indiana Interchurch Center gallery. Created as a nonsectarian visual arts dialogue, the interfaith exhibition is open to all high school students who desire to explore the pressing themes of violence and death, as well as questions of the afterlife with themselves, and the Indianapolis community. Artist Entries are due Oct. 26-29, and the show opens on Saturday, November 5. Exhibiting young artists will also be recognized by leaders in the local arts community with the first  A&O Prize for Young Artists : a $750 scholarship, and participate in an group dialogue about death and religious differences.  The exhibit is a featured event as part of the 16th annual Spirit & Place Festival and presented by Indiana Interchurch Center, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation and Alpha & Omega Project for Cont...

THE EXAMINER - CHARLESTON By Lori Henshey SOUTH CAROLINA - With the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement approaching here in Charleston, Jewish Art Education (JAE), a nonprofit focused on connecting the visual arts to Jewish civilization, has posted its first free online video, The Art of the High Holidays . The eight-minute professional production ties the holiest days of the Jewish calendar (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) to 1,500 years of visual arts. With experts Rabbi Jack Moline, of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, VA, and Myrna Teck, PhD, guiding the viewer, the video relates mosaics, etchings and paintings to specific seasonal activities. Through this art, both the artist and religious activities come to life in new ways. "More Jews go to the synagogue on the High Holidays than at any other time of the year," Rabbi Moline comments during the video. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Randy Kennedy Islamic Art Installation at the Met NEW YORK - Over the last year and a half the museum [Metropolitan Museum of Art] allowed a reporter to watch the galleries come into being, as bare brick walls were slowly transformed into visions of ninth-century Baghdad, medieval Iran and early Islamic India, and as the museum found itself in a transformed position. It had long harbored ambitions to put its Islamic holdings in a bigger spotlight. But it had little idea when it began rethinking the galleries almost a decade ago that it would be doing so against such a culturally loaded backdrop: the American military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the escalating tensions with Iran and the outbreak of the Arab Spring. For an institution that seems to exist as a sanctuary from geopolitics, and often operates in isolation from them, the project became a delicate diplomatic as well as curatorial undertaking. [ link ]

BLOOMBERG By Pratish Narayanan “Sprinkling Horses” by  Maqbool Fida Husain sold for $1.1 million at Christie's International in New York. NEW YORK - Paintings by Indian artists including Maqbool Fida Husain and Jehangir Sabavala, who both died this year, fetched $9.7 million in auctions by Sotheby’s (BID) and Christie’s International this week as U.S., European and Asian buyers bid above estimates. A private U.S. buyer paid the top price of $1.1 million for Husain’s oil painting “Sprinkling Horses.” Husain, who began his career painting movie posters and had no formal training, died in June at the age of 95. The Christie’s sale sold 13 of Husain’s works, which fetched a total of $4.2 million. His works sold for a total of $557,500 at the Sotheby’s auction. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Tahlib MASSACHUSETTS - On September 16, Art Department Professor Bruce Herman at Gordon College introduced the school saying we "celebrate the Christian liberal arts tradition." He added, "We are a Orthodox believing community but also equality committed to academic freedom." This symposia on Fine Art was part of the Presidential Inauguration activities for Gordon College . Located in Wenham, Massachusetts the symposia's speakers included Makoto Fujimura , Visual Artist & Founder of International Arts Movement; Sara Groves , singer/songwriter; and Todd Komarnicki, writer/director.

HUFFINGTON POST NEW YORK - With one simple command -- Tekiah! -- came the shofar heard 'round the world. On Sunday (Sept. 18), horn-blowing participants in 17 cities pulled off the first-ever "Shofar FlashMob," organized by Art Kibbutz New York , an international Jewish artist colony. During Elul, the month of preparation before the Jewish High Holidays, Jews are called to teshuvah (repentance/reflection/return) before the new year, and the shofar is a daily wake-up call. From Lincoln Center in Manhattan to Wrigley Field in Chicago and Ben Yehudah Street in Jerusalem, the flashmob took the Jewish practice of blowing a ram's horn to a new creative -- and spiritual -- level. [ View More Cities ]

BBC WORLD NEWS By Stephanie Hegarty AFRICA - Sada Mire fled Somalia's civil war as a child, and lived as a refugee in Sweden. But now she is back in the Horn of Africa as an archaeologist, making some incredible discoveries. Sada Mire is only 35, but she has already revealed a dozen sites that could be candidates for Unesco world heritage status. She has a fellowship in the department of art and archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and is head of the department of antiquities in the breakaway territory of Somaliland, in the north-west region of Somalia. She is the only archaeologist working in the region. She has recorded ancient rock art at 100 sites, medieval Islamic towns, and pre-Islamic Christian burial sites. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Holland Cotter A room from a private home in Damascus, 18th century. Collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art. NEW YORK - THE big institutional news in New York City this fall is the reopening, after eight years of renovation and rethinking, of the Metropolitan Museum’s Islamic collection, in what are now being called the Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia. The wrap-around suite of 15 spaces, which opens on Nov. 1, will hold some 1,200 works (out of a collection of 12,000) from dozens of cultures that have, during 13 centuries, shared Islam as a religious faith.  Elsewhere, in shows of modern and contemporary art, names are right out front: ).[ link ]

JEWISH COMMUNITY VOICE By Nelly Toll "Jewish Bride" by Rembrandt PENNSYLVANIA - I remember how overwhelmed I was years ago, when as a young teenager, living in Amsterdam, I first saw Rembrandt masterpieces in the Rijksmuseum. (In his lifetime, he painted over 600 paintings, 200 drawings, and 300 etchings). I found particularly his “Jewish Bride,” its title subject to many interpretations, so compelling that I returned three more times. At the present time, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is holding a brilliant exhibition, “Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus,” which I highly recommend. It will remain on view until Oct. 30. Choosing to live in the Jewish quarter, where many occupants were painters, Christians and Jews, Rembrandt purchased a threestory home on Jodenbreestraat 4 (“Jewish Street”) in Amsterdam and used many of his Jewish neighbors as models. [ link ]

HUFFINGTON POST By Owen Flanagan, Ph.D. What kind of Buddhists are American Buddhists? Buddhism is first and foremost a complex philosophy about the nature of reality, the self and morality. Philosophically what is interesting is the connection between understanding that I am no self and that I have reason to be maximally compassionate and loving to all sentient beings. Do most American Buddhists know about the philosophy or enact the moral message of Buddhism? In my experience the answers are "no." Most Americans who say that they are Buddhist mean they meditate, possibly regularly. Thinking that meditation is the essence of Buddhism would be akin to a group of converts to Catholicism thinking that real Catholics say Mass everyday because priests do. [ link ]

THE CHRISTIAN POST By Eryn Sun The Transfiguration MINESOTA - After a 15-year process, the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine monastery is finally complete for viewing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. For a list of exhibitions and information on the project, go to here . Commissioned by monks at St. John’s Abbey and University in 1998 to celebrate the beginning of a new millennium, The Saint John’s Bible is the first Bible of its kind in the more than 500 years since the invention of the printing press. Among their goals, the artists and scholars involved in the immense project sought to ignite spiritual imagination throughout the world, glorify God’s Word, revive tradition and help foster the arts. [ link ]

MSNBC NEW YORK - An Islamic center that has sparked debate over cultural sensitivity for its proximity to the World Trade Center is set to open Wednesday with a photography exhibit of children from more than 170 nations. "NYChildren" features portraits of kids from 171 countries, all living in New York. It marks the grand opening of Lower Manhattan's Islamic community center and mosque, built by nonprofit group Park51. The event corresponds with the United Nations' International Day of Peace. The exhibit is being held at a temporary space at the site; the rest of the building has yet to be renovated. " NYChildren ," featuring work by photographer Danny Goldfield, is set to open at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. [ link ] This artist rendering provided by SOMA Architects shows an interior view of the proposed Park51 community center

MSN | Pakistan Matters By Kiran Mamgain Traditional Thangka Painting INDIA - A visit to the picturesque locales of Tibet, also called the ''roof of the world'', not only leaves one spellbound with its serene beauty, but also with the traditional ''thangka'' paintings of Buddha, a centuries-old art highly influenced by Indian and Nepalese styles. Painted on canvas and mounted usually in silk brocade, thangkas are also sometimes called scroll paintings generally depicting a Buddhist deity or famous scene. These paintings, which adorn the walls of almost every monastery, household, store and museum here, are more than just a work of art for locals as they view these as an object of devotion which help them attain spiritual peace. [ link ]

THE HERALD SUN AUSTRALIA - A Hindu leader, Rajan Zed from the US says he's worried that the Hindu god Ganesh is being made a laughing stock on stage in a play about to premiere in Melbourne. The publicity blurb for "Ganesh versus the Third Reich," from Geelong-based company Back to Back Theatre , depicts the elephant-headed Hindu god of prophecy seeking to go one-on-one with Hitler over the swastika. Back to Back Theatre executive producer Alice Nash said the play actually explored issues raised by Mr Zed, in terms of who had the authority to tell certain stories and how stories could be told via symbols and rituals. "It's an exploration about how stories can be told, who can tell them, who can't," she said. She said the play went into difficult territory but did not believe it would be offensive to Hindus. Ganesh versus the Third Reich will be performed from September 29 to October 9, as part of the Melbourne Festival. [ link ]

THE GUARDIAN By Jonathon Jones "David" by Donatello UNITED KINDGDOM - In discussions of contemporary religion, the oldest and most glaring idiosyncrasy of Christianity is rarely stressed. This is its contempt for the human body. The reality of Christian disdain for the flesh is very visible in the history of art. Nude statues were the highest form of artistic expression in ancient Greece and Rome. With the rise of Christianity, the nude was suppressed, cast out of Eden. Modern secularists should go down on our knees before Donatello's David. Today many critics of religion assume that creationism is the most lethal aspect of fundamentalist Christianity. I suspect they have never experienced church all that closely. For Blake, and many like him who knew Christianity as practitioners, it was the hatred of the flesh that hurt most. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER By Laura Gilbert Ceiling Tile with Female Face, from the Synagogue, Dura-Europos, ca. 245 CE NEW YORK - This Friday, the earliest known images of Christ, from the year 240, go on view in New York for the first time, and they aren’t where you might expect them to be. They are part of a remarkable exhibition at the relatively obscure N.Y.U. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a jewel-box of a museum on East 84th Street whose mission, according to exhibitions director Dr. Jennifer Chi, is “to break down preconceived notions of antiquity.” Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos does so with a vengeance, in presenting 77 objects from an excavation in Syria that fundamentally altered the understanding of art, culture and religion in the ancient world. [ link ]

MIDDLE-EAST ONLINE Is he seeking fame? (the picture has been cut for censorship reasons) MORROCO---A photograph entitled "Koranic Inlay" which shows verses of the holy Muslim book projected on the French-Moroccan artist's naked body has caused a stir ahead of an art fair in Marrakesh. Work by 27-year-old Mehdi-Georges Lahlou is due to be on show at the September 30-October 3 ArtFair although neither the offending picture nor the artist himself are expected to be exhibited in the Moroccan city. "Koranic Inlay" is a nude self-portrait in which verses of the Koran are projected on Lahlou's body, including his genitals. [ link ]

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE By Toby Tabachnick "Synagogue ll" by Shemuel Katz PENNSYLVANIA - Congregation Beth Shalom [Pittsburgh] will host a festival this week showcasing more than 1,500 works of Israeli art, including original oil and watercolor paintings, lithographs, etchings and woodcuts, at the synagogue. All the art, which will be on exhibit from Sept. 22 to 25, comes from the Safrai Gallery in Jerusalem and will be available for purchase. “The only other way of seeing such a large quantity of Israeli art is to come to Israel,” said gallery owner Menachem Safrai, whose grandfather founded the business in 1935. The artworks range in price as well as style, and represent about 100 different artists. All the artists, with the notable exception of Marc Chagall , are Israeli. Safrai Gallery brings its art as a fundraiser to various synagogues and Jewish organizations throughout the United States several times a year. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib PASTOR MIKE FRANKOWIAK of First Lutheran Church of Yuba City, California is a Believer For Artists . As an advocate for creative expression, he makes no claims on what is, or is not high art or low art, instead he celebrates the use of artistic talent as one of God's essential gifts. Earlier this year he wrote , "Years ago on one of my journeys, I came upon a rather extraordinary individual. This man made pewter breathe, gave life to bronze. He was a sculptor, and to the untrained eyes of this observer, quite a good one....God wants to populate his house with his creations — us. And he doesn't want to lose even one of us. John, chapter 6, tells us that it's God's will that we all turn to him and live eternally at his house....He created us to use his gifts — the talents he has given to each of us — not only for our benefit, but also for the benefit of others. That is how we live out our faith. It's how God's light shines through us ...

Dream Lab - Episode 8 from McManus Studios on Vimeo (#FW @IamFugimura ).

ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA - Sydney artist Khaled Sabsabi has won the Blake Prize for religious art for a multimedia installation about an Islamic Sufi prayer session. Source: 7pm TV News NSW | Duration: 42seconds. [ video link ]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

AOA NEWS ART TALK OF WEEK was dominated by the art prize wins of Islamic artists including the 60th annual Blake Prize for Religious Art by video artist Khaled Sabsabi for " Naqshbandi Greenacre Engagement " (above). The three AOA questions for this week are: What does it mean when an Islamic artwork wins a 60 year old Religious Art Prize founded by a Catholic Priest?( Comment Here ) What is England's biggest Islamic Art prize? ( Comment Here ) If Jesus Christ were here today, would he have big muscles and sport tattoos? ( Comment Here ) Listed below are a few other stories of this past two weeks in the world of religious art. The stories are grouped by the five largest faith traditions, with an additional category for other. We invite you to comment on them too and anything else too.

THE CHRISTIAN POST By Gina Ryder "The Supper at Emmaus" by Rembrandt PENNSYLVANIA - The iconic image of Jesus includes chestnut hair cascading around a slender face, thin lips, and bright eyes. However, a new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art called " Rembrandt and The Face of Jesus " is showing more life-like, realistic images of Christ. Complemented by more than fifty related paintings, prints, and drawings, "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" allows visitors to consider the religious, historic, and artistic significance of these works. [link]

AOA NEWS "Jesus of the People" by Janet McKenzie " Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: The Art of Janet McKenzie " is an exhibition of work by the Vermont artist that considers her paintings as a celebration of people, particularly African-Americans and women. The exhibit will include McKenzie's painting "Jesus of the People," which won the 1999 National Catholic Reporter's competition and received international attention for its portrayal of Jesus as an African-American. The works in the exhibition are also available in a hardcover book of the same title on Amazon.com . The exhibit runs through Oct. 23 at Loyola University Museum of Art, 820 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-915-7600, luc.edu/luma.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE By Associated Press MISSOURI - The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City is lending five works from its Asian collection to the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis. The pieces are for the St. Louis museum's exhibit "Reflections of the Buddha," a selection of some of the greatest Buddhist sculptures and hanging scrolls in the United States. The Nelson-Atkins' contributions include the sandstone sculpture "Torso of the Buddha" and a panel called "Scene from the Life of a Buddha." The Nelson-Atkins said in a release that it has one of the most important collections of Buddhist art in America. The collection includes art from India, China, Pakistan, Korea and Tibet. The exhibit at the Pulitzer Foundation in St. Louis opened Sept. 9 and runs through March 10, 2012. [ link ]

The Pirate Signal: The Saga Of Dirty Street Kids from Randal Kirk II on Vimeo (Twitter @RandalKirkII ).

CULTURE 24 Jenni Davidson "Die Harder" by David Mach UNITED KINGDOM - David Mach is no stranger to controversy. Now he has turned his hand to religion and has given some of the best-known bible stories a radical re-interpretation for his largest solo exhibition to date at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Though avowedly non-religious, David Mach has produced a significant translation of biblical stories for the contemporary world and a valuable contribution to religious art. It may not be quite as historically important as the King James Bible, but perhaps just what is needed for the present day. [ link ] "Jesus Walking on the Water" by David Mach "The Agony and the Ecstacy" by David Mach

THE CHRISTIAN POST By Jeff Schapiro "No Appointment Necessary," by Stephen Sawyer  KENTUCKY - A photo of Stephen Sawyer's painting “No Appointment Necessary” shows a man in blue jeans and a white t-shirt, flexing his right tricep and showing off the tattoo on his right arm. The man in the painting, who has a beard and long, brown hair, is strong and masculine – and his name is Jesus. Sawyer dedicates this painting, "No Appointment Necessary," to "those children of God who do not appear to 'fit in.'" [ link ]

ABC NEWS "Naqshbandi Greenacre engagement" (2010) by Khaled Sabsabi AUSTRALIA - The 60th Blake Prize for Religious Art has been awarded to western Sydney artist Khaled Sabsabi. He won the $20,000 prize for his video installation which shows a ceremonial Sufi gathering in a western Sydney scout hall. The prize is one of Australia's most sought after awards, with more than 1,100 entries received this year. The winner of the $5,000 Human Justice Award, Abdul Abdullah, says his work Them And Us, showing a tattoo of the Southern Cross and Islamic crescent moon, represents his mixed heritage.  "It's sort of an affront to both traditions in that there's a Southern Cross which I've started to see as sort of a more nationalist marker in the way that it's used like in the Cronulla riots and things like that," he said. "Then there's having the tattoo itself [which] is an affront to the Islamic tradition. "It's an idea of - I don'...