RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

"I think I’ve been in hell just that bit too long 

and been scarred very badly. But I’m better now.” 

"Recovery" by Peter Howson

The recovery of normalcy is important, especially after the death of someone who plays an important part of your daily life. This week, my daily lunch companion, our 15-year old Schnauzer, Kasey passed away, and with it I found some solace in the life story of religious artist Peter Howson who has clawed his way back to normalcy with his art. Coupled with his Aspergers' condition, he has for five years battled mental illness but this past week, a new show of his recent works opened in Scotland called ‘From Death to Life’.

Howson, whose works are in the museum collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA, as well as the celebrity collections of Madonna, David Bowie and Bob Geldof has had a season in hell, one from which he feared he might not return. In an interview, he said he empathized with the biblical character of Job, afflicted until he loses everything except his life. “I kept on praying to get better. Nothing was happening. It felt like making a phone call to God and he wasn’t in, or he was engaged or something. But I haven’t lost my faith. I struggled with it quite a lot, but I’ve never not believed.” It's that faith in God & Art, along with his resolve to move forward that makes Peter Howson's "Recovery" my NEWS OF WEEK.

Dante’s Inferno is one of his favourite books. “I was reading one particular piece by a friend of Dante’s in Florence saying that Dante was able to go to hell and come back again. He always came back scarred, more scarred each time, but was always able to continue. I think I’ve been in hell just that bit too long and been scarred very badly.” Then he adds, as if he can hardly believe it himself: “But I’m better now.” 

In other Religious Art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhism in Art: Op-Ed on the mistreatment of the image of sacred Buddha  [More News]
• Christianity in Art: Christina Saj is the A&O INSPIRE ME! Artist for March [More News]
• Hinduism in Art: Michelle Laverick paints Hindu deities during her mourning [More News]
• Islam in Art: el Seed's "Calligraffiti" transforms religious buildings in Tunisia [More News]
• Judaism in Art: Pam Geller's  advertising battle to define Islamic "jihad" her own way [More News]

Street poster advertising Howson's exhibition, "From Death to Life".

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