Indiana judge rules against church seeking to offer marijuana as holy sacrament

HUFFINGTON POST
By Carol Kuruvilla

An Indiana judge has ruled against the First Church of Cannabis, an Indianapolis church seeking to offer its members marijuana as a holy sacrament. Judge Sheryl Lynch of the Marion Circuit Court decided Friday that the state of Indiana had a “compelling interest” in preventing marijuana possession, the Indianapolis Star reports. Allowing religious exemptions for marijuana use would have an overall negative impact on society, Lynch said. She also argued that an exemption would put Indiana’s police officers in the difficult position of having to evaluate the sincerity of a marijuana user’s religious faith. [More]

18 people to be charged with misdemeanors in Sikh temple brawl

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Vic Ryckaert

Members of the Gurdwara Sikh Temple standing outside the Greenwood building on Sunday evening

INDIANAPOLIS---Two suspects face an additional charge of battery causing bodily injury, Cooper said. A battery charge carries up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The investigation into the fight stalled days after the brawl occurred because witnesses were not cooperating. But apparently those obstacles have since been resolved. "I'm pleased that the leadership of the temple and the national organization was very cooperative in helping us identify the people who were the aggressors," Cooper said Monday. Surveillance video from inside the temple showed more than 100 people crowded together when a few started fighting. One man smashed a tea pot over another person's head. About 40 people may have been involved in the fight. Some faces were obscured by the turbans Sikhs wear as a symbol of their faith. [More]

INSPIRE ME! Bill Viola, July's Artist of the Month

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

Bill Viola's "Tristan’s Ascension" (2005)

We are long-time fans of video artist Bill Viola, and that admiration has only grown as we've experienced more and more of his work in museums. Viola's works beautifully evoke a human relationship to the four elements of fire, water, wind and earth. Since the 1970s, he has demonstrated the aesthetic and emotional potential of video as art. Raised Christian, he is often cited in articles as either a practicing Buddhist or non-religious. However, there is an explicit spirituality in his work that calms and purifies the experience of the viewer.  He is a video art legend, and his new exhibition, "Bill Viola at La Nave Salinas" can be viewed until September 30th in Ibiza, Spain. Below is a 2015 interview that offers some additional insights into why Bill Viola is our INSPIRE ME! Artist of the Month.

Collector Lio Malca exhibits two video works by Bill Viola in Ibiza

ARTDAILY

Bill Viola, Fire Woman.

IBIZA, Spain---New York art collector Lio Malca is presenting two large-scale installations by Bill Viola at La Nave Salinas. The exhibition space, inaugurated in 2015, specializes in international contemporary art and is adjacent to the Ses Salines Natural Park, on the island of Ibiza. Two of the artist's most acclaimed works, "Fire Woman" and "Tristan's Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall),"  can be enjoyed this summer on the Balearic Island. The exhibition will be on view until September 30th at La Nave Salinas. "Art is, for me, the process of trying to wake up the soul. Because we live in an industrialized, fast-paced world that prefers that the soul remains asleep." [More]

Blum & Poe announces the representation of Los Angeles-based artist Mimi Lauter

ARTDAILY

Mimi Lauter, Untitled (Devotional Flower Landscape), 2018. Soft pastel, oil pastel on paper, 87 7/8 x 73 3/8 x 2 inches framed. © Mimi Lauter, Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo.

LOS ANGELES, CA- Blum & Poe announced the representation of Los Angeles-based artist Mimi Lauter. Her first solo exhibition with the gallery is on view in Los Angeles until June 23. Lauter works primarily with pastel on paper, from intimately scaled notebook-sized work to twenty-four part installations transforming entire gallery spaces into secular chapels. A saturated, bold palette and intricately carved rich textures comprise her works that harken simultaneously to cave paintings, Byzantine mosaics, medieval tapestries, Redon, and the murals of Diego Rivera. The work hovers between abstraction and representation, carrying narratives drawn from subconscious memory, literature, sociopolitical surroundings, the history of painting, and classical mythology. [More]

2018 Spring fundraising campaign for Religion News Service

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

Since 1934, Religion News Service has shed light on the most meaningful issues of the day. As the only nonprofit news agency devoted to unbiased, nonsectarian coverage of religion, spirituality, ethics and culture, our reporting aims to educate, inform and cultivate understanding among people of different faiths and traditions around the world. Through donations large and small, your support ensures that our award-winning team of journalists can keep bringing you objective reporting and insightful commentary for months and years to come. We have faith in you, our subscribers and readers. By supporting our June 2018 fundraising campaign with a gift today, you can show your faith in us. [DONATE]

Australia's other religious art award, the Blake Prize 2018 is depressing

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
By John McDonald

Blake Prize 2018 winner Tina Havelock Stevens in front of her six-minute video Giant Rock.

SYDNEY, AU---It's been seven years since I last wrote about the Blake Prize, which seemed to have reached a point where it couldn't get any worse. The good news is that it hasn't gotten worse: it's just as bad as it was seven years ago. When it was founded in 1951 the Blake Prize was intended to revitalise religious art – another genre felt to be threatened by the relentless progress of Modernism. How clean-cut those days appear from a contemporary perspective! There was a simple opposition of communism v capitalism, while Christianity was enshrined as the in-house religion of the western world. Nowadays our communities are a complex tangle of religious and political ideas. The top prize of $35,000 went to Tina Havelock Stevens for a six-minute video entitled Giant Rock. It's depressing to think that of all the entries in the Blake, this dull video with a dumb, poorly written explanation should have impressed the judges most. [More]
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Inverted crosses installed by Dark Mofo festival offend some in Christian community

ABC NEWS
By Georgie Burgess

Many in the Christian community have taken offence to the installation at Hobart's waterfront.

HOBART, AU---Christians fear the organisers of Dark Mofo are inviting dark forces to Hobart by displaying inverted crosses around the city. As part of the city's annual winter festival, several large red crosses, known as the Cross of Saint Peter, have been erected in prominent positions around the waterfront. Inverted crosses are also used as a symbol of the anti-Christ and many in the Christian community have expressed offence at the 20-metre-high art installations. Other Christian leaders have called for calm, while many residents have taken delight in photographing the bright crosses. The Dark Mofo festival is renowned for turning heads and creating controversy and last year involved a bloody sacrificial ritual using a bull. [More]

Perrotin Paris opens an exhibition dedicated to the aloalo of Efiaimbelo and his disciples

ARTDAILY

View of the exhibition Aloalo, Sculptures Mahafaly des Efiaimbelos Perrotin Paris (June 2 – July 28, 2018) Photo: Claire Dorn © Courtesy of the artist & Perrotin.

PARIS---In collaboration with André Magnin, African art expert, Perrotin Paris is presenting an exhibition dedicated to the aloalo of Efiaimbelo and his disciples. Efiaimbelo, Madagascan sculptor deceased in 2006, owned his knowledge to his great grandfather Soroboko. Over the years, he developed his art and passed it on to his son Jacques Jean Efiaimbelo, and his grandson Jean Colomb Efiaimbelo, their turn becoming “disciples” of the art. Today, only five members of the clan perpetuate this unique practice in the same style as their distinguished inspirer. Usually sculpted out of Mendorave, a very dense, rare and sacred wood exclusively cut and handled by sculptors; the aloalo is a vertical sculpture that reaches about 2 meters high (6.5 feet) divided in two distinct parts.[More]

Lorenzo Vitturi's "Money Must Be Made" opens in London's Flower's Gallery

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Painted Agbe, Italian Leather, Coral Beads and Horn, from the series Money Must be Made

LONDON---Flowers Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by London-based Italian artist Lorenzo Vitturi. The works in his new series Money Must be Made are based at the Balogun Market in Lagos, Nigeria, the second biggest market of its kind in West Africa. In his newest series, Vitturi explores Balogun Market, where its thriving business is causing global corporations to relocate. Populated by tens of thousands of people each day, Vitturi describes the throng of Balogun market as a “sensory overload” of colour and noise. A large mural print on the central wall of the gallery shows an overhead image of the street market in full swing, commanding the rhythm of the surrounding exhibition. [More]

Tina Havelock Stevens wins Australia's Blake Prize for religious art

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Picture: supplied A still from Tina Havelock Stevens' video work, Giant Rock, which has won the Blake Prize 2018 at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

LIVERPOOL, AU---Sydney-based artist Tina Havelock Stevens has won the 65th Blake Prize for her performance video work, Giant Rock, 2017. Stevens was announced as the winner of the $35,000 prize on Saturday 19 May at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. With a background in documentary film making and as a drummer in rock and post-punk bands, Stevens regularly takes her drum kit to unconventional sites around the world to respond to them rhythmically.  The Blake Prize, engages contemporary artists, both nationally and internationally, in conversations concerning faith, spirituality, religion, hope, humanity, social justice, belief and non – belief. The Blake Prize is a non-acquisitive prize of $35,000.

Opinion: How the U.S. Supreme Court embraces religion

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Linda Greenhouse

The Supreme Court of the United States. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

Before the next two months are out, the Supreme Court will decide two high-visibility cases that at first glance appear to have little to do with each other. One is the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, about the baker who won’t design a cake for celebrating a same-sex marriage, and the other is Trump v. Hawaii, the challenge to the president’s latest travel ban. One is as domestic as it gets, while the other is infused with issues of foreign policy and presidential power. What they have in common is the claim of religious discrimination at the heart of each. Classically, the Supreme Court invoked the religion clauses of the First Amendment — the protection for free exercise and the prohibition against government “establishment” of religion — on behalf of minority religions. But in recent years, the court’s concern has flipped. [More]

Art Review: “Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas,” at the Metropolitan Museum

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Nancy Princenthal

An octopus frontlet made of gold, chrysocolla and shells dating from A.D. 300-600 Peru is featured in “Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credit Museo de la Nación, Lima, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú

NEW YORK CITY---With its cheerfully crowd-seeking title, “Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas,” the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibition of pre-Columbian art promises an unabashed celebration of splendor. Of course art, religion and extreme experience have consorted since the beginning of time, and continue to do so in the sculptures produced in what is now Mexico, where it is something of a relief to see figures in full interacting actively and expressively. Nothing about the 21st century’s vaunted cosmopolitanism would have surprised them. They might have been confused, though, by our tendency to look to history — non-European in particular — for a material record of lost innocence. [More]

LACMA announces 10 new acquisitions during 32nd Annual Collectors Committee

ARTDAILY

Forest Spirit Figure, Nigeria, Ijo culture, Niger Delta, early 19th century, wood, charcoal, chalk, 87 x 19 x 19 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of the Silver Family and the 2018 Collectors Committee, photo courtesy of Sotheby's, Inc. © 2017.

LOS ANGELES---The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announces the addition of 10 new acquisitions during the museum’s 32nd annual Collectors Committee fundraiser. The annual Collectors Committee Weekend—led by LACMA trustee, Collectors Committee Chair, and Acquisitions Committee Chair Ann Colgin—was a two-day affair, which included curator-led art presentations, private dinners at the homes of major LACMA supporters, and a gala dinner where members voted on artworks to add to the museum’s permanent collection. This year, the 96 voting members raised more than $3.1 million. The 2018 event was generously sponsored by Cartier. [More]

Penn Museum opens new Middle East Galleries

ARTDAILY

Bull Lyre constructed with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, bitumen and wood, ca 2450 BCE at Ur (in modern-day Iraq). Image courtesy of the Penn Museum and Doring Kindersley, Image #250852))

PHILADELPHIA---Founded in 1887, the Penn Museum sent the first United States archaeological expedition to the Middle East—to the ancient Mesopotamian site of Nippur in what was then the Ottoman Empire. More than 130 years and hundreds of international expeditions later, the Museum remains a world leader in Near Eastern archaeology, with a collection of more than 100,000 artifacts; a leading collection of cuneiform tablets bearing early literary, historical, and economic texts; strong Islamic period ethnographic and literary collections; and a rich archive of historic documents, field notes, and photographs—as well as ongoing research projects in the region. [More]

Iowa's New ReACT Gallery exhibition on First Amendment opened this week

ARTDAILY

AMES, IA.- University Museums at Iowa State University announces its final ReACT Gallery exhibition of the spring semester, First Amendment. This exhibition reflects on the importance of the First Amendment and how its five freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition affect our everyday lives. One of the most important pieces of legislation in the entire history of the United States of America, the First Amendment is composed of five freedoms. Different mediums of fine art paired with labels written by students, faculty, and staff in the Iowa State community explore these freedoms and hone in on their complications. [More]

Holy Week - On Thursday, Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples

CLASSROOM
By Sara Ipatenco

Belkis Ayón's “La cena (The Supper)” (1991), collograph, collection of the Belkis Ayón Estate

Maunday Thursday, often called Holy Thursday, is the last day of freedom Jesus had before he was arrested. Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, which is still celebrated in Christian churches as Holy Communion. Jesus washed his disciples' feet to demonstrate humility and love for fellow humans, as well as to bring home his message of helping others to know the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. After the meal, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he stayed late into the night. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. Matthew 26:26 "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'” [More]

Purdue Galleries presents Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"Aida Muluneh: Memory of Hope" February 27 through March 31, 2018 Fountain Gallery, 330 Main St., Lafayette

INDIANA---Through her bold, striking images, photographer Aïda Muluneh asks provocative questions about the life that we live as people, as nations, and as beings. Her carefully composed photographs read as poems, using symbols and painted figures to tell stories of the past, present, and future. Work from two recent series will be included: World is 9 and Memory of Hope. Born in Ethiopia in 1974, Aïda Muluneh grew up in Ethiopia, Yemen, England, and Canada. She holds a degree in film from Howard University in Washington D.C. Her work has been shown in South Africa, Mali, Senegal, Egypt, Canada, the United States of America, France, Germany, England, and China, to name a few countries. Purdue University Galleries will present work by photographer Aïda Muluneh in exhibition “Memory of Hope” at the Fountain Gallery through March 31.

Christian Levett’s art collection on show at King’s College London

FINANCIAL TIMES
By Harriet Fitch Little

Former trader, Christian Levett on why he buys both ancient and contemporary works

Christian Levett collects classical antiquities, contemporary art and — ideally — works that reveal some interplay between the two. In his West London kitchen, a large calico embroidery by Tracey Emin hangs above the mantelpiece. On the countertop, a first-century BC Roman marble head of a woman averts her gaze. Behind her, a more involved spectator: a bronze torso by Cuban artist Yoan Capote that looks classical until you notice the man’s body has a brain where his genitals should be. Levett began his collection while working as a financial trader in his twenties. His flat is packed — even his teenage sons’ bedrooms contain exhibition-quality works. But for Levett, who estimates that he has made more than 3,000 purchases over 25 years, the works in London are considered offcuts: “What’s in here is nice, but it’s a lot of bits and pieces really,” he says. [More]

Overlooked no more: Belkis Ayón, a Cuban printmaker inspired by a secret male society

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Sandra E. Garcia

Ayón’s work “La Cena” (1991) depicts a version of the Christian “Last Supper,” replacing the Jesus figure with the princess Sikán.Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Time

In 1993, the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón, known for her signature collage-based style and her work reflecting the Afro-Cuban religion Abukuá, was invited to show at the Venice Biennale in Italy. She was determined to make it, despite obstacles in her home country. Cuba was going through an economic depression at that time, leaving it dark and uncertain, with drastic food and fuel shortages. With no other way to get to the airport 20 miles from their home in Havana, she and her father mounted their bikes and started riding. Ayón raced ahead of her father, who rode with her work strapped to his bicycle. She made it in time to board, but he did not, —and neither did her work (though it did eventually make the trip). For Ayón, who was born Jan. 23, 1967, in Havana, art was how she communicated. [More]