RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Number 7 (2015) by Jeffrey Augustine Songco. A series of painted communion wafers 

Thanksgiving is over, and we are focused on the season of Advent. Our featured work today titled, “Number 7”,  is a series of painted communion wafers mounted on velvet by Grand Rapids-based artist/designer Jeffrey Augustine Songco. Songco made quite a splash this year at ArtPrize with “Society of 23's Locker Dressing Room,” a rainbow-colored installation that compared bigotry by Christians to the Ku Klux Klan. Songco uses color to bear messages that celebrate Christianity, diversity, and positivity. No stranger to the ways his religious tradition can be used as a weapon, he can color his work to comfort and to inspire. Hanging in your entry hall where you’ll see it each time you walk in your door, Jeffrey Augustine Songco’s “Wafers” can be a daily reminder that the oppressed are blessed by Christ (Matthew 5:11-12).

INSPIRE ME! Artist of the Month, Jeffrey Augustine Songco

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"I was an altar boy at my hometown church."

 ~ JEFFREY AUGUSTINE SONGCO

Jeffrey Augustine Songco at work in his dining room, serving as studio work space. 

We stumbled upon the work of Jeffrey Augustine Songco during our annual trip to ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI. He is one of this year's final nine winners of ArtPrize Nine, and we're excited about how his minimalist approach stirs the religious imagination. What strikes us most is his use of colors and his frequent choice of communion wafers as a medium, in colors, and in glitter. His design and Catholic backgrounds come together in his explorations of religious subject matter, but he is also influenced by color field artists such as Mark Rothko and Bruce Nauman. On Oct 12, 2017, he reached out to us, and we think you'll enjoy his story below:

Alpha Omega Arts predicts tonight's Top 20 for ArtPrize Nine

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Tonight, the ArtPrize Nine Category Award Jurors present and discuss their Top 20 picks at the Jurors’ Shortlist Event. ArtPrize is an open, independently organized international art competition which takes place for 19 days each fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan. More than five hundred thousand dollars in prizes are awarded each year, which include a $200,000 prize awarded entirely by public vote and another $200,000 prize awarded by a jury of art experts. The event began last Wednesday, September 22 with 1,346 artist entries into one of four categories including 2-D, 3-D, Time-Based, and Installation. What makes up your shortlist? Below is our shortlist: