RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - Our Favorites of 2017

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Ernest and Vernieda at the ArkEncounter in Williamstown, Kentucky on August 7, 2017

Of our best museum visits this past year, the National Museum of African American History & Culture inspired happiness; the Metropolitan Museum of Art renewed our creative passion, and a visit to Kentucky’s ArkEncounter satisfied a curiosity. As we look ahead into 2018, we’ve marked our calendars to see Makoto Fujimura’s "Charis-Kairos (The Tears of Christ)" at the Museum of the Bible, in Washington, DC; and Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” at the New-York Historical Society. However, our biggest wish for 2018 is to be inspired by more artists with religious imaginations, like new favorites of 2017 - Jeremie Riggleman, Renee Cox, and 2017 Alpha Omega Prize awardee Kelvin Burzon. Have an inspired New Year!

Christmas artworks by Bellini (1501); Rigglemam (2015); Cosme (c. 2010)

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"The Matriarch" (2010) by Niccolo Cosme, Philipines

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

"Zoo of Lusts" (2015) by Jeremie Riggleman. Acrylic, photos & resin, Edition of 5 & AP

Jeremie Riggleman is our favorite creator of Christian kitsch. He simultaneously honors the sacred while spotlighting the odd and eccentric. His “Zoo of Lusts” is a 36 x 36-inch work in acrylic, photo and resin with an open-ended narrative featuring fifteen toy animals, including an "angel" bear, that watch-over the sleeping baby Jesus in his manger. As far as we know, none of these elements have ever been assembled together in a nativity painting before. Riggleman shipped one of its five editions this week to be included in "The Beautiful,” a traveling group exhibition of 35 contemporary works organized by Christians in the Visual Arts. CIVA is a national association of artists and arts administrators, and by the way, Ernest is a member too. Born, in Owosso, MI, today Riggleman teaches art at Taylor University in Upland, IN. Check out Jeremie Riggleman’s “Zoo of Lusts” next month at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.

Christian's in Visual Arts features "Zoo of Lusts" by Jeremie Riggleman in traveling exhibition

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

2018 Alpha Omega Prize Finalist: 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XQ5S8WL

"Zoo of Lusts" (2015) by Jeremie Riggleman. Acrylic, photos & resin, Edition of 5 & AP

Jeremie Riggleman's whimsical work explores the tension between longing (discontent) and belonging (contentment), and what could be better for this season? In his "Zoo of Lusts," Riggleman placed baby Jesus in his cradle at the center of the scene watched over by an angel in the form of a toy bear, and surrounded by other toy animals including a duck and a dinosaur. Riggleman uses lawn art creatures as stand-ins for exploring his past and thinking about the future. In his artist statement, the artist cites his influences as "mythology, folk art, pop culture and faith." "It is just one of the images in "The Beautiful,” a CIVA exhibition opening on January 25, 2018, at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Riggleman is a member of CIVA/Christians in Visual Arts, and the show features works by other CIVA members.