RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Luis González Palma "El Angel (The Angel)," 1991-1992 Hand-painted gelatin silver print Photography 19 5/8 x 19 3/4 in. 

Luis González Palma is a modernist photographer. Born in 1957, he draws symbolism from Catholicism and indigenous belief systems from Guatemala. Combining the visual language of these two religions, he explores the essence and culture of the Mayan people. The untinted whites of the eyes in Palma's sepia-tinted photograph "El Angel" on display at the 21c Museum Hotel had a haunting effect on us during this past week's stay in Kansas City. Although he is not a practicing Catholic, "El Angel" makes Luis González Palma our artist of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Barnaby Barford’s “The Tree” (2019) in the exhibition “MORE, MORE, MORE”

Barnaby Barford is obsessed with words and with The Apple, and uses them to explore fundamental questions driving human nature. During Ernest’s heel healing journey, he has looked to artists like Barnaby for inspiration. Barnaby’s work is informed by mythology, art history and religious symbolism. He sees the Apple as a symbol of immortality, death and beauty, innocence and experience, sin and redemption. Barnaby Barford’s latest body of work on The Apple is now on view at London's David Gill Gallery. That makes Barnaby Barford our artist of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Andy Warhol, The Last Supper , 1982-84 

Pop artist Andy Warhol was the religious art master, and a new show coming this Fall that will explore his Christian faith. Andy Warhol's "The Last Supper" is part of a final painting series of works based on Leonardo’s Renaissance masterpiece. Executed near the end of Andy Warhol's life, the monumental piece which takes up the themes of religion and loss that were so key to Warhol's  work. This past weekend, Ernest and I went on a couple's retreat sponsored by our church where we explored the key themes of our life together. Such exploration makes Andy Warhol, our religious artist of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | ARTIST OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Devan Shimoyama's "Daphne's Prayer” (2016)

On Saturday, we celebrated Ernest’s first weeks of walking, since February’s foot injury, with a pedicure and baby blue toenails. He loves it, but this statement of faith, race, and queerness is better expressed in the glittery paintings of Philadelphia-born artist Devan Shimoyama. In his mythological self-portraits like “Daphne's Prayer,” with her eight eyes, the artist both startles and reveres. A solo show of Devan Shimoyama’s allegorical collages recently closed at the Andy Warhol Museum. Buying the catalog makes Devan Shimoyama our artist of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | ARTIST OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Tom Torluemke's "Sickly Decline" (2019)

Tom Torluemke is today's Hieronymus Bosch. In his newest exhibition, "Born in the USA" at Chicago's One After 909 gallery, he encourages viewers to see beyond the details into both America's beauty and depravity. He adopts a mural-like style to illustrate badly behaving powerful adults, and also kids in one piece. Despite the brutal impact of the imagery, it is in his meticulous details that the darkness of the images emerge. We must see the shit before we will clean it up, and that's why Tom Torluemke's "Born in the USA" is our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Mark Bradford – Mithra, 2008, plywood, shipping containers, steel, 2133.6 x 609.6 x 762 cm, installation view at Prospect.1, New Orleans

Abstract artist, Mark Bradford tracks racial, gender, and social identity. In his paintings, videos, and sculptures, he merges the methods of outsider artists with black abstract artists of the 1960s. Racial justice is a dominant theme, and two works standout. Most recently, his criminal justice work, "Life Size," an image of a police body camera isolated on a light-colored background. The other is “Mithra," his Noah’s Ark inspired sculpture and response to Hurricane Katrina. “Mithra" is headed to China, and that makes Mark Bradford our artist of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - He is Risen

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

“Jacob Wrestling the Angel” (2017) by Michael Cook. Print #15 of 150, 27.5 x 19.5. Original is pencil on paper.

What’s it like to wrestle with God? After 9 weeks with a fractured heel, Ernest will walk back into our church today. It’s not a perfect gait, but he’s walking. Healing any foot injury is a wrestling match that changes you, and this one inspired our purchase of a print by English artist Michael Cook. His interpretation from the books of Genesis and Hosea appears as if Jacob is wrestling himself. Note even the matching bare feet. These weeks changed us, and that’s why, on this Easter morning, “Jacob Wrestling an Angel” by Michael Cook is our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - Palm Sunday

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Stanley Spencer’s “Christ's Entry into Jerusalem” (1920); Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries

It’s Palm Sunday, and we're in Disneyland for our son Kai’s 32nd birthday (no church). Today’s Gospel: Mark 11: 1-11 recounts Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, but UK painter Stanley Spencer has a different insight. In his visual storytelling, we don’t see the palm-wavers but those who shunned him. He also places the moment in his own time and his hometown of Cookham. It's an unorthodox approach, and we like it. What if Christ arrived in your hometown today? That’s why “Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem” by Stanley Spencer is our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - Fifth Sunday of Lent

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

William Blake's "The Woman Taken in Adultery" (1805), Museum of Boston Fine Arts, Pen and watercolor over graphite pencil on paper, 14 × 14 1/2 in.

Do you live like you are 16 or 60? After seven weeks wearing a monstrous fracture boot, Ernest replaced 2019 plans to skydive with baking. His lesson from the fall is to play it safe. How have you reacted to injuries? In today's Gospel story, Jesus meets an adulterer (John 8:1-11). One lesson is to repent and never sin again. Another is the shame of criticizing others, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.” Everyday we choose between 16 and 60, and that’s why William Blake's "The Woman Taken in Adultery" is our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - 4th Sunday of Lent

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Max Beckmann's "The Prodigal Son" (1949); Oil on canvas; Sprengel Museum (Germany - Hanover)

When Ernest picked today's Gospel representation for St. Luke 15:11-32,  he picked it because it captured his spirit during his sixth week with a broken heel. It’s been a busy but glum week, looking backward to days before daily icing and raising his swollen foot above his heart. In the painting, the son glumly spends his inheritance with laughing harlots. Is he thinking back to better times in his father’s house? We are huge fans of Max Beckmann, and his Expressionist style, and that’s why Max Beckmann’s “Prodigal Son” is our Lenten art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - 3rd Sunday of Lent

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Giovanni domenico Tiepolo (Venice 1727-1804) "Christ and the barren fig tree" ; oil on canvas; 33 x 75 in. (Courtesy of Christies in June 2015)

It’s been five weeks since Ernest’s foot fracture, but as the heel heals, his calf muscle weakens. We could cry about the calf, but instead, Christ’s patience teaches us to plan for running soon. In the late 1700s, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo depicted an angry Christ destroying a fig tree that did not produce fruit. However, in this week’s Gospel on the 3rd Sunday in Lent, we explore Christ’s great expectations for us, but also his patience (13:1-9). That's why Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo’s “Christ and the barren fig tree" is our  our Lenten art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - 2nd Sunday of Lent

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Denis Du Mikhaylov's "Transfiguration" (2015); acrylic on canvas;  59.7 x 90 cm

This past week, Ernest's surgeon immobilized him for 4-8 more weeks, but he also removed 11 stitches. Even in moments of darkness there is light. Just look up. On this second Sunday of Lent, and 25-days after Ernest broke his heel, we look at Denis Du Mikhaylov's "Transfiguration" (2015) inspired by Raphael’s “Transfiguration of Christ" (1516-1520). By anchoring this work in the past, the painter portrays our dark present (bottom) but also points to a divine future (top). That makes Denis Du Mikhaylov's "Transfiguration" our Lenten collector's pick of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK - 1st Sunday of Lent

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Bartolomé Esteban Murrillo's "Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda" (1670); oil on canvas; National Gallery, London

After emergency foot surgery, Ernest returned to work wearing a fracture boot and riding a knee scooter. All week, he felt tentative and diminished but on Saturday, a movie scene reminded him of John 5:1-9 when Christ healed a lame man. In an instant, the man was healed, and Jesus said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” What won’t Jesus do for us? Last night, Ernest finally asked Jesus to heal him, and he felt instantly stronger. That’s why Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's “Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda” is our our Lenten art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Shamira Wilson's "How Does Your Garden Grow?" (2019)

Shamira Wilson's work is rooted in storytelling. She is an emerging visual artist, and was featured at the 23rd annual Art & Soul celebration in Indianapolis. She is also a recent graduate of the Herron School of Art. Wilson works in a variety of media, including furniture, sculptural work, paintings, and prints. During this week’s Artist Talk, she explained that much of her work is related to maternal imagery, and specifically “African American maternal imagery.” That makes Shamira Wilson's "How Does Your Garden Grow?" our collector's tip of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

Ernest's fracture boot fitted at Dr. Lyon's office in Indianapolis after breaking right heel in Key West, FL

Greg said I had to post something about my accident in Key West. Okay, here it is: I fell and broke my foot. So, the Key West urgent care doctor sent me home to Indy to see a specialist. Now, I am wearing a stormtrooper boot for a few weeks. I should be back to climbing again very soon. While recovering, I have three books to finish, “New Power” by Henry Timms, “Another Country” by James Baldwin, and “You, Your Child, and School” by Sir Ken Robinson. Hopefully, I didn’t bore you too much with this update. I’d have been bored had you posted it! That makes my broken foot the news of the week. Yikes!

‪Church of God of Prophecy, 815 Elizabeth Street, Key West‬

American Airlines from Miami to Key West

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Anila Quayyum Agha's "This is NOT a Refuge 1" (2019) - lasercut, resin coated aluminum and lightbulb, 8 x 6 x 4 feet at Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas, Texas through March 23, 2019

It’s 27 degrees in Indy this morning, but we’re heading to 80 degrees of warmth at our refuge in Key West. In Psalms 46:1, the writer says, “God is our refuge and our strength, A very present help in trouble,” and when it’s cold, the help we need is a flight to Florida. On a serious note, the artist Anila Quayyum Agha is also interested in a refuge, but as safety from fear and pain. When at our worst Americans deny refuge. That is why Anila Agha’s “This is NOT a Refuge 1” is our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Rennie Harris' Lazarus. Photo by Paul Kolnik

Alvin Ailey’s iconic “Revelations” is the big draw this week at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Wash, DC., but it was a new work “Lazarus” by Rennie Harris that wrecked Ernest. The Washington Post reviewer described the experience as being thrust into “painful territory.” There is slavery, lynching, and AIDS, but finally, there is a resurrection. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grips audiences in the same way as the art we bring home. The lighting, sound, costumes, dance, and transmutation of faith make “Lazarus,” our art of the week.

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Beauford Delaney’s “Rehearsal,” 1952, showing choir members preparing for a service.

Author James Baldwin called Beauford Delaney his “spiritual father.” Delaney (1901-1979) is one of America's most important painters of the 20th century, a modernist known for his portraits and urban scenes. Both Delaney and Baldwin were Black artists, and victims of anti-gay bigotry, a bigotry that is growing in the 21st-century as evidenced in this week's assault on actor Jussie Smollett. Delaney's work is now in a group show, “God Made My Face: A Portrait of James Baldwin" in NYC. Being gay & Black makes Beauford Delaney’s “Rehearsal” our art of the week.