A Detroit Doctor Who Collects Art and Loathes Labels

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Show Us Your Walls
By Steve Friess

Lorna Thomas in her Detroit home, with one of her many Richard Mayhew paintings over the mantel and “Sheila” (1978), by Benny Andrews, at far right.

DETROIT — Lorna Thomas thought she knew a thing or two about art from her classes at Wellesley College in the 1960s. But after graduation, she discovered the world of African-American-owned galleries. “All of a sudden, the light went on, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we have this entire body of work out here that should be celebrated,’” she recalled. She began the celebration soon afterward. Dr. Thomas, a dermatologist, a member of the ninth generation of a Detroit family and a descendant of freed slaves, began her collection with a Richard Mayhew landscape. She bought it at a downtown Detroit gallery in 1980 for $4,300 on a two-year installment plan. [More]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

John Bankston's "At the Crossroads" (2006-2007) Oil on linen 54 x 48 in. (137.1 x 122 cm)

John Bankston is a self-declared storyteller and visual novelist. Born in Benton Harbor, MI, 1963, the artist now lives and works in San Francisco where he is represented by Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco. Bankston uses the coloring book’s division of line and color to establish a basic rubric of oppositional meaning that extends to our culture’s major social divisions––adult and child, white and black, male and female, heterosexual and queer. In honor of Gay Pride Month, "Art of the Crossroads" artist John Bankston is our artist of the week.

Detroit Institute of Arts opens newly expanded Asian art galleries

ARTDAILY

Vasudhara, Goddess of Wealth and Abundance, 1100s, Nepal, copper, gold, gem stones. Detroit Institute of Arts.

DETROIT, MICH.- On Sunday, Nov. 4, the Detroit Institute of Arts debuted newly expanded galleries dedicated to Asian art in the Robert and Katherine Jacobs Asian Wing, highlighting objects and themes that represent diverse art forms, cultural practices, and systems of belief. Works span thousands of years up to the present day in galleries of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Indian and Southeast Asian art, as well as a gallery for Buddhist art across Asia. In addition to historical masterpieces, such as a graceful bronze sculpture of the Hindu goddess Parvati from southern India (13th century) and Chinese artist Wen Zhengming’s hanging scroll that pairs painting and calligraphy, “The First Prose Poem on the Red Cliff” (1588), the galleries also feature works of modern and contemporary art. [More]

Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts Names Artist of Year for 2018: John Gutoskey

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

2018 Artist of the Year for Contemporary Religious Art: John Gutoskey for "Pulse Nightclub Elegy"

We are proud to introduce John Gutoskey as the 2018 Artist of the Year for Contemporary Religious Art for his work entitled “PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies.” His work honors each of the 49 people murdered in the shooting at the PULSE nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. This Fall, it was on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) during ArtPrize, the world's largest art competition in the world, and Gutoskey won the Two-Dimensional Juried Vote Award. Over the coming weeks, we'll share more about John Gutoskey and his creative practice.

ArtPrize names winners for 2018

GRANT RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL 

The winners of ArtPrize 10 have been crowned. A total of $487,500 was awarded after 253,161 votes were cast in the 19-day competition. The winners of the public vote and juried vote each received $200,000. Chelsea Nix and Mariano Cortez from Fort Wayne, Indiana won the public vote grand prize for “THE STRING PROJECT.” The husband-and-wife duo’s 2-D entry features photographs from Africa, Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America. The remaining $87,500 was divided among the winning public vote and juried vote entries in each of the competition's four categories: 2-D, 3-D, installation and time-based. Each category winner, except the grand prize winners, and the outstanding venue winner received $12,500. [More] 

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

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

"PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies" by John Gutoskey at Grand Rapid's Art Museum  for ArtPrize10

ArtPrize is dead. This news will not surprise the hundreds of professional artists who didn’t show up this year. The four perennially mega art venues were mega disappointments: DeVos Convention Center (nearly empty); The GRAM (reinstalled the winner from 2014); and UTICA and the Kendall School of Design (closed). What worked? Church installations and new restaurants. Christian imagery was strong this year including those taking on social issues. We also recommend the jambalaya at Leo’s, and the pheasant & cactus at MeXo. ArtPrize is taking next year off, and because we believe in resurrection, that makes John Gutoskey's “PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegie,” our ArtPrize entry of the week.

ArtPrize 2014 winner 'Intersections' being displayed during 2018 event

GRAND RAPIDS NEWS
By Casey Syke

"Intersections" by Anila Quayyum Agha

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A fan favorite that won ArtPrize 2014 is expected to be displayed during this year's art competition in Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Art Museum is extending the time that the exhibit "Anila Quayyum Agha: Intersections" will be on display. The museum at 101 Monroe Center NW in downtown Grand Rapids announced two exhibits, "Intersections" and "Mirror Variations: The Art of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian" will be displayed through ArtPrize, which ends on Oct. 7. The showing of those two exhibits had originally been scheduled to end Aug. 26. [More]

Jewish temple in Grand Rapids is filled with art honors creation, preservation

MICHIGAN LIVE
By John Kissane

Detail of the Tiffany window at Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapids. (Eric Tank)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI---Temple Emanuel sits on Fulton Street, in a tree-lined neighborhood filled with brick houses. Recently, I parked my car in the back lot and walked past the playground, noting the stickers on the windows, which depicted Jewish symbols; walked past the inviting patio, where white hydrangea threatened to overtake the benches; and walked up to the entrance, where a single work of art -- a sculpture by Calvin Albert -- stood sentry. The dark bronze sculpture, titled "Burning Bush," did have something fiery in its twists and folds. A nearby plaque advised that Albert was born in Grand Rapids, and that the piece had been commissioned by the Temple, where he and his family worshipped. [More]

Artistic elegies for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting

HYPERALLERGIC
By Sarah Rose Sharp

Detail view from PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies by John Gutoskey (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Elegies often come in the form of poetry, and are a time-honored form of lamentation, used as a method of mourning the dead. It makes intuitive sense, then, that print artist John Gutoskey seized upon this idea to create “visual elegies,” in the form of 49 unique monoprints, as a way of processing the Pulse nightclub shooting, an attack by a murderous gunman on a gay club in Orlando, Florida, that claimed the lives of 49 victims and wounded 53 others. The exhibition is also replete with Catholic imagery — a nod to Gutoskey’s personal religious background — and Buddhist motifs, among the more abstract or pagan symbolism. [More]

“What We Carry,” opening at Detroit's Janice Charach Gallery

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
By Suzanne Chessler

Diaspora by Carol Neiger

DETROIT---In 2015, 12 Jewish artists were chosen by Chicago’s Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership to participate in the Midwest Jewish Artists Lab. The year-long residency allowed the artists access to Spertus’ archives of art, artifacts and massive library, where they studied treasured text together with local scholars and were provided professional critiques, culminating in a group exhibit at Spertus called “Wisdom.” Although the artists were chosen independent of each other, they bonded over the experience and formed the Jewish Artists Collective Chicago (JACC), apart from Spertus. “What We Carry” at charachgallery.org continues through July 12. [More]

Grand Rapids Art Museum featuring ArtPrize 2014 Grand Prize winner Anila Quayyum Agha

WZZM13

In 2014, "Intersections" by Anila Quayyum Agha won the ArtPrize Public Vote and Juried Grand Prize, the first and only time in ArtPrize history.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Art Museum has announced its concurrent solo exhibitions opening May 19. Anila Quayyum Agha: Intersections and Mirror Variations: The Art of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian are on view through Aug. 26. According to a press release, both artists create work which draws inspiration from Islamic tradition and modern abstraction, creating objects of great beauty and depth. Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian is an Iranian artist with an international reputation for sculpture and drawing that fuses traditional Persian patterns based in mathematics with geometric abstract art. GRAM says the presentation of the two solo exhibitions is part of its commitment to highlighting works of art by diverse artists year-round. [More]

US Muslim art, cultural projects receive $2.3M in grants

THE WASHINGTON POST
ByAssociated Press

DEARBORN, MI---A foundation has awarded $2.3 million to projects including documentaries on Muslim veterans, Arabic theater productions and a look at Michigan’s “Halal Metropolis.” The New York-based Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art on Thursday announced that 15 groups were selected from about 200 applicants across the United States for its Building Bridges Program . They received grants ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 for projects that aim to boost relationships among Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbors. [More]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

"The Next Supper" (2016) by Bill Fritsch; white pencil on black paper, 58" x 39". Courtesy of ArtPrize.

It is hard to contain our excitement for sharing this month's INSPIRE ME! Artist of the Month, William Fritsch and his "The Next Supper" drawing. There is something about his work that immediately takes Christians to our happy place. Part of the allure is being instantly struck by a sense of familiarity. Based on Leonardo da Vinci's famous mural, Fritsch recreated a supper for our world today. The individuals at the table are people from the artist's own faith community but are surrounded by portraits of world faith leaders and world languages on a "Welcome Board." Available as prints, William Fritsch's "The Next Supper" is our art of the week.

For Ernest Disney-Britton, ArtPrize is a great place to find artists worth collecting

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Ernest Disney-Britton is surrounded by works he has collected during his travels including last year's "The Next Supper" by William Fristch. It is a print acquired during ArtPrize 2017. (upper right)

Every September, Gregory and Ernest Disney-Britton sets out for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids to find one artist whose work he'd love to bring home to Indianapolis. For 19 days, close to 1,700 artists from around the world display their work in Grand Rapids and compete for $500,000 in cash prizes—decided equally by public vote and expert jury. There is also an large percentage of the work with religious themes and messages, although much of that is bad art, some of the pieces have been exceptional. Past entries have included Mako Fujimura's "Walking the Water" and Anila Quayyum Agha's "Intersections," two artists whose related works are now also in the Disney-Britton collection. Last year Gregory took home William Fritsch's "The Next Supper" inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." It's a print of a larger drawing that was on display in Metropolitan Community Church, one of the 200+ venues for ArtPrize.

INSPIRE ME! Artist of the Month, William Fritsch - May 2018

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

"The Next Supper" (2016) by Bill Fritsch; white pencil on black paper, 58" x 39". Courtesy of ArtPrize.

William Fritsch is a Registered Pharmacist by profession, but he did his first white pencil on black paper portrait drawing, as an art student in 2005. We met Fritsch last year during ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. He was sitting near his monumental entry, "The Next Supper" at Monroe Community Church. Aside from the obvious inspiration, we were also struck by the languages on the "Welcome Banner" on the left-side of painting. They include Arabic, Thai, English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Hebrew, Russian, German, and Greek. The guests at the dinner include Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Mother Theresa. William Fritsch struck us as someone we'd enjoy sharing a supper with, and we think you will too.

Call for Artists: Visions: Jewish, Art & Social Change Retreat

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Asylum Arts, in collaboration with Repair the World presents Visions: Jewish, Art & Social Change Retreat to take place from July 29 – August 1, 2018 in Detroit. During this intensive four-day training, thirty emerging artists from throughout the United States will explore social justice engagement through a Jewish lens, share their work and stories, as well as learn from artists and activists in the Detroit community. Our programming includes site visits, community building, and the grounding of social justice work in Jewish wisdom and values. They do not need to explicitly explore Jewish topics in their work, but should be open to discussing their Jewish and artistic identities. Applications are now open, and will close April 29, 2018. You can read more about the retreat here. We are happy to answer any questions at info@asylum-arts.org.

Jim Shaw’s collection of religious and didactic art goes to MSU Broad Museum

ARTNEWS
By Alex Greenberger

Jim Shaw, “The Hidden World,” 1969–2017, installation view at the MSU Broad, 2017. EAT POMEGRANATE PHOTOGRAPHY

LANSING, MI---“Jim Shaw has the most amazing collection of cultural oddities that I have ever seen,” the artist Mike Kelley once said. He was referring to “The Hidden World,” Shaw’s collection of religious and didactic art, which, over the past 50 years, has come to comprise more than 1,000 objects, from Jehovah’s Witnesses comics to a set of James Bond tarot cards. Now Shaw’s collection—something of an art project in its own right—is making its way to a museum’s reserves. The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (the MSU Broad, for short) revealed today that it has acquired “The Hidden World” in its entirety. [More]

Detroit Institute of Arts opens permanent gallery showcasing recently acquired artworks

ARTDAILY

“Saint Benedict of Palermo,” 1770–80, attributed to Juan Pascual de Mena, coniferous wood, pigment, gold. Museum purchase.

DETROIT, MICH.- The Detroit Institute of Arts opened a gallery dedicated to some of the museum’s newest acquisitions while also providing the public with a look at the art acquisition process. The gallery, called “Out of the Crate: New Gifts & Purchases,” opened Jan. 12. A selection of recent purchases and gifts chosen by DIA Director Salvador Salort-Pons are on view for approximately six months, after which they will be replaced with newer acquisitions. “The DIA has one of the most significant art collections in the United States, and one way we maintain this quality is by acquiring new artworks every year,” said Salort-Pons. “Thanks to generous donors, the DIA has been able to establish funds designated for art acquisitions only, with which we are able to strengthen our collection. [More]

Nabil Mousa's Arab and Coming Out in Detroit

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Michael T. Luongo

Nabil Mousa with his painting “Burka #16.” Mr. Mousa took what he saw as a symbol of women’s oppression and applied it to himself as a gay artist.Credit Salamatina Gallery; Johnathon Kelso for The New York Times

DEARBORN, Mich. — Nabil Mousa’s first solo art exhibition was a joyous occasion, but it still brought tears to his eyes when he introduced his husband to the audience. Mr. Mousa was born in Syria and immigrated to the United States with his conservative Christian parents. In 2000, when he came out, they soon cut off contact and disowned him. Now, he was melding his two identities — gay and Arab — in a show of paintings here. And what was more surprising was where his work was being displayed: the Arab-American National Museum, which was focusing for the first time on a gay artist’s exploration of discrimination. Mr. Mousa, 51, is among a small but growing number of L.G.B.T. artists of Arab descent incorporating their sexual identity into their work. [More]

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.