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.

Ben Quilty on Empathy, Angry Art, Backlash And That Jesus Photo

THE GUARDIAN NEWS
By Brigid Delaney

Ben Quilty’s The Last Supper, 2016, oil on linen. Photograph: Ben Quilty/Supplied AGSA

Over drinks, Ben Quilty is gently teased by the nickname “Jesus Quilty”, owing to the cover of Good Weekend the weekend prior, which featured a portrait of the artist wearing a crown of thorns. Ben Quilty is one of Australia’s most famous living artists. It’s certainly unusual for a painter of his age to have an exhibition of this size and scale mounted of his work. Another art world insider tells me Quilty’s appeal says as much about us as it does about him: that we are so starved of men who passionately stand for something that when someone like him comes along – particularly someone so accessible, articulate and media-friendly – the response is one of great hunger. [More]

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.