Historic Tiffany Stained Glass Windows on Display in Waco

WACO TEXAS TRIBUNE
By Carl Hoover

TEXAS---Historic Tiffany stained-glass windows representing angels from the Book of Revelation go on public display Sunday. American art, history and Christian faith align in “In Company With Angels,” a unique exhibit of seven stained-glass windows more than a century old that opens a three-month showing on Sunday at the Lee Lockwood Library and Museum. The exhibit “In Company With Angels” has been shown across the East and Midwest since 2007, but makes its first Texas stop in Waco, sponsored by the Historic Waco Foundation. [link]

Lee Lockwood Library and Museum: “In Company With Angels” (Ends Jan. 26); 2801 W. Waco Drive, Waco, TX; 254-753-5166; historicwaco.org/angels.

Devotion & Desire: Cross-Cultural Art at the Asian Civilizations Museum

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Cross with symbol of the Buddha

REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE---The Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, presents "Devotion & Desire: Cross-Cultural Art in Asia" through December 2013. This exhibition reveals new directions for the Asian Civilisations Museum, which has recently focused on building understanding of the diverse cultures of Asia. The objects reveal surprising connections between Asian cultures, and between Asia and the wider world. Cross-cultural works of art are powerful indicators that peoples of diverse cultures and faiths have lived together harmoniously for centuries throughout Asia. Themes of the exhibition include the importance of trade, transmission of religions, courtly art, and colonial networks. This is the first time that the public has the opportunity to see many of these new treasures.

Jewish Art OF LA, Spans City with ‘Sacred Words, Sacred Texts’

JEWISH JOURNAL
by Jonathan Maseng

“Rebel Spies,” by Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik, mixed media, 2013. On loan from Scott and Gayl Gluck.

CALIFORNIA---The Jewish art scene in Los Angeles is a small but vibrant community that spans generations, styles, and the full length and breadth of the city itself. Now, for the first time, three of L.A.’s preeminent Jewish institutions — Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), University of Southern California Hillel and American Jewish University (AJU) — have teamed up to produce a collaborative exhibition that stretches across three venues and features more than a dozen local artists. “Sacred Words, Sacred Texts,” which officially opened Oct. 6 with a reception at AJU, is an exhibition that celebrates Jews as a People of the Book: Torah, Talmud, Midrash and sacred poetry are all explored through various media by more than a dozen Jewish artists from the L.A. area. It was curated by Anne Hromadka, Sara Cannon and Georgia Freedman-Harvey. [link]

Examining the Beauty and Harmony of Islamic Artist Shirin Neshat

BAY STATE BANNER
By Susan Saccoccia

“Roja,” by Shirin Neshat, is a gelatin silver print with India ink

MASSACHUSETTS---Beauty and harmony are paramount in Islamic art. These qualities are also integral to the photographs, videos and films of Shirin Neshat. Her ravishing images show women crossing boundaries and asserting power despite Islamic norms that constrict their freedom. Yet as Neshat composes images, she is guided by Islamic aesthetic principles she has absorbed since childhood. “Harmony is the essence of Islamic art,” says Neshat. Neshat’s new photographic series, “The Book of Kings,” borrows its name from the epic poem of Iran, the Shahnameh. The ensemble of 80 portraits casts contemporary Iranians as nation builders. [link]

Diwali, Hinduism's Festival of Light is Coming on Sunday, November 3

THE PENDULUM
By Jessica Petrocchi

An Indian craftsman paints clay 'diyas' (earthen lamps) ahead 
of the Hindu festival of Diwali in Amritsar on October 29, 2013.

NORTH CAROLINA---Diwali, one of the most celebrated Hindu holidays around the world, will get its recognition at Elon University for the second year in the Numen Lumen Pavilion Nov. 5. Interns in the Truitt Center for Religious Life and Assistant Chaplain Adam Miller-Stubbendick are putting this holiday celebration, sometimes referred to as the Festival of Lights, together. The event is open to Elon’s campus, no matter if they are a Hindu student or just want to learn more about a culture different from their own. The interns are still in the planning process, but they already have a good idea of what the celebration will look like. [link]

Indians buy lanterns from roadside stalls ahead of Hindu 
festival of lights Diwali, in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013.

Original Photographs of America's Passion for Immersion Baptism from 1890-1950, Opens in NYC

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

NEW YORK---The Museum of Biblical Art presents "Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography" beginning on Friday, November 1 in Manhattan. The installation is a video and audio installation which will transport the viewer and listener into America’s early twentieth-century, baptism immersions in rivers, lakes, and ponds from 1890-1950. Rare vocal recordings of sermons and preaching, which highlight the fervor leading up to the moment of baptism, are also included. A companion book and CD will be available in the MOBIA Store. 

Museum of Biblical Art: "Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography" (November 3-February 16, 2014); 1865 Broadway at 61st Street; New York, NY; (212) 408-1500; mobia.org

Guggenheim Brings Razor Bed, Baseball Buddhist, Goats to Asia

BLOOMBERG NEWS
By Frederik Balfour

Love Bed" (2012) made of stainless steel razor blades by Tayeba Begum Lipi. 

HONG KONG---A bed made of razor blades, a Buddhist monk carved from a baseball bat, and minimalist goats are on display at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. “No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia” features works specifically acquired by the Guggenheim Museum to create the touring show of artists you won’t find at many auctions or international art fairs. The show feels fresh and edgy. Take Bangladeshi artist Tayeba Begum Lipi’s “Love Bed” (2012), composed of gleaming stainless steel razor blades that challenge traditional notions of marriage, childbirth and gender. [link]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Wins in Court: Pay-What-You Wish

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Yesterday, Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art by granting its motion to dismiss claims that the Museum’s longstanding pay-what-you-wish admissions policy violates both its 1878 lease with the City and a State appropriations act from 1893. The following is a statement from the Museum on this decision: "The Met is delighted with the ruling and trusts this decision once and for all validates its longtime pay-what-you wish admissions policy—which, as the judge has declared, guarantees fairness and access for visitors of all economic means.”

Alpha & Omega Prize Exhibition 2013, Explores "Religious Risks"

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

INDIANA---In addition, to a week of A&O Prize inductions and honors, the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts is pleased to present "Religious Risks," opening November 1, as part of the 18th annual Spirit & Place Festival. The full program includes more than thirty artist works (believers and skeptics too), representing the imaginations of a wide range of Indiana artists. The exhibition portion includes thirty emerging artists, as well as professionals such as Anila Agha, Tom Torluemke, Nhat Tran, and Constance Scopelitis. In addition, there is one youth scholarship honoree; and three poet honorees, Norbert Krapf, Tasha Jones, and Bonnie Mauer, who will present and join a group dialogue entitled, "Artist+Faith+Risk" on Saturday afternoon, November 9.

Alpha Omega Prize: "Religious Risks" (Nov. 1-29), at Indiana Interchurch Center's IIC Gallery, 1100 W. 42nd Street, Ground Floor; Indianapolis, IN; 317-919-0570; alphaomegaarts.org

VISUAL ARTISTS Anila Quayyum Agha Doug Arnholter Daniel Axler Sandi Ballard *Bailee Brantley Dan Cooper John Crowe LaShawnda Crowe Storm D. Del Reverda-Jennings Brian Diehl John Essex II Jonathon Frey Glory-June Greiff Linda Witte Henke Jonathon Kane Denis Ryan Kelly, Jr. Elizabeth Kenney Deborah Kolp Brigid Manning-Hamilton Tony Melendez Quincy Owens Ryan Petrow Tim Ryan Gary Schmitt Constance Edwards Scopelitis Bonnie Stahlecker Susan Lynn Tennant Tom Torluemke Nhat Tran Julia Wickes Terry Wilson LITERARY ARTISTS Norbert Krapf Bonnie Maurer Tasha Jones

PRIZE SUPPORTERS Sarah Adams  Sandi Ballard Jennifer Barnes Virginia Bievenour  Verneida Britton Karen Chinetti Todd Cox  Dolly Craft Spencer Crew Susan Disney Gregory Disney-Britton Ernest Disney-Britton Garry Fredericksen Carol Givens Ted Givens Katie Graham Todd & Teresa Hedback Melvin Jolliff Leslie Kreines Pastor Jeff Miner Michele Moriarty Jason Pack Ryan Petrow Tahlib Deborah Thornburgh Anthony Team Realty, LLC Julie Reed Betsy Sato Larry Sears Krista Skidmore  Jean Slaughter David Squire James Strain    Cheryl Strain David Sweet Desmond Wade Vivian Wyatt (*Student Winner)

Calligraphy Exhibition: With Bold Strokes, Artist Pens Personal Narrative

EXPRESS TRIBUNE
By Myra Iqbal

Iqbal explores the relationship between the divine and the secular through calligraphy. PHOTO: EXPRESS

PAKISTAN---For calligraphist Azeem Iqbal, the canvas is an extension of his relationship with the secular and the divine. Iqbal’s calligraphy exhibition opened at the National Library on Monday, revealing his dedication to the craft through his prolific collection. A shift from the more austere technique of calligraphic expression, Iqbal’s work is unreserved and inquisitive, while the colour palette, material and forms are traditional, the strokes and narratives are personal, with an imperfection that is endearing. Iqbal uses bold gestures, unrestrained lettering and sometimes even abandons the paint brush to use his fingers. [link]

Bishop Thomas Olmsted Is Pursuing a Vendetta Against the ADL

PHOENIX NEW TIMES

Bishop Thomas Olmsted kicked the ADL out of Phoenix Catholic schools and
continues to pursue a hard-line stance even as Pope Francis softens the church's tone.

ARIZONA---With the challenges and dangers that young students face today (online bullying, offline bullying, gossip, hate, and the increasingly common school shooting) programs like the Anti-Defamation League's "World of Difference" has arguably never been more important. But Phoenix Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted disagrees. In this week's cover story, "Bishop Thomas Olmsted Expels the ADL's Sensitivity Training from Catholic Schools," Michael Lacey details how Olmsted has clung to outdated church doctrine in his vendetta against the ADL. [link]

You Are Invited: Religious Risks on Saturday, November 9th

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

On view: November 1-29, 2013
Artist dialogue & reception: Saturday, November 9, 2:00 p.m.

The board and members of Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts are pleased to invite all believers, and skeptics too, for its inaugural exhibition, "First & Last: Religious Risks." Thirty-works are being showcased, and seven prize categories are being announced as part of the 2013 Spirit & Place Festival. The festival is a 10-day collaboration of congregations, cultural institutions, universities and colleges, schools, civic groups, museums, designed to build community through dialogue and engagement. The Alpha Omega Prize is an annual recognition of art that influences community-building across the religious divide.

The Alpha Omega Arts exhibition will be held at the Indiana Interchurch Center's IIC Gallery. The exhibition features the works of: Anila Quayyum Agha, Doug Arnholter, Dan Cooper, John Crowe, LaShawnda Crowe Storm, D. Del Reverda-Jennings, Brian Diehl, Jonathon Frey, Glory-June Grieff, Linda Witte Henke, Jonathon Kane, Denis Ryan Kelly, Jr., Elizabeth Kenney, Deborah Kolp, Dan Axler, Brigid Manning-Hamilton, Tony Melendez, Quincy Owens, Ryan Petrow, Tim Ryan, Gary Schmitt, Constance Edwards Scopelitis, Bonnie Stahlecker, Susan Lynn Tennant, Tom Torluemke, Nhat Tran, Julia Wickes, and Terry Wilson.

The program and reception on Saturday, November 9 at 2 p.m. features three Hoosier literary giants: Norbert Krapf, Bonnie Maurer, and Tasha Jones, and all three are members of the exclusive club of Creative Renewal Arts Fellows funded by the Lilly Endowment. In addition to the exhibition, and readings by the three poets on religious risk, one student will be honored as the 3rd annual winner of the Alpha Omega Prize for Youth Art: a college scholarship for a high school senior.

The final features of the Alpha Omega Arts homecoming week are: First, nine days of prize announcements honoring the art, clergy, institutions which have most influenced the American dialogue about religion. This will be the 6th year for the prizes. Secondly, Alpha Omega Arts will hold a seven-day power2give campaign to raise support for honorariums for artists who dare to explore religious ideas at alphaomegprize.org.

For further information or press enquiries please contact Greg Disney-Britton in Indianapolis at Board(at)alphaomegaarts.org or 317-919-0570.

Heirs Win Back Nazi-Looted Art, Lose Others in Auction

BLOOMBERG
By Catherine Hickley

This early Renaissance painting of the virgin and child was handed to the Max Stern estate by a museum.
The estate is seeking a total of about 400 missing works. 

GERMANY---The heirs of Max Stern, a Jewish art dealer who fled Nazi Germany after he was forced to close his gallery, today announced the recovery of a painting he lost 76 years ago. That is only half the story. They may have lost track of two more pictures that Stern was forced to sell for good. The Stern estate’s experience spotlights the difficulties heirs face in tracing and reclaiming the countless Nazi-looted artworks that have vanished into German private collections, even when they are offered for sale by auction houses. While museums are morally accountable under international principles endorsed by the German government on returning Nazi-looted art, German art dealers and auction houses often pursue strictly legal arguments. Under German law, the statute of limitations for theft expires after 30 years, and claimants have little hope of winning title in court. [link]

Smithsonian Opens Exhibit on Art of Yoga

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Yoga: The Art of Transformation" exhibit at the Smithsonian's
Sackler Gallery includes items that showcase the history of yoga.

WASHINGTON, DC - Yoga is moving from the studio mat to the museum gallery.The Smithsonian Institution has organized what curators believe is the first exhibition about the visual history and art of yoga, its origins and evolution over time. The Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery will showcase the exhibit, "Yoga: The Art of Transformation," through January. Later, it will travel to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Curators brought together Indian sculptures, manuscripts and paintings, as well as posters, illustrations, photographs and films to showcase yoga's history. [link]

Sirpi Jayaraman’s Breathtaking Meditating Hindu Trees, and Vibrant Brushstrokes

THE HINDU
By LAKSHMI KRUPA

"Thyanam" by Sirpi Jayaraman

INDIA---Over two dozen paintings dot the walls, and Sirpi Jayaraman’s technique shines through in each piece. Strokes — small, curvy and pointed, come together all across the canvas to create breathtaking details. The central piece at the exhibit is ‘Thyanam’. A colourful image, in which a tree, on whose trunk a face has been fashioned, looks upon serenely as if meditating. [link]

Breathtaking details: Sirpi Jayaraman’s works

Anti-Catholic Art Alive and Well in San Antonio

TEXAS GOP VOTE
By Sonja Harris

Lawn ornaments have religious but also secular meaning---all on display

TEXAS---If residents of San Antonio don’t wake up to the reality of what is overtaking their city, there won’t be any resemblance to the quite conservative place I call my hometown. San Antonio is not alone in the ‘dumbing down’ or perversion of the arts. An old Victorian style house close to downtown San Antonio is the home of Art SA Gallery. Needless to say, I was totally disappointed by what I saw. The ‘art’ displayed at this gallery reflects the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian theme that is prevalent throughout our country today. It is obvious that this gallery caters to the homosexual and anti-Catholic clientele rather than to the general public. [link]

One of two scenes depicting Christ having Last Supper from from large plastic bottles.

Artists' Dream About Contemporary Tibetan Art

CCTV
By Zhang Hao

CHINA---Tibet's first and only contemporary art gallery is located on the Barkhor Street, a well-known street for pilgrimage and businesses in downtown Lhasa, where a few young artists seek their artistic dream. Ten years ago, 12 Tibetan youngsters often got together at a Sichuan restaurant on the Barkhor Street for their common ideal to develop the Tibetan contemporary art. They raised money and bought the restaurant later, turning it into a small and nonprofit art gallery. They named the art gallery after Gedun Chophel, a renowned Tibetan humanism pioneer and academic master, sowing the first seed of the local contemporary art in Tibet. [link]

New York Hosts Ancient Korea Debut in West

GLOBAL POST

A Buddha from the pagoda at Hwangboksa Temple site is displayed on October 28, 2013 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of an exhibition of treasures from ancient Korea (AFP, Don Emmert)

NEW YORK---Drawn to bling? A fan of gold jewelry? Keen on Buddha? If so, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art offers the newest ticket to fend off the winter chill. An exhibition of exquisite treasures from ancient Korea opens in New York next week, marking the first display anywhere outside Asia of the little known Silla kingdom. The exhibition is divided into three parts: glittering golden treasures -- beautifully intricate and in perfect condition -- from fifth and sixth century tombs. [link]

Commission Finds Dutch Museums May Possess Nazi-Looted Art

SAINT LOUIS | JEWISH LIGHT

AMSTERDAM---Dozens of Dutch museums are in possession of at least 139 items with “problematic origins,” a special commission on stolen Holocaust-era art in the Netherlands has determined. The list that the Committee for Museum Acquisitions from 1933 onwards published on Tuesday includes priceless items that are in the hands of 41 museums, including world-famous institutions like the Rijks Museum and the Stedelijk Museum, which have nine and 11 “problematic” items respectively. Sixty-one items were flagged because “of the name of the owners and most of these 61 items belonged to Jews,” The full findings were to be published on the Dutch-language website www.musealeverwervingen.nl Tuesday. [link]

Metropolitan Museum Presents Spectacular Loan Exhibition of Art from Korea’s Silla Kingdom

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS 

Bodhisattva in pensive pose, probably Maitreya (Korean: Mireuk). Korea, Silla kingdom, late 6th–early 7th century. Gilt bronze; H. 36 7/8 in. (93.5 cm). National Museum of Korea, National Treasure 83

NEW YORK---The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present "Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom," an exhibition dedicated to the magnificent art created between ca. 400-800, the seminal era of this intriguing kingdom, beginning November 4. This is the first exhibition in the West to focus exclusively on the art of Silla, tracing its rise from a small polity to a powerful and cosmopolitan kingdom both on the peninsula and within the broader framework of Eurasia, to which Silla was connected via trade, and at times political and diplomatic exchanges. Drawn from the holdings of the National Museums of Korea in Seoul and Gyeongju.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom,"(November 4, 2013 – February 23, 2014); 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY; (212) 535-7710; metmuseum.org

Exhibition of Rare Islamic Objects Opens in Spain

AHRAM

A Moroccan manuscript on surgery dated 610 AH (in the Islamic calendar) is displayed at the “Nur: Light in art and science in the Islamic world” exhibition in Seville (Photo: AP)

SPAIN---A private museum in southern Spain is opening an exhibition of rare Islamic art and scientific objects that highlight the use of light in decoration and studies in the Arab world. The exhibition, "Nur: Light in art and science in the Islamic world," is sponsored by the energy company Abengoa and has gathered 150 pieces from collections such those of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and private collectors from around the world. Curated by Sabiha Al Khemir, a Tunisian writer and expert in Islamic art, the exhibition opens on Saturday at the Focus-Abengoa Foundation's gallery in Seville. From there, it travels next year to the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, where it will be open to the public from March 30 to June 29. [link]

Jewish Group Files Legal Action Against Store for Selling 'Mein Kampf'

UPI

NETHERLANDS---A group of Jewish people in the Netherlands have called for the prosecution of an Amsterdam shop that is selling German dictator Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf." In the Netherlands, it is not illegal to own "Mein Kampf," but since 1974, it has been illegal for stores to sell the book, DutchNews.nl reported. The Federation of Dutch Jews has instigated legal action against the Totalitarian Art Gallery, which has three copies of the book for sale. Gallery owner Michiel van Eyck said he is not surprised about the legal action, adding that the "Mein Kampf" is not displayed in store windows, but is part of a collection of historic items that also includes memorabilia from the Nazi era, relics of Stalin's rule in Russia and China under Mao. The Jewish group said it wants the books confiscated from Van Eyck's store. [link]

El Greco's Masterpiece, "The Disrobing of Christ," Enhances the Prado Museum's Collection

ARTDAILY

El Greco, The Disrobing of Christ. Oil on canvas, 300 x 178 cm, 1577-1579, Cabildo S. I. Catedral Primada de Toledo.

SPAIN---From today and until it returns to the Sacristy of Toledo cathedral where it will feature in the events to mark the 400th anniversary of the painter’s death organised by Fundación El Greco for 2014, visitors to the Museo del Prado can see this major work by El Greco on temporary display in Room 9B. This is one of the three galleries devoted to the artist in the Prado that also display The Trinity, another great creation by the artist executed shortly after his arrival in Spain. The Disrobing of Christ, which was painted for a room used to house religious relics in Toledo cathedral, depicts the moment when Christ has ascended to Calvary and is stripped of his clothes before being nailed to the cross. [link]

Scenes of Adultery & Racism Set Visually to Music

THE ROOT
By Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The Story of the Adulterous Moor, from Las Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th century. Cantiga CLXXXV. Escorial, Real Monasterio.

SPAIN---Among the most revealing insights into the devotional culture of medieval Spain are the cantigas, a type of monophonic music. A large corpus of this distinctive song form was composed during the 13th century at the court of Alfonso X, called the Wise, ruler of the Spanish kingdom of Castile. A visual dimension is added to these works in the form of illustrated narrative pages facing the text of the song. The stories are, as in this example, usually divided into six scenes, each headed by a short descriptive text based on the lyrics of the songs. The event illustrated here relates the predicament of a woman falsely accused of adultery by her mother-in-law. The unwilling agent of the fraud is the mouro, or Moor, a servant of the mother-in-law. [link]

A&O Members: Readers, Subscribers, Artists Vote for the 2013 Prize Winners

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

Throughout human history, religions and art have been joined as part of the wider quest for meaning. That is why we need both. Since 2008, Alpha Omega Arts has been surveying our members (including digital readers) about the impact of Religious Art experiences in the United States. The results reflect the majority opinions of A&O members and INSPIRE ME! Artists of the Month, and are a judgement about the impact of the past year. The survey ends on Thursday, October 31. One Alpha Omega Prize winner (inductee) will be announced online each morning at 10:00 a.m., November 1-9, 2013 at the news site: alphaomegaarts.com.

‘Book of Books’ Traces History of the Bible

THE JERUSALEM POST
By Benji Rosen

Dead Sea Scrolls, Photo: david vinkur

ISRAEL---The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem is opening an exclusive exhibit showcasing the connections between Judaism and Christianity. The exhibit, “Book of Books,” juxtaposes Jewish and Christian biblical texts from thousands of years ago, beginning with fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, through to 19th century relics. “We’ve never had an exhibition that shows the powerful link between Judaism and Christianity on this level,” said director of the Bible Lands Museum Amanda Weiss. [link]

A Marriage Made in Art Heaven

THE NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK---Emma Butterfield Presler and Steven Yong Lee were married Saturday at Grace Church in New York, where they met. The Rev. J. Donald Waring, an Episcopal priest and the rector of the church, performed the ceremony. The bride, is the manager of the department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The groom, is the site director of the New York branch of National Justice for Our Neighbors, a ministry of the United Methodist Church that provides programs for immigrants. He is also studying for a Master of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York. [link]

Gods and Heroes: European Drawings of Classical Mythology

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"Diomedes Devoured by Horses" (1866) by Gustave Moreau

CALIFORNIA---Featuring a selection of close to 40 drawings dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century, "Gods and Heroes: European Drawings of Classical Mythology," opens on November 19 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center. The exhibition explores the pictorial representation of myths that have been instrumental in the formation of Western culture. The stories involving the mythical gods and heroes of Greco-Roman antiquity have inspired artists for centuries, testing their abilities to represent complex narratives in visual form. The world of gods and heroes could also be a violent one, and drawings such as Gustave Moreau's representation one of Hercules’s labors, when the hero had to capture the flesh-eating mares of Diomedes, the evil king of Thrace. Hercules, having succeeded in seizing the animals, feeds Diomedes’s body to his own horses.

J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center: "Gods and Heroes: European Drawings of Classical Mythology"; (November 19, 2013–February 9, 2014); 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA; (310)440-7330; getty.edu

The Met's Spectacular Display of Mishneh Torah: Maimonides Would Have Approved

WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Tom L. Freudenheim

More than a work of scholarly interest, it's a rich visual feast. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, for Michael and Judy Steinhardt, by Ardon Bar-Hama

NEW YORK---One page of a spectacular illustrated volume of the Mishneh Torah, a Jewish-law codex, is now on view in a modest special exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The book—created in Northern Italy in the 1450s and jointly acquired this year by the Met and the Israel Museum, where it had been on loan—is far more than a work of Judaic scholarly interest. It's a rich visual feast, though we get only a delightful first course in the Met display. But even that single serving deserves serious attention. [link]

Milwaukee Exhibition Takes on Myths About American Muslims

JOURNAL SENTINEL 
By Annysa Johnson

The Milwaukee Public Library is one of six libraries across the country to host an exhibit on Muslim art, as well as books about Muslim culture.

WISCONSIN---So, here are a few things you might not know about Islam: It has a long history in the Americas, arriving with slaves from West Africa as early as the 1600s. One of the bestselling poets in America over the last decadeis the 13th century Muslim mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. Those are just some of the revelations to emerge from a collection of books and other materials now available at hundreds of libraries across the country, under a program financed by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities. But two local libraries, Milwaukee Public Library's downtown branch and the Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, are taking readers further, with an exhibit and programs exploring Islam in the arts and the American Muslim experience. [link]

Hindu Goddesses Mix With Mortal Art and Activism

WOMENS E-NEWS
By Reshmi Kaur Oberoi

A wounded goddess Lakshmi from the Abused Goddesses campaign.

INDIA---The subject of who can tap Hindu goddess imagery and for what reasons has been stirring rising discussion, particularly in India, where some female artists are invoking goddess power in a year of notoriously brutal gang rapes. In India, taking such artistic license can stir controversy over crossing a religious line. When the Indian ad agency Taproot released an "Abused Goddesses" campaign in India in September, Jasmine Wahi, an American artist of Indian descent, had a two-part reaction. First she liked it; then she didn't. [link]

In two recent gallery shows in New York female artists of Indian heritage emphasized the universal appeal and power of female Hindu deities.

• Jasmine Wahi's exhibit: "The Least Unorthodox Goddess," at Gallery 151 in Manhattan from July 18 through Sept. 22, featured white walls dotted with contemporary paintings, word-art and a solid white box with a hole, that if looked into, revealed an old-fashioned Hindi film actress, mid-song, with a cathedral in the backdrop. 
• Manjari Sharma's exhibit: "Darshan," at the ClampArt gallery, showcased a very different atmosphere in her Sept. 12 to Oct. 12 show to describe a connection between a deity and a mortal. Vedic verses, texts extracted from Hindu holy scriptures, permeated the air and were punctuated by the anecdotal crackling of oil lamps.

The Städel Museum Presents Albrecht Dürer's Art in Context

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"St. Jerome in His Study" by Albrecht Dürer

NETHERLANDS---From October to 2 February 2, 2014, the Städel Museum presents "Albrecht Dürer: His Art in Context" (1471–1528) – presumably the most important artist of the German Renaissance – in a comprehensive special exhibition (Watch video). The show encompasses more than 280 works, including some 200 by Dürer himself. Now an internationally celebrated artist, Dürer was held in high esteem and received several commissions there. In Antwerp, for example, he painted "St Jerome in His Study" (1521, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon). An entire room on the upper floor is dedicated to juxtaposing the various depictions of St Jerome. [link]

China Temple Fresco "Restored" With Cartoon-like Paintings

CHANNEL NEWSASIA

The current fresco in Yunjie Temple in Chaoyang, northeast China's Liaoning province. (AFP PHOTO)

CHINA---Chinese authorities have "restored" ancient Buddhist frescos in a temple by painting them over with cartoon-like figures from Taoist myths, reports said Tuesday, prompting outrage online. It is the latest example of controversial heritage preservation in China, where many ancient structures have been destroyed in recent decades, sometimes to be replaced by replicas of the original. The temple in Chaoyang, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, was built more than 270 years ago and the delicate original paintings had survived, albeit crumbling, until the "refurbishment". The new paintings are bold, simplistic, and of completely different subjects, pictures showed. [link]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS 
By TAHLIB

While receiving artworks for our upcoming exhibition exploring "Religious Risk", one artist asserted they did not have a written statement to explain their work. Why not? "I am an Atheist," they responded, and that absence makes Neha Choksi's “Iceboat” (above) my NEWS OF WEEK. Dressed in the white of a pilgrim, she is videotaped rowing across water in a melting boat of ice. It made me think of atheism, a subject Oprah explored with swimmer Diana Nyad; and Bill Maher celebrated with scientist Richard Dawkins; but what is absence? Choksi is not the artist who dropped off the artwork this week, but in a world where atheists, skeptics and non-believers want to be seen as both different and acceptable, she does help frame the question of what is gained or lost by melting away?

In other religious art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhist Art of Week: Lewis deSoto's inflatable "Paranirvana" to Saint Louis. [More News]
• Christian Art of Week: Artush Papoian's record-breaking Jesus statue in Syria. [More News]
• Hindu Art of Week: Neha Choksi explores absence of self through presence. [More News]
• Islamic Art of Week: Sandow Birk's personal illuminations of Islam's holy text. [More News]
• Judaic Art of Week: Mária Lugossy's Kristallnacht scultpure in Cincinnati. [More News]

It's more than Art. It's Religion. We are believers (and skeptics too), united in the search for human meaning through art from the religious imagination. We believe in the artists and craftsman who dare to explore religious themes through their creativity. When you believe, you join other believers. Some of us join as voting members of the A&O Society; others support the A&O Prize - Youth Scholarships as donors; and most subscribe to this "free" weekly newsletter (or follow on: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or Soundcloud). All are welcome. 

Byzantine Icons in ‘Heaven and Earth,’ at the National Gallery

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Holland Cotter

A processional sweep through Byzantine iconography, with about 170 items for many centuries.

WASHINGTON, D.C.---After arriving with no particular buzz, then being kept on ice by the government shutdown, “Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium From Greek Collections” has finally opened at the National Gallery of Art here, and it’s ambushingly resplendent, like a somber cloud with a fire inside. Like many government-sponsored treasure shows, this one — organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in Athens, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum there — has a promotional angle: It would love to get us to go to Greece and spend some tourist dollars, especially given that country’s recent fiscal woes. I’m out the door, based on some of what’s here. [link]

National Gallery of Art: “Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium From Greek Collections” (October 6, 2013, through March 2, 2014); 2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD; (202) 842-6353; nga.gov

Artist, Sandow Birk Takes a Personal View of Islam's Holy Text

LANCASTER ONLINE
By Tom Knapp

Sandow Birk, Sura 100, 2008

PENNSYLVANIA---Sandow Birk doesn't pretend to understand the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. And his illustrations, layered beneath excerpts from the sacred text, don't claim to interpret it. "He's not actually illustrating the text — he's illustrating his reactions to it," explains Millersville University gallery coordinator Gloria Mast. "He's illustrating his own preconceived notions, in a way," she says. "It's very much a postmodern example of finding your way through something." The process began nearly a decade ago, Mast says, when Birk began his personal journey to understand the Qur'an through his art. The pieces hanging through Nov. 9 at MU's Winter Center are gouache, acrylic and ink on paper. Each is highly distinctive, although somewhat uniform in presentation. [link]

Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center: Sandow Birk's journeys with the Koran (Ends Nov. 9); Campus of Millersville University, 60 W. Cottage Ave., Millersville, PA; 872-3304; artsmu.com

Francisco de Zurbarán: Master of Light Leaps from Shadows

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Roderick Conway Morris

Francisco de Zurbarán painted the martyrdom of Saint Serapion in 1628.

ITALY---The Italian art historian Roberto Longhi described Francisco de Zurbarán as “the greatest constructor of form with light, after Caravaggio and before Cézanne.” Longhi’s comment not only acknowledged the 17th-century Spanish artist’s mastery of light as a means to create form in paint, it also hinted at the powerful influence that this almost exclusively religious painter had on the primarily secular art of the 19th and 20th centuries. “Zurbarán,” at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, is the first show dedicated to the artist since the landmark publication of the first volume of Odile Delenda’s catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work in 2009. [link]

Putnam Valley Resident (NY) Displays Massive Religious Art Mural of Postcards

HUDSON VALLEY REPORTER
By Dan Curtis

NEW YORK---Artist Suzanne Kraus-Mancuso of Putnam Valley has produced an art display at Graymoor’s Our Lady of Atonement Chapel that consists of 1,500 postcard-sized paintings of holy places throughout the world, many from the Hudson Valley. The massive display, which has taken her three years to amass, is considered to be the largest of its kind in the world. Many of the churches, temples and other holy places in the mural depict specific places throughout the Hudson Valley from Manhattan to Troy, N.Y. People from around the state and throughout the world have sent Kraus-Mancuso photos of holy places for her to paint and add to the massive display.[link]

Thailand's Ministry of Culture Arranges Camp Youth to Support Religious Art

THAILAND NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU

THAILAND---The Ministry of Culture presides over the Youth Culture camp opening ceremony in order to support religious, art and cultural learning for youngsters during summer vacation. Minister of Culture Sontaya Khunplome has presided over the opening of the Youth Culture camp, which is opened during summer vacation in order to help children and adolescence to prioritize and manage their time for religious, art and cultural learning. Interesting activities have also been held to give participants a golden opportunity to learn about the biography of the late Supreme Patriarch or Phrasangkharat of Thai Buddhism at the Bowon Temple, observe the Department of the Ten Crafts or Chang Sip Mu’s art and craft demonstration, and watch traditional Khon dance rehearsal. [link]

Crowdfunding for Internet Stock Sales Approved by SEC

BUSINESSWEEK
By Dave Michaels

WASHINGTON, DC---Startups and small businesses could sell ownership stakes in their companies by soliciting investors over the Internet under a proposal advanced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC’s proposal, open for public comment for 90 days, becomes the second regulation from the JOBS Act advanced under Chairman Mary Jo White. Businesses using crowdfunding could raise no more than $5,000 a year from someone whose income or net worth is less than $100,000. Investors with income or net worth greater than $100,000 could contribute as much as 10 percent of their annual income or net worth, to a maximum of $100,000 in one year. Other portal operators that have shown interest in equity crowdfunding include Indiegogo Inc., EquityNet LLC, and RocketHub Inc. Kickstarter Inc. (0772240D:US), the most popular crowdfunding platform to date, has said it doesn’t intend to participate in equity crowdfunding.[link]

Christians for the Visual Arts Traveling Exhibition Arrives in the Ozarks

NSCHRISTIAN COUNTRY
By Moriah Isringhausen, College of the Ozarks

Michael Buesking, Healing of the Blind Man

MISSOURI---The Boger Gallery will present “Touch, Anoint, Heal: God with Us” Oct. 28 through Dec. 1. The exhibition, which will travel across North America for the next two years, features works by prominent artists of faith and is presented by the organization, Christians in the Visual Arts. Artwork for the exhibition was selected by Richard Cummings, associate professor of art at College of the Ozarks. For more information, call (417) 690-2255 or email bogergallery@cofo.edu. [link]

Hindu Tradition of Devotion: In the Works of Ritu Gupta

THE HINDU
By Harshini Vakkalanka

Similar, yet different: Ritu’s imagery and choice of colours

INDIA---Ritu Gupta interprets Indian miniatures and the Radha and Krishna motif in her latest exhibition. The iconography of Krishna and Radha and their idealism has survived and inspired art for hundreds of years through Indian folk art, notably through the tradition of miniatures and murals. And it still continues to inspire, as the Kanpur-based artist Ritu Gupta shows in her exhibition “Radha Raman” that is on view at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. “People look upon their relationship with so much respect and till today, worship the couple. So I was clear that I wanted to depict their relationship.” Ritu’s paintings are inspired by different styles of Indian folk art, predominantly miniatures such as those of the Kangra school or even Chola bronzes. [link]

36 Expressions of Simcha (Joy) by Israel Noach Sauer

CHABAD.ORG
By Israel Noach Sauer

Acrylics, Indian Ink & pencils 50 cm X 35 cm on canvas paper 2013

ARGENTINA---The numerical value of the letters in the Hebrew word "Simcha" - "joy" is 36. In this painting I depict human positions that express joy, using the forms that those letters allow. I used Indian ink to facilitate the hand movement as we see in Chinese art. The result is 36 figures with bones full of joy. Israel Noach Sauer was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he currently lives. He enjoys drawing, painting, playing music, writing and photography. Since discovering Torah Judaism, Sauer uses his artwork to express himself and the ideas he studies.[Purchase Print]

Silk Road Secrets: The Buddhist Art of the Mogao Caves

BBC Arts & Culture
By Paul Hastie

The paintings from the Mogao caves show the development of Chinese art over a period of 1000 years

CHINA---In a secret cave on China's ancient Silk Road, one of the world's most incredible collections of art lay locked away in darkness for 900 years. It held a treasure trove of 50,000 Buddhist paintings and manuscripts dating back to the 5th Century. And it would have remained hidden from the world if it had not been accidentally uncovered by a curious priest - who sold it away for a fraction of its worth. The cave is one of the 500 surviving caverns at the Mogao Caves, on the edge of the Gobi desert, at Dunhuang in western China. Their wonders are on show in London next week as part of the V&A's new "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting" exhibition. [link]

Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize Is a Grand Experiment

CITYBEAT
By Steven Rosen

MICHIGAN---ArtPrize, which is promoted as a “radically open, independently organized international art competition,” began in 2009 as a “social experiment” to rally a city — an entire region — around visual art. It was the creation of Richard DeVos, a local billionaire who co-founded Amway. Within the ArtPrize District, anyone whose property has public access — from an auto body shop in a gritty industrial strip to downtown’s prestigious Grand Rapids Art Museum — is free to select artists to display work. This year, there were 169 venues — including outdoor sites like parks and plazas. Artists and venues connect via the artprize.org website — ArtPrize does not curate entries. [link]

European Design Team Recreates the Pilgrimage to Mecca for the Qatar Museum of Islamic Art

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

QATAR--- In one of this year's most well-received Islamic Art displays, “Hajj, the Journey through Art” opened on October 9th and draws on objects, documents and art to explain the ceremonial aspects and the significance of the pilgrimage to Mecca. ACCIONA Producciones y Diseño, a Europe-based event and exhibition designers were responsible for the design and installation of “Hajj, the Journey through Art”, an exhibition at the Doha Museum of Islamic Art, in Qatar, which will run until January 5th, 2014. This is the third cultural exhibition they've designed in Qatar. In the current exhibition, the designers have used a range of objects to reflect the art and traditions that surround the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Glass Sculpture, by Mária Lugossy to be Unveiled as Part of Kristallnacht Observance

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
By Janelle Gelfland

“Crystal Night” by Maria Lugossy will go on display at Hebrew Union College, Nov. 10

OHIO---A newly acquired sculpture will be dedicated in memory of Rabbi Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for 25 years. “Crystal Night,” a glass sculpture by award-winning Hungarian artist Mária Lugossy, will be unveiled in Mayerson Hall at HUC on Nov. 10. The sculpture evokes a night of terror known as “Kristallnacht” (The Night of Broken Glass), when, across Germany, Nazis attacked Jewish citizens by breaking windows in their buildings, shops and synagogues and killing them or dragging them off to concentration camps. [link]