RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

For several days, we've watched the tragedy unfold in NYC and, if you are like me, you've wrestled with feelings of shock and disbelief. At the same time, our lives continued to flow with births, deaths, weddings and divorces …all defining moments and also times of great joy or great pain. In Bill Viola’s video installation, "The Raft" (above) the survivors of a storm struggle in an onslaught of water, a metaphor for the collective experience of natural disasters and acts of war. Viola's work is a memorial, and we need memorials to remember. It is also a work of religious art that helps us to remember our spiritual response to the storms of our lives. For us, Viola's upcoming Miami show is also a reminder of why we vote this week for the annual A&O Prize for Religious Art ...to remember.

In other Religious Art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Judaism in Art: Inspired by his faith, David Wander's "The Jonah Drawings." [More News]
• Christianity in Art: Canadian artist Angela Bulloch turns our gaze to heaven. [More News]
• Buddhism in Art: Wang Zixuan brings old traditions to the modern age. [More News]
• Islam in Art: 1,600 years of "Beauty and Belief" comes to Indianapolis. [More News]
• Hinduism in Art: Ancient Hindu idols created to see the viewer come to Missouri. [More News]

Lastly, A&O member-subscribers are voting through November 9, 2012 to honor our American Religious Artist of the Year 2012: [sign-up here]. This year's honorees will be announced in next week's NEWS OF WEEK, on Sunday, November 10th. On that day, they will join the list of previous inductees(2008-2012). It's an annual opportunity for us Believers to celebrate Creators who advance religious understanding in the United States. Who is the A&O Religious Art Prize for? It's for you.