6 Religious Art Shows of 2011

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

A nation of creators, believers, and celebrators best describes the religious art moves made by American cultural institutions during 2011. Below, with one exhibit for each major religious tradition, are AOA NEWS’s most memorable 2011 picks, and dialogue starters.


"Word of God Series" | The Andy Warhol Museum | Pittsburgh, PA

During it's sixteen year history, The Andy Warhol Museum has consistently presented difficult and provocative exhibitions in order to spark community dialogue, and this year's Word of God Series is another high-mark in their history of successes. Coinciding with both the 400th anniversary of King James Bible, and the Arab Spring uprisings, The Warhol spent the year exploring the world's five major religious traditions with five separate exhibitions by living artists, one artist for each faith. At a time when governments around the world are wrestling with questions of secular versus theological power, The Warhol gave us a way to engage those complex issues through the lens of artists. The final exhibition, The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance exploring Christianity is on view through February 5, 2012.

"The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara" | Asia Society of New York | NYC

Thanks to the Asia Society of New York City, this past August, The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara came to Manhattan. Skeptics asked, "Is the show worth all the Pakistan vs. US government headaches it caused?" Anyone who visited easily answered, "yes". Rich with "bodhisattvas, polycultural goddesses and occasional flights into stratosphere splendor" according to one reviewer, this show of ancient Buddhist art pulsed with human warmth, and provided cultural and diplomatic lessons at time when the world desperately needs a helping hand.

"Passages" | Oklahoma City Museum of Art  | Oklahoma City, OK

Angling to position itself for establishing a world-class museum built around their extensive bible collection, the Green family of Oklahoma launched Passages an interactive bible exhibition this past May. It began at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in the heart of evangelical America. This imaginatively designed exhibition is a must-see experience for those seeking to understand the rise of Christianity from its Jewish roots through to its modern-day evangelical stewards in America. Grounded with an exquisite and rare collection of biblical manuscripts, printed Bibles, and historical items is presented in a uniquely American style. Passages is currently on view in Atlanta, GA before portions of the collection head to The Vatican.

"Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior" | Frist Center for the Visual Arts | Nashville, TN

Five years in the making and finally opening this past February through May, the scope of Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior was vast, covering an epic sweep of the religious and cultural spectrum of Hinduism. This was not an exhibit for casual sipping, it was an exhibition in which you sat and savored one full and rich glass of richness at a time. Considered the world's oldest living faith, something that surprised more than a few Christians, this new exhibit at the Frist Center was the first major museum exhibition to focus on the Hindu deity Vishnu (Brooklyn Museum hosted the exhibit after it left the Frist). Vishnu encompassed a complex spectrum of regions, periods and traditions. Including 170 sculptures, paintings and objects from as early as the fourth century, the exhibit displayed work from over 40 lenders worldwide, boasting a number of pieces that had never been exhibited.

"Art of the Arab Lands" | Metropolitan Museum of Art | NYC

Since 2003, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Islamic Art galleries have been closed in preparation for what many consider the major religious art opening of 2011. On November 1, fifteen renovated galleries opened offering a fresh perspective on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of more than 12,000 Islamic works of art. The vast collection which spans 13 centuries and an area ranging from Spain to India was once succinctly termed Islamic Art, but has been re-named, as Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia. The new emphasis on geography grew out of the view that while religion unifies the collection, region diversifies it. During this, America's dark age of Islamaphobia, city leaders hope this exhibition helps to shed new light on a faith tradition that is both as rich & complex as the Christianity most Americans so eagerly embrace.

"Art of Matrimony" | The Jewish Museum | NYC
 
In the year that marriage equality for gay & lesbian couples came to the state of New York, The Jewish Museum created, Art of Matrimony an elaborate exhibition of Jewish marriage contracts. The Ketubbah, as they are called is a part of 2,000 years of cultural heritage that documents the bridegroom's obligations toward his bride in the event of death, or worse: divorce. Culled from the world-renowned collection at the The Jewish Theological Seminary Library, thirty Ketubbot were featured, dating from the twelfth through twenty-first centuries. For non-Jews, this exhibition helped us to explore varied marriage custom during a time when the institution of marriage itself was once again changing.