Chocolate Jesus

A Manhattan art gallery cancelled its Easter-week exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ after an outcry by Roman Catholics. The sculpture reflects on several issues of consumerism, religion and art that may be seen as relevant discussions in light of the season. The most overt commentary is likely the parallel between the large numbers of chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs purchased for a day that for Christians marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that the chocolate is a dark brown may also be worthy of some contemplation. Artistically there are at least two long-standing issues here: the debate over nudity in images of a religious topic (Michelangelo even faced fierce resistance to his use of nude figures in his Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.) and the debate of the use of innovative versus traditional mediums (Why should stone or paint be given more respect or priority than the use of plastics or in this case chocolate?).

NEW YORK Mar 31, 2007 (AP)— A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Catholics complained.

The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan. Roger Smith Hotel president James Knowles cited the public outcry for his decision.

The reaction "is crystal clear and has brought to our attention the unintended reaction of you and other conscientious friends of ours to the exhibition," Knowles wrote in the two-paragraph cancellation notice.

Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director, resigned in protest.

The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."

But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as "a sickening display." Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.

"In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety," Semler said.

The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.

The artwork was created from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, the Cavallaro creation does not include a loincloth.

Cavallaro hoped the sculpture could go on display elsewhere, according to Semler.

As often happens when artworks have attention brought to them for being "controversial", the chocolate Jesus is being raised from its obscurity and will likely become well known and even infamous. The sculpture was to only be displayed for two hours each day this week, but now is being discussed and shown in photos around the world. The similarities to photographer Andres Serrano's Piss Christ or Chris Ofili's The Virgin Mary made up of paper collage, oil paint, glitter, polyester resin and elephant dung on linen are obvious. But unlike the latter when then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to withdraw a grant from the Brooklyn Museum of Art, current New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated, "If you want to give the guy some publicity, talk more about it, make a big fuss. If you want to really hurt him, don't pay attention."

This is also not a new concept. The casting of an image of Jesus Christ in chocolate has been done many times before for both commercial purposes (the first two images - buy your own) and by artists to very little fanfare.














Two examples from artist George Heslop:












Also in 2005 a Budapest based group did a "public" exhibition titled Corpus Christi Chocolate that was exhibited in the candy isle of supermarkets.

The Corpus Christi Chocolate examines the distant concepts of commodification, the symbolic complexity of the Eucharist, and the complex dynamics of obtaining sensual/spiritual pleasure through symbolic acts of consumerism. The piece twists the everyday practise of purchasing chocolate with the meaning of the Eucharist. Situated as it is in the very heart of consumer society, the supermarket, the Corpus Christi Chocolate comments on these themes by supplying its message in commercial spaces subverted for its own artistic use.

Mosaic L.A.

This day long tour of historical public mosaics in Los Angeles will explore the beauty and the artistry of our city's mosaics and highlights the continued vibrancy of the ancient tradition of architectural mosaics, which is highly evident in Los Angeles.

Highlights of Mosaic L.A. include:

• The Towers of Simon Rodia (Watts Towers), an L.A. icon and folk mosaic built by one man over 30 years using everyday objects
• St. John's Episcopal Church, site of a Byzantine-inspired ecclesiastical mosaic designed by the artisans of the historic Judson Studios
• Murals in downtown Los Angeles by Joseph Young, including a 36-foot panel depicting Los Angeles's architectural history
• One of the extraordinary mosaic facades by Millard Sheets on a former Home Savings and Loan building (now Washington Mutual)
• The Birth of Liberty mosaic at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, the largest historical mosaic in the United States (162 feet long by 28 feet high)

For more information, related events, and tickets, please visit www.laconservancy.org.

This tour would be a great experience for anyone that wants to get a look at how intricate mosaics actually are! It's amazing how history repeats itself and we copy old art and revamp it a little!

Suggestions

$200 Art Writing Scholarship

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Application Deadline: April 6, 2007
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Giving Up Old Art to Gain New

This has been getting some heated coverage in the news lately. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York is scheduled to auction off a collection of 207 artworks consisting of antiquities and medieval and Renaissance art to raise funds in order to expand its contemporary art holdings. The importance and rarity of some of the artworks have raised opposition to the sale.

New York Times:

For a city that has lost so much unwillingly over the last several decades — industries, prestige, jobs and more than half its population — perhaps it was inevitable that a decision to allow anything of great value to leave here willingly would be met with howls of protest.

In this case the wealth is cultural, a collection of antiquities and medieval and Renaissance art that has been given to, or bought by, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery here since its founding in 1862 and that, beginning next week, will go on the block in a highly anticipated series of sales at Sotheby’s in Manhattan. The museum’s director and board of trustees said that the decision to sell the pieces had not been easy, but that for a museum whose mission has long focused on Modern and contemporary art, the antiquities were a luxury — especially in a city with few deep pockets — it could no longer afford.

With the money the museum expects to raise — at least $15 million, but possibly twice that amount — it will expand its relatively small endowment for buying new work at a time when the competition for contemporary art is fierce.

Since the decision was announced last November, the anger among a dedicated group of critics has stunned even the museum’s officials, who had not expected the move to be popular. The county legislature and the city council have both held hearings on the sale, which a committee of the council voted to oppose. The action was symbolic, since the museum board has broad authority to manage the collection.

On Monday night in a meeting forced by the museum’s membership, more than 600 people filled an auditorium for what amounted to an impassioned town hall meeting on the issue. The meeting was made more contentious because the museum’s opponents had filed a lawsuit just a day earlier asking a state judge for an injunction to stop the sales, the first of which is scheduled for Tuesday.

“We weren’t expecting to be sued, which I think is a new low for the community,” said Charles W. Banta, the president of the board that governs the museum, in a recent interview.

Many art museums and other institutions regularly sell works to buy others, often with little or no public attention. But over the last few years, several high-profile sales have brought the issue of deaccessioning to the fore, raising questions about whether museums have become too eager to make trade-offs at a time when the art market is surging. Those questions are particularly pointed for smaller, often financially struggling museums like the Albright, where the departure of any work, much less acknowledged masterpieces, can loom large.

Adding to the opposition’s fervor is the fact that several of the items in the proposed sale — a rare Roman bronze of Artemis; a Shang dynasty wine vessel; an Indian granite figure of Shiva considered one of the most important ever to come to market — could be highly sought after by places like the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“These are wonderful things, many of them masterpieces, works of the highest aesthetic achievement,” said Carl Dennis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who has led a highly vocal group opposed to the sale, the Buffalo Art Keepers. “I don’t see why we have to sell off the old to buy the new.”

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ChaffeyArt.Org Logo Design Contest

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more at www.ChaffeyArt.org

Louvre’s Name will be Extended for the First Time Elsewhere in the World

New York Times IN PARIS, March 6, 2007

A $520 million museum project that Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, agreed to pay to attach the Louvre’s name to a museum that hopes to open in 2012. Abu Dhabi will pay France for an exchange for art loans, special exhibitions and management advice.

For the French the agreement builds controversy over the issue of “selling” its museum name. Initially, it will be renting its name for a 30 year period. Something the French have never done. The French will be earning a large profit from this agreement and enhancing political ties.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi, a 260,000-square-foot complex covered by a flying-saucer-like roof and endless tranquil water surrounding it, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. The expected cost to build this beautiful and modern museum will be around $108 million.

The French may be proud of their culture, but they are even better in helping build the appreciation of art away from Europe, such as the Middle East. Definitely, a great time for Art and the sake of anyone who wants to learn and enjoy it. And why not in Abu Dhabi?

Marie Antoinette

Thank you to everyone that attended the Chaffey Art Organization's Movie Night on Monday. There was a great turnout with 52 students in attendance for the viewing of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Denise Johnson gave an excellent introduction to the Palais de Versailles and the history of Marie Antoinette before the film (view the images from her presentation here) and led a discussion afterward. Keep an eye on their calendar for upcoming events.

Denise Johnson discusses the Palais de Versailles.

ASCC Senators Zack and Brittany enjoy the film.

Egypt's 4000 year old grave

Egypt, 4,000 year old tomb discovered.









A tomb made of mud bricks that goes back 4000 years before is said to be discovered in Egypt near the pyramid of Saggara, south of Cairo. The archeologist found a wooden statue that is said to be of the priest Ka-Hay. They also found a wooden door which at the time the ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of the dead used it to leave their tomb. Now we have one more reason to visit the ancient Egypt, who never stops to surprise us.

Translated from Albanian by Inva Buis.
Photo courtesy of Reuters.

Local Art Museum Volunteer Opportunity

ATTENTION ART STUDENTS or STUDENTS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT ART: VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE NEEDED WITH PERMANENT COLLECTION INVENTORY AND EXHIBIT PRESENTATIONS IN LOCAL MUSEUM OF ART

The Chaffey Community Art Association (CCAA) Museum of Art needs assistance for an inventory of its Permanent Collection and with the presentation of current exhibits.

The Permanent Collection of CCAA is a collection of paintings in several genres featuring Artists of the California School of Art founded by Millard Sheets. Other artists in the collection include Milford Zornes, Robert Wood, and Emil Kosa Jr. We need assistance in order to conduct a complete inventory of the collection. Physical labor will be required.

Our Exhibit Committee could use some assistance in the preparation of our current exhibits. From now until June 2007 we will be changing our exhibit every month. In January we will present a water color exhibit followed by a Plein Air show in February. Our season will culminate with a Permanent Collection Exhibit in June.

You will have a chance to meet and work with some of the better known artists in our area if you accept this responsibility. Hours are flexible, but limited to a period between 12 and 4:30 pm (Wednesday - Sunday). CCAA’s Museum of Art is located in the historic Filippi Winery on Baseline Road in Rancho Cucamonga near Victoria Gardens.

Please call George Morris (Head of the Trustees for the Permanent Collection) at 909-982-9858 for more information.

Ancient "Solor Observatory" Possibly Identified in Peru

In the news today:

Archaeologists believe an ancient stone structure in Peru is evidence that indigenous sun cults in South America predate the Incas by more than 1,800 years.

The 2,300-year-old Thirteen Towers of Chankillo, 400km north of the capital Lima, has previously been identified as a fort, a redoubt, a sacrificial temple and a staging ground for ceremonial battles.

But archaeologists from Lima's PUCP university are confident their new analysis shows the coastal ruin was used to mark the summer and winter solstices, as well as providing a calendar accurate to within a few days.

The eponymous thirteen towers are situated north to south on a hill in the centre of the complex, with sites to the east and west adorned with relics supposedly acting as viewing locations.

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Scenery Pictures of San Juan Capistrano

A Day at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, California.

For many years I have gone to many missions inside California studying the different architectural elements of each mission. I had heard of the mission of San Juan Capistrano before by others, but had never been there myself, so one day I decided it was time I would see it for myself and drove all the way down there. Although the mission was not as huge or had as many fascinating historic pieces as I thought it would be, I had the chance to learn about the lives of the people who once lived there and see the chapels the missionaries had prayed at. Unfortunately, I was not able to take as many pictures as I would have liked to, but here are a few of the pictures that I had taken there.

Pictures of an old chapel that has been perserved for many years after it had been destroyed.





Pictures of flowers inside the gardens and water fountain.