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Dialoguing with Sacred Texts - Opening ReceptionPost an Event »

Manresa Gallery

July 28 - July 28, 2013

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650 Parker Ave San Francisco, CA 94118
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Dialoguing with Sacred Texts - Opening Reception Artist : Mel Day Study Guide for Experimental Contemplatives, Volume One: Performative Exchange, 2011 (detail) Photo credit: JefferyCross.
Dialoguing with Sacred Texts at Manresa Gallery July 28-October 13, 2013 Curated by Michelle Townsend Featured Artists: Seyed Alavi, Donald and Era Farnsworth, Renee Billingslea, Meg Hitchcock, Sandow Birk, Terri Garland, Mel Day, Lisa Kokin Sacred texts can heal or divide, igniting wars or revealing a path to peaceful coexistence. They may be exquisite objects or humble devotional tools, but our relationship to them imbues their content with enormous meaning. Curated by Michelle Townsend, Dialoguing with Sacred Texts, presents the work of contemporary artists alongside rare books and objects to examine the nature of these writings as understood in a public, often secular context. In the context of the Manresa Gallery, inside St. Ignatius Church, an investigation of these layers takes on new meaning. Artists included in this exhibition were carefully chosen for their integration of approach, intent, and finished work. They explore a range of complex questions: What matters most about sacred text, the object or the content? Is the alteration or transformation of a holy book blasphemous? How does the repetition of text as spoken prayer, chant, or song affect its meaning? Their approaches enlist calligraphy, photography, drawing, and performance. Some works nod to specific faiths, while others are reverently ecumenical. Manresa Gallery 650 Parker Street San Francisco, CA 94118