Exhibitions
8th Catholic Arts Biennial
September 6 - October 29, 2021
September 6 - October 29, 2021
The 8th Catholic Arts Biennial features the work of forty-nine contemporary artists, working across media to visualize the stories, beliefs, and rituals of Christianity in new and arresting ways. Mr. David Brinker, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at Saint Louis University served as this year's juror. Of the 396 works submitted on behalf of 159 artists working across the United States as well as internationally, 52 pieces were chosen.
The 2021 Biennial encouraged submissions executed by women and persons of color. It has been the expressed intent of the Biennial’s organizers to amplify artists whose work has been overwhelmingly absent from America’s churches and largely omitted from Western art historical surveys. It is towards this aim that the 2021 exhibition seeks to deepen our collective understanding and appreciation of the diversity of Catholic art being made today.
Artists represented in the Biennial have utilized modern methods as well as traditional techniques in the creation of images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, biblical narratives, and the sacraments, along with works that encourage reflection surrounding the cosmos, the interconnectivity of human and ecological life, racial injustice, civil conflict, and the sanctity of human life. These works entreat contemplation while challenging us to respond to the needs and anxieties of our communities with prayer, compassion, and creativity.
The 2021 Biennial encouraged submissions executed by women and persons of color. It has been the expressed intent of the Biennial’s organizers to amplify artists whose work has been overwhelmingly absent from America’s churches and largely omitted from Western art historical surveys. It is towards this aim that the 2021 exhibition seeks to deepen our collective understanding and appreciation of the diversity of Catholic art being made today.
Artists represented in the Biennial have utilized modern methods as well as traditional techniques in the creation of images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, biblical narratives, and the sacraments, along with works that encourage reflection surrounding the cosmos, the interconnectivity of human and ecological life, racial injustice, civil conflict, and the sanctity of human life. These works entreat contemplation while challenging us to respond to the needs and anxieties of our communities with prayer, compassion, and creativity.
The Scrutinies, Mary Kay Fosnacht, quilted cotton, 39" x 72" (overall).
Royal Patronage: Selections from the King Ludwig I of Bavaria Gift
Fall 2020 - Ongoing
Fall 2020 - Ongoing
By 1852, Saint Vincent had begun to receive shipments of artwork, musical instruments, and books gifted to the nascent community through the auspices of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Employed for their educative and elevative potential, these items were linked to the promulgation of German identity and culture in America. Royal Patronage: Selections from the King Ludwig I of Bavaria Gift traces an important link between America’s first Benedictine community and its royal Bavarian benefactor.
Encounter + Exchange:
Central and West African Carving from the Anna and Tadeusz Kozminski Collection
Fall 2021
Central and West African Carving from the Anna and Tadeusz Kozminski Collection
Fall 2021
Using a diversity of materials, artists transform African hardwoods like ebony, stones like malachite, and even the infamous ivory into beautiful and culturally significant objects like masks, sculptures, and drums. Curated by SVC junior, Kelsie Patton C 24, Encounter + Exchange features carvings from Tanzania, Zambia, and South African artists.
Above: Tree of Life, Makonde, late 20th century, ebony, Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections, Gift of Anna and Tadeusz Kozminski.
Roman Verostko and the Cloud of Unknowing:
From Ideas in Mind to Ideas in Code
Virtual Exhibition - Ongoing
Roman Verostko (born 1929) is an internationally recognized figure in the development of generative, algorithmic art. Unlike many of his contemporaries who came from engineering and computer science backgrounds, Verostko was a Benedictine monk at Saint Vincent Archabbey and a professionally-trained painter and scholar well-versed in the history of art, philosophy, logic, and theology before he started to work with electronic and digital media in the late 1960s.
Curated by Kerry Morgan and Melanie Pankau at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the exhibition features over seventy original works from Saint Vincent’s holdings, encompassing Verostko’s early screen/video pieces, electronic machines, mural projects, artist books, and newer editioned prints. Rather than a strict chronological retrospective, the exhibition is organized around major themes that appear throughout Verostko’s work, such as his search for pure form, his interest in logic, his merging of eastern and western aesthetics and philosophy, and his understanding of his home “Pathway Studio" as a modern day electronic scriptorium.
From Ideas in Mind to Ideas in Code
Virtual Exhibition - Ongoing
Roman Verostko (born 1929) is an internationally recognized figure in the development of generative, algorithmic art. Unlike many of his contemporaries who came from engineering and computer science backgrounds, Verostko was a Benedictine monk at Saint Vincent Archabbey and a professionally-trained painter and scholar well-versed in the history of art, philosophy, logic, and theology before he started to work with electronic and digital media in the late 1960s.
Curated by Kerry Morgan and Melanie Pankau at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the exhibition features over seventy original works from Saint Vincent’s holdings, encompassing Verostko’s early screen/video pieces, electronic machines, mural projects, artist books, and newer editioned prints. Rather than a strict chronological retrospective, the exhibition is organized around major themes that appear throughout Verostko’s work, such as his search for pure form, his interest in logic, his merging of eastern and western aesthetics and philosophy, and his understanding of his home “Pathway Studio" as a modern day electronic scriptorium.
