“These paintings and ceremonial objects are not static; they are in communion with those who sit in their midst, awakening new and renewed ways of seeing, deepening ways of doing, and revealing beauty in light dazzling and evanescent. In this sacred space, we are porous to each other and to God.”

– Tobi Kahn, The Meaning of Beauty

The last month at Manresa Gallery has been a busy one as we prepare for the solo exhibition  Sacred Synergies: Works by Tobi Kahn opening on October 17, 2010. Kahn who hails from New York City, will present a talk, Creating Sacred Space, prior to the opening reception in the gallery.

SVIRH

MIPHRA

The exhibition includes 4  large scale paintings from a series originally created for a permanent installation in Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; URAH a series of 12 smaller paintings from the evolution of his larger and continuing Sky/Water series; and a collection of smaller Jewish  ceremonial objects. Tobi Kahn is a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 60 museum and groups shows since he was selected as one of nine artists to be included in the 1985 Guggenheim Museum exhibition, New Horizons in American Art. Works by Kahn are in major museum, corporate, and private collections.

For thirty years, Kahn has been steadfast in the pursuit of his distinct vision and persistent in his commitment to the redemptive possibilities of art. In paint, stone, and bronze, he has explored the correspondence between the intimate and monumental. While his early works drew on the tradition of American Romantic landscape painting, his more recent pieces reflect his fascination with contemporary science, inspired by the micro-images of cell formations and satellite photography.

OHRENH IV

Kahn’s belief in art’s spiritual capacity is at odds with the contemporary emphasis on irony and displacement. As Peter Selz, the curator, wrote: “His paintings and his sculptures, executed with consummate craftsmanship, are animated by a yearning for the transcendent…at a time when the concept of beauty has become anathematized in critical discourse and the perception of the spiritual remains marginalized in the discussions of the art world.”

Learn more about Tobi Kahn on his website

SACRED SYNERGIES: WORKS BY TOBI KAHN
October 17, 2010 – January 9, 2011

ARTIST’S TALK
Creating Sacred Space
Sunday, October 17 / 10:45am-12:00pm
Xavier Hall [Fromm Building], USF campus

DISCUSSION
Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist Responses to Art + Healing
A Conversation with Clergy
Sunday, November 14 / 3:00-4:30pm
Manresa Gallery, St. Ignatius Church