Posts by Jonathan Pageau
Pan-Orthodox Music Symposium Announced for June 2016
Registration now open for Minneapolis event Minneapolis, MN – The International Society for Orthodox Church Music (www.isocm.com) will host a pan-Orthodox music symposium at St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral from Wednesday, June 22 through Sunday, June 26, 2016. The event will include presentations and workshops, music reading sessions, rehearsals, and will culminate in a festive hierarchical…
Continue reading »Icon Carving of Christ Pulling St-Peter from the Water.
Since I began icon carving full time 4 years ago now, I had a secret list of the things I wanted to make, certain objects and images that were dear to me. To my own joy and surprise, I have been progressively checking off items from that list with ongoing commissions, making even those objects and…
Continue reading »A Better Orthodox Arts Journal
We are now well into our fourth year here at OAJ and could not be more pleased with the overwhelming support we have received from the liturgical arts community. We want to thank our readers for following us, engaging with us and sharing our content to others. With almost 900 subscribers and quality collaborators from…
Continue reading »Two images of the Church and why they should not be confused.
Christological and Pneumatological Images of the Church In early Christian art, there developed a series of complementary visual relationships which I have discussed on numerous occasions and have come to often characterize as the right hand and the left hand of Christ. These elements, like the ass and the ox, St-Peter and St-Paul, the good…
Continue reading »Hope and Fragility: An Interview With Neo Coptic Iconographer Stéphane René
The Coptic tradition of iconography is one of which we know very little about in the West. So many of the ancient monuments were destroyed or came to disrepair as Copts in Egypt were subject to Islamic rule in the 7th century. It is only recently that the old monuments are being rediscovered, cleaned and restored properly.…
Continue reading »The Samaritan Woman, Baptism and the Hexagon
A little while ago an iconographer wrote me to ask advice on what shape he should make the well in an icon of the Samaritan Woman, who is known in tradition as St-Photini. After answering him, I realized that this detail in the icon is a good example of how so much can be hidden…
Continue reading »Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov: Revival and Modernity in Orthodox Carving
Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov are recognized as forerunners in the rediscovery of the carved icon and we have featured their work here before. This time we present a feature interview with the Azbuhanov couple thanks to the kind collaboration of Paul Stetsenko who translated the whole interview from Russian into English for us. The Azbuhanovs carvings circulate in the…
Continue reading »The Bronze Icons of Alex Aleksejevas
Aleksandras Aleksejevas is a Lithuanian Sculptor who now works our of the UK. He has been member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors since 2004 and also a member of the International Art Foundation of Moscow since 2000. He works in several mediums, though his favorite is bronze, and it is in this medium that he has…
Continue reading »The Transfiguration in Shadow.
Last year I was asked by a patron to carve a large icon of the Transfiguration. She said: “I am curious to see how you will do that.” I understood immediately what she meant, and her comment for me went to the core of what icon carving attempts to grapple with. So much of Orthodox theology, especially since St-Gregory of Palamas…
Continue reading »Introducing BART: Byzantine Arts Today
Last year I wrote a few articles on a new initiative in Canada called BYZANTIUM: Ottawa International Byzantine Arts Symposium an initiative under the direction of Lesia Maruschak. One of the highlights of Byzantium was the opening exhibition featuring the icons of George Kordis, several Romanian iconographers and two Canadian artists: myself and Maruschak. BYZANTIUM’s highlight…
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