Posts Tagged ‘Tradition’
Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift…Part II
Are There Rules and Where to Find Them? However, how can we discuss the concept of a list of icon-painting rules if there is the slightest possibility that it might be imaginary? First, let us recall that imaginary entities can define our behavior just as much as physically existing ones. Let us…
Continue reading »The Icon Painting of Fr. Stamatis Skliris: A Call for Authenticity
It could be said that Fr. Stamatis Skliris ranks as one of the most important, albeit idiosyncratic and challenging, contemporary iconographers residing in Greece today: idiosyncratic, because his style stands out in a category of its own, in its personal, expressive potency and unique, at times odd, pictorial synthesis; challenging, because he often breaks all…
Continue reading »‘The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’: A Chinese painting manual offers inspiration to iconographers
Truth is truth wherever it is found. In fact, it is all the more delicious when found in unexpected places. I was at the opening of an exhibition of The St John’s Bible, for which I had been one of the illuminators, and fell into conversation with one of the professors at Minnesota University. We…
Continue reading »Seeking Perfection in the World of Art: The Artistic Path of Father Sophrony
Editorial note: Due to its little-known subject matter and the book’s current limited availability in some regions, the following is a summary, rather than a standard review, of Seeking Perfection in the World of Art: The Artistic Path of Father Sophrony1 – Sister Gabriela’s monograph on the artistic journey and iconographic legacy of Elder Sophrony.…
Continue reading »Towards a Great Pictorial Synthesis: Interview with Ioan Popa
The following is an interview with Romanian master iconographer Ioan Popa. He’s one of the leading representatives of the contemporary icon revival in Romania, focusing in both panel and monumental fresco painting. Our conversation touches on his artistic development, aspects of the professional training of iconographers in Romania and the challenge of creative engagement with…
Continue reading »Imagination, Expression, Icon… Pt. II: Concerning Nous, Techne & Tradition
This is part 2 of a series: Part 1 Because they are the works of God, who is Himself good, the senses and sensible objects are good; but they cannot in any way be compared with the intellect [nous] and with intelligible realities. -St. Thalassios, On Love, Self-control and Life in Accordance with the…
Continue reading »Imagination, Expression, Icon: Reclaiming the Internal Prototype
Editor’s Note: This article is a revised and expanded version of the talk with the same title given at the symposium, Living Tradition: Painting Sacred Icons in the 21st Century, organized by the Orthodox Arts Journal and which took place on May 23, 2015, at Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Mt. Pleasant, SC. This post is…
Continue reading »A Double Standard? Some Clarifications on Icon Painting Theory
Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. ‒Matt. 13:52 It is the irrational impulses that yearn for innovation. …
Continue reading »Contemporary Byzantine Painting: An Interview With Fikos
Contemporary Byzantine Painting: Street Art and the Icon in Convergence An Interview with Fikos By Fr. Silouan Justiniano Graffiti is one of those art forms that seems to have no relationship whatsoever with the liturgical art of the icon. Unlike the icon’s inextricable reliance on Tradition, graffiti appears to embody an anti-traditional and revolutionary…
Continue reading »A Matter of “Ethos”: An Interview with the Painter Markos Kampanis
We often forget that our contemporary art, although the offspring of the 20th century revolutionary avant-garde, has its own set of artistic dogmas, its form of “orthodoxy”, so to speak. Ironically, although the avant-garde might have shattered the stifling shackles of the Academy, it has now itself become another form of restrictive academy, forming an…
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