Reviews
Painting as Prayer, The Art of A. Sophrony Sakharov
Editorial note: This is the third part of a series on the artistic path and iconographic legacy of Saint Sophrony the Athonite (1896-1993) as seen through a collection of monographs written by Sister Gabriela, a member of his monastic community in Essex, England. The previous articles, Seeking Perfection in the World of Art can be…
Continue reading »‘Being’, The Art and Life of Father Sophrony
Archimandrite Sophrony, painting Christ at the Last Supper, early 1980s, the Monastery of St John the Baptist, Refectory.[1] Image: ©The Stavropegic Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex. Editorial note: This is the second part of a series on the artistic path and iconographic legacy of Saint Sophrony (Sakharov) as seen through a collection…
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 »Finding Beauty in Beauty and the Beast – the Perspective of an Orthodox Christian Artist
Disney’s new live-action movie, Beauty and the Beast, has stirred up considerable controversy. Proponents of both feminism and the gay agenda have claimed the movie as a triumph for their cause. As an Orthodox Christian who has great respect for the power of fairy tales to shape our world view, I found these allegations troubling.…
Continue reading »The Sacred Arts Initiative “Rethinking Sacred Arts”
The Sacred Arts Initiative “Rethinking Sacred Arts” A Review Although the task of OAJ has mainly been to work towards the promotion of the revival of traditional Orthodox liturgical arts, along the way we have not hesitated to engage the sphere of secular art. This has not only been relegated to a critique of its…
Continue reading »Andrew Gould featured in Second Issue of Road to Emmaus Journal
In a previous post, I spoke of the great honor of being interviewed for the Road to Emmaus Journal. In June of 2015, I spent a week with editor Mother Nectaria (McLees), discussing the art and architecture of the Orthodox Church. This second issue continues our interview, and is titled Reflecting the Heavenly Jerusalem: Building…
Continue reading »Review of “Icon As Communion” by George Kordis
As an Orthodox convert in search of traditional Christian images, as someone who fled the contemporary art world to find a home in liturgical art, George Kordis‘ iconography challenges me in so many ways. Kordis’ virtuosity is undeniable and his mannerism both of form and color refer all at once to Byzantine art and to Modern and…
Continue reading »Travelogue: The International Society for Orthodox Church Music 2015
In June of 2014, I was a participant in Kurt Sander’s Pan-Orthodox Liturgical Music Symposium at Northern Kentucky University. While I was there, a gentleman whose acquaintance I had newly made, one David Lucs, on hand to give a presentation on children’s music education, was rather excitedly asking virtually everybody during a coffee break, “Are…
Continue reading »A New Landmark: Steinberg’s “Passion Week”
Every so often a record comes along that changes the landscape of choral music. Robert Shaw’s 1989 recording of the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil comes to mind. It remains one of Shaw’s finest recordings, and, in my opinion, still the best overall recording of the piece to the date, minor flaws in interpretation and Slavonic diction…
Continue reading »Donald Sheehan, The Grace of Incorruption – Book Review
Editor’s Note: Donald Sheehan, whom I knew in the last years of his life, truly lived and breathed liturgical poetry. He awoke long before dawn and prayed the psalter for hours each day, developing a rare and profound linguistic and spiritual understanding of it. Ultimately, he wrote his own translation, The Psalms of David, which…
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