Anne Patterson and More at St. John the Divine

"Divine Pathways" by Anne Patterson 

While visits to the big museum exhibits are always on my New York itinerary, I'm making an effort to get off the beaten path as well. And so Suzanne and I found ourselves at St. John the Divine taking in the Anne Patterson exhibit (and more). It was glorious. 

Patterson's work is not new to me. In fact, Sarasota art lovers now have the opportunity to see her work -- and to experience one of her ribbon installations -- in "The Truth of the Night Sky" at Sarasota Art Museum. It's terrific. Having seen a couple of Patterson's installations, I ridiculously thought the exhibit at St. John the Divine would have basically the same impact. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. People -- including me -- literally gasp when they enter the church and see the colorful ribbons unfurled from the 177' high nave. It was truly a religious experience (albeit of the artistic variety). In this setting, with the sun coming through the stained glass windows, the work served as a reminder that there is beauty in a world that seems increasingly dark. 

With stained glass windows

Shockingly (not), I kicked into docent mode. I found myself walking up to random people and asking them if I could tell them a bit about the artist. Fun fact: Patterson has synesthsethia, a condition that makes her see colors when she listens to music. I could imagine sacred music playing as she and her team created the ribbons that would become the installation. Also of note is that Patterson's degree was in theater design rather than visual art. I suspect this background came into play when creating this installation for the world's largest cathedral. Talk about a big stage. But enough from me. You can hear Patterson herself talk about the Divine Pathways project by clicking here. And to see more of her work, click here. Finally, a reminder that you can enlarge any image by clicking on it. It's not the same as being there, but it will give you a better sense of the experience. 

"Our Lady of Ferguson and All Those 
Killed by Gun Violence" by Mark Doox (2016)

We of course spent time exploring the rest of the Cathedral while we were there. Despite my years in New York, I had never been. It's an amazing structure with all styles of art throughout the building. As expected, there were a fair number of Byzantine-style sculptures and paintings of Christ, the Virgin Mary and various saints. But there were also works like "Our Lady of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence" by Mark Doox. Holy moly. 

Doox is known for his iconography featuring Black figures. Here, the Virgin Mary is a Black woman who holds her hands up in an "I surrender" position. I wasn't surprised to learn this striking image was created in the aftermath of the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown that led to the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. What was a surprise, though, was learning that Doox has created Black iconography in response to racism in our country for the past 30+ years. I'd like to go on a deep dive here, but I'll leave it to you if you're interested. Click here for an article in the NY Times about Doox and here to see images of his work on his Instagram feed. I became an instant fan and am definitely interested in checking out his graphic novel entitled "The N-Word of God." 

"The Life of Christ" by Keith Haring (1990) 

The cathedral has multiple chapels that serve as more intimate settings for prayer and contemplation. The altarpiece in one of these spaces was created by Keith Haring. Haring got his start in the NYC graffiti art world, and his work continued to have a graffiti vibe throughout his short life. Over the course of his career his art could be seen at such disparate places as NYC subway stations, the Sao Paolo and Venice Bienniales, on the cover of Vanity Fair and on U.S. postage stamps. His work was political, often promoting safe sex and awareness of the AIDS crisis. Haring died of AIDS related complications in 1982. He was just 31 years old. 

The altarpiece features Haring's trademark hieroglyphic-style people reaching to the heavens where there are angels and the figure of Christ. (For a better image, click here.) The work also includes one of the Haring's "radiant babies" that represent youthful innocence, goodness, potential and purity. The altarpiece is an homage to all who died during the AIDS crisis and was completed only weeks before Haring's death. In fact, Haring did not live to see the work cast in bronze; he only had time to create the clay mold from which the final altarpieces -- nine in all -- were made. It seems particularly fitting for the Cathedral to house one of these works because Haring's memorial service was held there. For more on the altarpiece, click here. And for more on Haring, click here. 

Needless to say, my inaugural outing to St. John the Divine was a memorable one. It turns out that the Cathedral often has special exhibits on display in the nave in addition to the permanent art and other exhibits. The architecture is, of course, stunning as well. It's well worth a visit, even for the most secular among us. For more information, click here.