"Embodying the Holy," a new exhibition at New York City's Rubin Museum of Art, brings to light striking similarities between Orthodox Christian icons and traditional Tibetan Buddhist painted scrolls.
Martin Brauen, the museum's Chief Curator, said that the exhibition will "provide points of basic understanding of what connects the so-called East and West on a spiritual level." Elaborating on this spiritual connection, he said that Christian icons and Tibetan painted scrolls are "both representations of a reality that is beyond our human realm. They are depictions of a divine state of being."
Referring to the aesthetic similarities between the two artistic traditions, Brauen noted, "In both cases the motifs and the general structure are prescribed in a clearly set canon of images. The figures on some of these paintings are shown frontal and axial, there is no vanishing point perspective, and often the names of single figures are inscribed."
"But there are also differences that can be explored in the exhibition," Brauen added. "These are related to the painting technique but also to the content."
"Embodying the Holy" will run Oct. 6, 2010 to March 7, 2011.
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