Artlyst - Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum

My latest piece for Artlyst is a review of Michael Takeo Magruder’s digital art exhibition ‘De / coding the Apocalypse’ at the Panacea Museum; a visual art exhibition exploring contemporary creative visions inspired by and based on the Book of Revelation:

'As the Panaceans knew, the Book of Revelation documents not only the destruction of the current world but also maps out the creation of a new, better one. With this in mind, Takeo says: "I think that is good for us to ponder and to imagine—whether we are religious or not—because in this technological age we have so much power to destroy and to bring about our own end. Yet that same technology could/can also bring us hope and salvation. And maybe in that simple fact, a text like Revelation can surface our greatest fears and our greatest hopes and help us to strive towards the positive in the full knowledge that if we get it wrong, it could be the end of us."'

I first met Takeo when St Stephen Walbrook was the first location to show his 'Lamentation for the Forsaken'. This piece is currently at The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York. In this work Takeo offers a lamentation not only for the forsaken Jesus, but others who have felt the acute pain of abandonment, whether by God or fellow human beings. In particular, Takeo evokes the memory of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have passed away in the present conflict, weaving their names and images into a contemporary Shroud of Turin; a relic famous for its image of Christ, believed to have been created without human intervention.

My other Artlyst articles are:

• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
• Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
• Polish Art In Britain Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields;
• Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar;
• Refugee Artists Learning from The Lives Of Others;
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg;
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement;
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition;
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation;
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields; and
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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Robert Plant - Bones Of Saints.