The orans prayer
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“Everything was there, vice and goodness, sadness and gaiety, ignorance and wisdom, ugliness and beauty, poverty and richness.”
— Nella Larsen
A Snippet:
Did you know that first editions of Nella Larsen’s works are rare, as she mysteriously disappeared from Harlem’s literary and arts community after publishing two successful novels and becoming the first African-American woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1930?
Learn more . . .
73. “Our Lady of Ferguson” (2015)
“There came a point when I realized something about how we allow our sacred images to function. Among other things, they relocate the power and spiritual glory of those they depict.”
— Mark Doox
Did you know?
Did you know that this artwork by Mark Doox (Our Lady of Ferguson) depicts the Virgin Mary as a Black Madonna?
Where her womb would be, there is a small black silhouette with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His hands and arms are extended, and He is found in the crosshairs of a gun.
The posture, taken by both Black Jesus and Mary, are a reference to “Hands up, don’t shoot”—a slogan associated with protesting police brutality after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Both subject’s hands are in the “orans” posture, translated as, “One who is praying or pleading,” found in numerous early Christian art.
74. “Untitled (Nipsey)” (2019)
“Like a tree, we are deeply rooted; like a plant, we are filled with ENERGY.”
— Christopher Green
Did you know?
Did you know that Christopher Green is a fine artist who paints the totality of the Black experience from his home studio in Norfolk, Virginia?
Taken from the artist’s statement: “From our struggles, to our triumphs, to everything in between, Christopher Green uses vibrant colors to illustrate our people in a beautiful way.”
75. “Analogous Colors” (2020)
“I find myself trying to present a more nuanced version of what I know exists but what I don’t often see in many museums or popular media. This draws me to discussions of absence, invisibility, or erasure.”
— Titus Kaphar
Did you know?
Did you know that Titus Kapha is an artist whose paintings, “Examine the history of representation?”
As the artist’s website states, “He cuts, crumples, shrouds, shreds, stitches, tars, twists, binds, erases, breaks, tears, and turns the paintings and sculptures he creates, reconfiguring them into works that reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history.”
“In so doing, Kaphar’s aim is to reveal something of what has been lost and to investigate the power of a rewritten history.”
“Hands up, don’t shoot.”
(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)
The orans prayer
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