Visitor response to Michael Byron’s Cosmic Tears paintings has been positive, with quite a few questions posed about his technique. Just how does he achieve the trompe l’oeil effect of liquid droplets on the canvas?
Michael Byron, "Cosmic Tears 2" (detail), 2003. Courtesy of the artist and Philip Slein Gallery.
Perhaps Mr. Byron will address that question during his artist’s talk at MOCRA on November 15, 2009.
In addition to the works by Mr. Byron featured in the nave gallery, we are showing works from our collection, and a few works on extended loan, in the side chapel, sanctuary, and choir loft galleries. The artists include:
| Seyed Alavi | Peter Ambrose | Lore Bert |
| Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons | Robert Farber | Donald Grant |
| Steven Heilmer | DoDo Jin Ming | Robert Kostka |
| Stephen Luecking | Bernard Maisner | Susan Schwalb |
| Shahzia Sikander | Thomas Skomski | Michael Tracy |
The works have been chosen to harmonize with the Cosmic Tears works, and so tend to favor abstraction and muted palettes–but by no means are they inaccessible on the one hand, or without impact on the other.
A sampling of the work includes:
Shahzia Sikander, "Fourth Space II," 1996. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA), Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO.
DoDo Jin Ming, "Free Element - Plate XXXI," 2002. Private collection, St. Louis, MO.
Bernard Maisner, "'The Trojan Horse ...' (Henry Miller)," 1982.
– David Brinker, Assistant Director
