Aric Attas Creative

I’m super excited to announce that my artwork A Glimpse of Infinity, No 906 is featured on the cover of a new book celebrating the 20-year history of the Clare Gallery in Hartford, CT!

Exhibiting at the Clare Gallery in 2017 was a transformative experience for me. Prior to my show A Glimpse of Infinity I’d been making artwork inspired by the cosmology of modern science including concepts such as the Big Bang, Quantum Physics and String Theory. The work resembled images of star fields, nebulae, comets and subatomic particles created by the Hubble Space Telescope and Large Hadron Collider at CERN. I’d also been making very ethereal work deeply rooted in my spiritual and meditation practices. This work had a more subtle and sublime quality to it, having drawn inspiration from insights experienced during meditation while contemplating the nature of the primordial light.

Nancy’s invitation to exhibit at the Clare Gallery provided the impetus to create new work within the context of a community gallery dedicated to emphasizing interfaith and social justice themes along with world religions. The exhibition turned out to be an ideal opportunity for me to fuse my scientific, mystical and spiritual inspirations into new work that radiates a sense of wonder, wholeness, healing and peace. I’m still riding the momentum and I will be forever grateful.

Graceful Partners, Art and Spirituality documents the twenty year history of the Clare Gallery at the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry in Hartford, Connecticut, USA by sharing essays, exhibition content, and community impact statements. The exhibitions are within the categories of spirituality, world religions and interfaith themes, and social justice themes. The essays focus on; How did the Gallery get started and why?; Who is St. Clare of Assisi (for which the Gallery is named)?; What is, and has been, the intersectionality of art and spirituality, or art and social justice?; and how has a Gallery had an impact?

The primary topic is exploring the intersection of artistic expression and spirituality/social justice through the various exhibitions over a twenty year period. Instead of using a chronological approach, the book’s three sections (spirituality, world religions and interfaith themes, and social justice themes) are a reflection of the Clare Gallery’s mission. This approach provides the reader with an understanding of artistic connections to those themes. It also brings awareness to the large variety of artistic practices, media, and interpretations. Additionally, information about the accompanying educational programming—panel discussion, lecture, musical, or community activism—may be included with the exhibition write-up.

Purchase Nancy’s book Graceful Partners at Amazon and help buy me a cup of coffee! https://amzn.to/45uciqI