All Things Bright, Beautiful, And Glowy
In Keith Murray's new exhibition, God isn't just omnipotent; he's luminous and transgendered
Published November 12, 2009 by Mari Sasano in Arts Feature
http://www.seemagazine.com/article/arts/arts-feature/All-Things-Bright-1112/ (http://www.seemagazine.com/article/arts/arts-feature/All-Things-Bright-1112/)
AND THE PEOPLE BOWED AND PRAYED
By Keith Murray. Latitude 53 Gallery (10248-106 St).
To Nov 28.
Keith Murray was raised Pentecostal, but for some reason, it was the tradition and iconography of the Catholic church that drew him in. "I think I might have been a nun in a past life," he jokes. "I wouldn't consider myself a Christian anymore. I think where I am now, I'm looking a the romantic lore of religion and reinterpreting it."
The Calgary-based artist has done so on a grand scale with his exhibition And the People Bowed and Prayed. Married with a pop-culture sensibility, that fascination has manifested itself as "The Neon God We Made," a glow-in-the-dark shrine to every glow-in-the-dark deity he could find, including Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu figureheads, collected over the years from religious supply stores, travels overseas, and the internet.