Past Exhibitions

Browse the chronological list of past exhibitions at the Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCRA), or search for a specific exhibition. Click “View” for more information about an exhibition. If you need further information about an exhibition, please contact us.

Name

Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 – Part Two, The Second Decade

Dates

February 16, 2014 to August 1, 2014

Description

About the Exhibition

MOCRA celebrated a milestone anniversary with a two-part exhibition surveying works by artists displayed during MOCRA’s first twenty years. Part Two of Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 embraced the variety of artistic expressions exhibited throughout MOCRA’s history and included works by thirty-six artists from MOCRA's first decade.

Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., Founding Director of MOCRA, noted that the title of the exhibition points to a variety of meanings. “For many of the artists, their work explores the boundary, sometimes distinct, sometimes porous, between mundane experience and the transcendent. In turn, the artists invite viewers to share in that passage. A threshold is also a point of meeting, the doorway where we pass into another’s experience or way of life. It represents hospitality but also risk. As an interfaith venture, MOCRA seeks to bring both artists and viewers to the threshold of other people’s experiences, to encounter unfamiliar traditions and to share our own.”

Thresholds also marks a point of transition for MOCRA. Fr. Dempsey describes it “an opportunity, twenty years into the journey, to take stock of where we have been and to prognosticate a bit about where we might be going.”

Artists in the exhibition include:

I was not aware of the moment when I first crossed the threshold of this life. What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery like a bud in the forest at midnight? | Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

above:
Installation view of Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 – Part Two, The Second Decade at MOCRA, 2014. Photo by Jeffrey Vaughn.

Media

Read a St. Louis Beacon interview with MOCRA Director Terrence Dempsey, S.J.

In 2013, MOCRA was honored as “Best Museum” in the Riverfront Times “Best of St. Louis” awards. Here’s what they said:

The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, which focuses on the myriad ways religious impulses shape art production, consistently has organized some of the most nuanced and revelatory exhibitions in St. Louis since opening in 1991. As the country's only museum to engage this otherwise untouchable subject by the adamantly atheistic contemporary art world, MOCRA has maintained an expansive and progressive perspective on its mission, presenting a widely ecumenical sense of religiosity as well as an incisive aesthetic currency. This year's unsettlingly trenchant exhibition by Jordan Eagles, BLOOD/SPIRIT, used the eponymous organic material (sources from slaughterhouses) to form layered, luminous works that, at their nearest, resembled Gothic stained glass. Previous exhibitions have featured Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds, Keith Haring’s Altarpiece, an astonishing survey of the underserved artist Adrian Kellard and paintings by Michael Byron, among many others. Overseen by Father Terrence Dempsey, the curatorial vision for this space is unfailingly daring and experimental, involving programming that varies from reflections on ritual and the AIDS epidemic to post-minimalism and notions of the sacred. From video and sculpture to painting and printmaking, the work on view in this space always succeeds in challenging one's assumptions about spirituality and faith, and reasserts the relevance of such content.

Exhibition
Bernard Maisner: The Hourglass and the Spiral February 3, 2017 to April 2, 2017 About the exhibition Bernard Maisner (b.1954) is regarded internationally as one of the greatest contemporary masters of calligraphy. Maisner first b...
Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre January 26, 2016 to May 8, 2016 About the Artist Georges Rouault was born in working-class Paris in 1871, and apprenticed as a youth to a stained glass workshop. In late 1890, he en...
Erika Diettes: Sudarios September 25, 2016 to December 11, 2016 About the Exhibition Colombian artist Erika Diettes draws upon her training as both an artist and an anthropologist by bringing forth work originating in the direct testimonies of the families of victims of decades of ongoing violence in her country, as well as in objects belonging to t...
Regina DeLuise: Vast Bhutan – Images from the Phenomenal World January 24, 2015 to May 10, 2015 About the ExhibitionThe images in this exhibition, taken in Thimpu, Bhutan in 2010, center on the ordinary surroundings of a culture both remarkable and mysterious (Bhutan only opened its borders in the 1950s and still strongly restricts tourism). Bhutan’s history is intricately woven ...
Painting Prayers: The Calligraphic Art of Salma Arastu September 13, 2015 to December 6, 2015 About the ExhibitionDrawing on her Hindu and Muslim background, and combining expertise in Arabic calligraphy with Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Salma Arastu creates large, evocative canvases that invite viewers into quiet contemplation on texts from the Quran, the poe...
Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 – Part Two, The Second Decade February 16, 2014 to August 1, 2014 About the Exhibition MOCRA celebrated a milestone anniversary with a two-part exhibition surveying works by artists displayed during MOCRA’s first twenty years. Part Two of Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 embraced the variety of artistic expressions exhibited throughout MOCRA’s his...
Rebecca Niederlander: Axis Mundi September 14, 2014 to December 14, 2014 About the ExhibitionMOCRA’s first site-specific installation, created by Los Angeles-based artist Rebecca Niederlander, utilizes multiple elements to create an abstracted environment of color, form, and contemplative space exploring the necessary connection among ourselves, others, and...
Jordan Eagles: BLOOD / SPIRIT January 20, 2013 to June 28, 2013 About the ExhibitionFor over a decade, artist Jordan Eagles has garnered public and critical attention for his unique, signature use of animal blood in his works. Through an experimental, self-invented process, the artist combines blood with Plexiglas, UV resin, copper, gauze, and other ...
Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 – Part One, The First Decade September 22, 2013 to December 15, 2013 About the Exhibition MOCRA celebrated a milestone anniversary with a two-part exhibition surveying works by artists displayed during MOCRA’s first twenty years. Part One of Thresholds: MOCRA at 20 embraced the variety of artistic expressions exhibited throughout MOCRA's his...
Archie Granot: The Papercut Haggadah February 26, 2012 to May 20, 2012 About the ExhibitionHaggadah (הַגָּדָה) is Hebrew for “telling,” namely, the telling of the Exodus story at the Seder service during the Jewish festival of Pesach, or Passover. The term also signifies a book that contains the ritual guide to the Seder, along with scripture pa...
A Tribute to Frederick J. Brown June 12, 2012 to August 26, 2012 About the Exhibition Frederick J. Brown (1945–2012) was one of America’s finest and most prolific expressionist artists. His paintings draw on...
Patrick Graham: Thirty Years – The Silence Becomes the Painting September 23, 2012 to December 16, 2012 About the ExhibitionPatrick Graham has been credited by critics and art historians with changing the face of painting in Ireland. Art historian, writer and curator Peter Selz, who curated this exhibition, says that Graham “confronts the viewer with drawings and paintings of shattering ...
Adrian Kellard: The Learned Art of Compassion September 24, 2011 to December 18, 2011 About the Exhibition MOCRA presents a selection of work by Adrian Kellard (1959–1991). After art studies at SUNY Purchase he moved to New York City and studied under the artis...
Good Friday: The Suffering Christ in Contemporary Art February 2, 2010 to May 16, 2010 About the Exhibition MOCRA gives an encore presentation of one of its most popular exhibitions ever. Good Friday was originally presented in Spring 2009 as ...
James Rosen: The Artist and the Capable Observer September 26, 2010 to February 13, 2011 About the Exhibition Over his six-decade career, James Rosen has produced a body of visually arresting paintings, watercolors, and drawings, that gently invite viewers to stay a while. Rosen seeks "capable observers" who bring to bear their own intellect and imagination in order to obse...
MOCRA at Fifteen: Good Friday February 15, 2009 to May 17, 2009 About the Exhibition On February 14, 1993, the world’s first interfaith museum of contemporary art opened its doors. Fifteen years later, Saint Louis University’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) continues to serve as a forum for the ongoing dialogue between today’s ar...
Michael Byron: Cosmic Tears September 13, 2009 to December 13, 2009 About the Exhibition In the evocative paintings of the Cosmic Tears series, Michael Byron explores the relationship of the individual to the universal. The works are based on a text by the artist that meditates on the inevitable mix of emotions that accompanies the act of creat...
Miao Xiaochun: The Last Judgment in Cyberspace February 3, 2008 to May 18, 2008 About the Exhibition Chinese artist Miao Xiaochun asked himself an interesting question: “How would Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment appear from behind?” To explore this premise, Miao Xiaochun rendered a 3-D digital model of his own body. Then he mapped this model onto al...
MOCRA at Fifteen: Pursuit of the Spirit September 21, 2008 to December 14, 2008 About the Exhibition On February 14, 1993, the world’s first interfaith museum of contemporary art opened its doors. Fifteen years later, Saint Louis University’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) continues to serve as a forum for the ongoing dialogue between today’s ar...
Oskar Fischinger: Movement and Spirit March 31, 2007 to June 24, 2007 About the Exhibition Oskar Fischinger (1900–1967) was a significant figure in the early days of filmmaking, attracting attention for his technolo...
The Celluloid Bible: Marketing Films Inspired by Scripture September 16, 2007 to December 09, 2007 About the Exhibition A uniquely modern art form, film and its associated motion picture industry have taken Judeo-Christian scripture as subject matter from the very beginning of the medium and have continued that treatment to the present day. The Celluloid Bible: Marketing Films In...
Gorky: The Early Years – Drawings and Paintings, 1927–1937 January 22, 2006 to March 12, 2006 About the Exhibition Arshile Gorky (1904–1948) is widely regarded as one of the most pivotal and significant artists in the development of 20th-century...
Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds November 9, 2001 to February 10, 2002 About the Exhibition MOCRA is pleased to bring Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds to St. Louis for the first time, in one of the largest-ever installations of this charming 1966 work. Silver Clouds is a visual, auditory and tactile experience that appeals immediately to the...
Junko Chodos: The Breath of Consciousness March 18, 2005 to July 31, 2005 About the Exhibition The Breath of Consciousness is Japanese-American artist Junko Chodos’ first Midwest exhibition. It surveys the predominant themes and media in her oeuvre. The exhibition title references a recurrent image in her work, the lungs. In part originating in her...
DoDo Jin Ming: Land and Sea September 15, 2005 to December 18, 2005 About the Exhibition “Respecting the awesome power and drama found only in the sea,” writes curator Catherine Evans, “DoDo Jin Ming creates violent black and white images that transport the viewer to a precipice about to be submerged under a cascade of water. Printing her pictures...
Rito, Espejo y Ojo / Ritual, Mirror and Eye: Photography by Luis González-Palma, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Pablo Soria March 28, 2004 to June 13, 2004 About the Exhibition MOCRA is pleased to present the work of three significant Latin American artists to St. Louis audiences. While their personal and artistic backgrounds vary, all three artists share a common interest in creating multimedia works that extend the traditional bounds o...
Radiant Forms in Contemporary Sacred Architecture: Richard Meier and Steven Holl September 10, 2004 to February 27, 2005 About the Exhibition Radiant Forms in Contemporary Sacred Architecture is MOCRA’s first exhibition dedicated to architecture. By means of photographs, drawings and plans, it brings together two of today’s most important architects in an examination of their approaches to de...
Daniel Ramirez: Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus, an Homage to Oliver Messiaen September 10, 2004 to February 27, 2005 About the Exhibition Concurrently with the exhibition Radiant Forms in Contemporary Sacred Architecture, MOCRA presents a series of etchings by Daniel P. Ramirez. First shown in 1981 at the Art Institute of Chicago, this set of 20 small abstract works are a response to a piano ...
Avoda: Objects of the Spirit – Ceremonial Art by Tobi Kahn September 2, 2003 to October 12, 2003 About the Exhibition Avoda is the Hebrew noun for “work,” as well as for “prayer/worship,” and the active mode implied by this title reflects Tobi Kahn’s interpretation of the rising interest and active participation in spiritual expressions. The Avoda exhibi...
Tony Hooker: The Greater Good – An Artist’s Contemporary View of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study February 23, 2002 to August 9, 2002 About the Exhibition The Tuskegee Experiment began in 1932 when the United States Public Health Service initiated a study of syphilis in African American males in Macon County, Alabama. With whatever intentions the study was begun, it evolved into a 40-year study of untreated syphilis i...
Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds, an encore presentation August 27, 2002 to December 14, 2002 About the Exhibition MOCRA is pleased to bring back Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds (1966) in an encore presentation. Mercurial and buoyant, these pillow-shaped silver mylar balloons roam the air currents of MOCRA’s spacious nave gallery and respond to the touch of the viewer. ...
Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds: A Fortieth Anniversary Celebration September 10, 2006 to December 17, 2006 About the Exhibition After introducing St. Louis audiences to Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds in 2001 and reprising the exhibit in 2002, MOCRA is pleased to bring back the Silver Clouds on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of their 1966 debut at New York’s Leo Caste...
Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana April 15, 2000 to November 05, 2000 About the Exhibition Lewis deSoto’s Paranirvana, a 25-foot long image of the reclining Buddha made of a nylon skin and inflated with air, based on a well-known Sri Lankan sculpture. Paranirvana was created especially for the 1999–2000 Bay Area Now 2 exhibition, the...
Robert Farber: A Retrospective, 1985–1995 November 18, 2000 to April 01, 2001 About the Exhibition New York artist Robert Farber turned to art in his mid-30s and pursued it until his death in 1995 at the age of 47. His work has bee...
Bernard Maisner: Entrance to the Scriptorium November 14, 1998 to June 28, 1999 About the Exhibition The late art historian George Kubler wrote in The Shape of Time, “[Works of art] are like gateways, where the visitor can enter the space of the painter, or the time of the poet, to experience whatever rich domain the artist has fashioned. But the visitor...
Tobi Kahn: Metamorphoses March 8, 1998 to May 8, 1998 About the Exhibition Curated by the distinguished art historian Peter Selz, Tobi Kahn: Metamorphoses brings together 37 paintings and 20 sculptures of an artist who extends an American tradition-the distillation of the natural world into elemental forms. Kahn’s antecedents in...
MOCRA: The First Five Years May 26, 1998 to October 25, 1998 About the Exhibition MOCRA celebrates its fifth anniversary with selections from its first fifteen exhibitions. Artists in the exhibition include: Dan Addington \| Alvin Ailey \| Seyed Alavi \| Peter Ambrose \| Frederick J. Brown \| Heidy Sumei Chuang \| Jon Cournoyer \| ...
Steven Heilmer: Pietre Sante \| Holy Stones February 7, 1997 to March 16, 1997 About the Exhibition Expertly carved in Carrara and Vermont marble, the sculptures of Steven Heilmer juxtapose raw stone with highly finished sculpted fabric. In a dramatic partnering of surfaces, the “cloth” variously presents, wraps, confines, conceals and reveals roughly hewn mar...
Utopia Body Paint Collection and Australian Aboriginal Art from St. Louis Collections April 4, 1997 to July 31, 1997 About the Exhibition A vigorous cultural revival is evident today throughout Aboriginal communities in Australia. Artists at Utopia—a tract of Aboriginal freehold land in the central desert of Australia—have produced some of the most vital, exuberant, and distinctive imagery of th...
Manfred Stumpf: Enter Jerusalem September 26, 1997 to December 21, 1997 About the Exhibition Born in 1957, German artist Manfred Stumpf studied in Frankfurt, New York, and Vienna. He is a versatile artist whoo has worked in...
Frederick J. Brown: The Life of Christ Altarpiece December 2, 1995 to April 19, 1996 About the Exhibition In 1992, prolific expressionist artist Frederick J. Brown offered to execute a large, multi-paneled altarpiece based on the life of Christ for the new Museum of Contemporary Religious Art. A generous gift of UMB Banks and the Crosby Kemper Foundations helped make th...
Edward Boccia: Eye of the Painter June 30, 1996 to June 30, 1996 About the Exhibition When appraising the long career of an artist, we tend to focus on the mature style, or the works best known by the public. Edward Boccia: Eye of the Painter seeks to render another view of the artist’s career, by presenting not only the large-scale allego...
Consecrations Revisited December 1, 1996 to December 22, 1996 About the Exhibition Consecrations was the first group exhibition that put AIDS within a spiritual framework. Its 28 diverse artists, working in a range of media, expressed their experience with the disease in ways that reflected a profound empathy for anyone who has been touch...
Keith Haring: Altarpiece – The Life of Christ April 8, 1995 to May 7, 1995 About the Exhibition Keith Haring’s work is known throughout the world for its unique and immediately recognizable pictorial language. His often light-hearted art reaches beyond the confines of museums. It can be found in subways, churches, schools, on T-shirts and watches, and even a...
Ian Friend: The Edge of Belief – paintings, sculpture, and works on paper, 1980–1994 May 19, 1995 to July 2, 1995 About the Exhibition MOCRA is honored to present the first American retrospective of Australian artist Ian Friend. Common concerns thread their way through the diverse works in the exhibition: a sense of awe for landscape; an appreciation for ritualistic and protective instruments (e.g....
Eleanor Dickinson: A Retrospective August 26, 1995 to October 22, 1995 About the Exhibition Throughout Eleanor Dickinson’s work, the human form is seen as a reflection of the soul. Walter Hopps, former director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, has called Dickinson “one of the country’s most powerful artists committed to figure drawing.” The current ...
Post-Minimalism and the Spiritual: Four Chicago Artists May 3, 1994 to June 27, 1994 About the Exhibition The Minimalist movement, appearing in the mid-1960s and continuing well into the 1970s, is characterized by a reduction of forms to simple, basic geometric shapes, devoid of any ornamentation. Figuration was removed, and in some expressions of Minimalism, the artifa...
Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS October 15, 1994 to February 19, 1995 About the Exhibition Consecrations is the first group exhibition that seeks to put AIDS within a spiritual framework. The 28 artists in Consecrations represent the religious, ethnic, cultural, sexual and geographical diversity of this country. Several of the artists ar...
Sanctuaries: Recovering the Holy in Contemporary Art, Part One February 14, 1993 to April 11, 1993 About the Exhibition MOCRA’s two-part inaugural exhibition features more than 100 works from an wide-ranging roster of artists working in styles ranging from traditional Western figuration to minimalist and geometric abstraction. The artists, generally in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, tend...
Body and Soul: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater October 24, 1993 to December 19, 1993 About the Exhibition Body and Soul celebrates 35 years of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its exceptional contributions to contemporary cult...
Transformations: Highlights from the MOCRA Collection April 26, 2017 to April 8, 2018 About the Exhibition Transformation is an essential element of the creation and experience of art. Artists manipulate materials and perceptions in ways that bring their work, viewers, and themselves to new physical, psychological, and spiritual states of existence. Recognizing and talki...
Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre March 8, 2011 to July 31, 2011 About the Artist Georges Rouault was born in working-class Paris in 1871, and apprenticed as a youth to a stained glass workshop. In late 1890, he en...
Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre March 2, 2003 to May 11, 2003 About the Artist Georges Rouault was born in working-class Paris in 1871, and apprenticed as a youth to a stained glass workshop. In late 1890, he en...
Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre January 18, 2000 to April 2, 2000 About the Artist Georges Rouault was born in working-class Paris in 1871, and apprenticed as a youth to a stained glass workshop. In late 1890, he en...
Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre March 21, 1994 to April 26, 1994 About the Artist Georges Rouault was born in working-class Paris in 1871, and apprenticed as a youth to a stained glass workshop. In late 1890, he en...
Visible Conservation September 22, 2017 to April 8, 2018 About the Exhibition In 2016 MOCRA acquired Michael Tracy's powerful 1981 work Cruz to Bishop Oscar Romero, Martyr of El Salvador. With Visible Conservation, we give visitors a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of documenting and cleaning the work prior to ...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection July 25, 2016 to September 3, 2016 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Doug DePice, Robert Farber, Luis González Palma, DoDo Jin Ming, Dean Kessman, Chris McC...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection May 30, 2015 to August 2, 2015 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Junko Chodos, Doug DePice, Luis González Palma, DoDo Jin Ming, Dean Kessman, Frank LaPe...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection: The Romero Cross April 21, 2018 to July 28, 2018 About the Exhibition Seven months of conservation work culminate in the first public showing at MOCRA of Cruz to Bishop Oscar Romero, Martyr of El Salvador, a major mixed media sculpture by ...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection March 28, 2006 to July 30, 2006 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Seyed Alavi, Luis González Palma, Steven Heilmer, Anne Minich, Shahzia Sikander, Kazuaki Tanahashi, and other artists. above: Sr. ...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection June 20, 2004 to August 29, 2004 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Peter Ambrose, Gryphon Blackswan, Daniel Goldstein, Steven Luecking, Gary Passanise, Susan Schwalb, Michael Tracy, and other artists. a...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection November 4, 2003 to March 5, 2004 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Seyed Alavi, Nancy Fried, Donald Grant, Tobi Kahn, Virgil Myers, Shahzia Sikander, and other artists. above: Virgil Myers, Noah...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection January 7, 2003 to February 23, 2003 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Craig Antrim, Michael David, Sue Eisler, Adrian Kellard, Dean Kessmann, Anne Minich, Daniel Ramirez, and other artists. above: Jame...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection May 6, 2001 to November 8, 2001 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems and some works on loan. Featuring works by Peter Ambrose, Lori Bert, Sr. Helen David Brancato, Daniel Goldstein, Carolyn Jones, Stuart Klipper, Horatio Hung-Yan Law,...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection July 29, 1999 to December 22, 1999 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Michael David, Eleanor Dickinson, Steven Heilmer, Charlotte Lichtblau, J. W. Mahoney, Jeffrey Miller, and other artists. above: Mic...
Highlights from the MOCRA Collection January 15, 1998 to February 22, 1998 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with lesser known gems. Featuring works by Gryphon Blackswan, Heidy Sumei Chuang, Greg Edmondson, Jeffrey Miller, Carl Tandatnick, and other artists. above: Gryphon Blackswan...
Sanctuaries: Recovering the Holy in Contemporary Art, Part Two – Three Major Installations April 18, 1993 to August 29, 1993 About the Exhibition MOCRA’s two-part inaugural exhibition features more than 100 works from an wide-ranging roster of artists working in styles ranging from traditional Western figuration to minimalist and geometric abstraction. The artists, generally in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, tend...
Beyond Words: Three Contemporary Artists and the Manuscript Tradition May 24, 2018 to November 12, 2018 About the Exhibition MOCRA, in collaboration with the Special Collections division of the Saint Louis University Libraries, presents an exhibition in the Lambert Gallery at St. Louis Lambert International Airport as part of the ...
MOCRA: 25 September 16, 2018 to March 3, 2019 About the Exhibition The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art began with an audacious assertion: many of today’s visual artists engage with the religious and spiritual dimensions in their work—even if they sometimes go about it in ways quite different from prior generations. ...
Gary Logan: Elements March 19, 2019 to June 30, 2019 About the Exhibition Trinidadian-American artist Gary Logan explores humanity’s relationship with the Earth and its elements through dramatic lighting, atmospheric ambiguity, vivid colors, and rich textures. He finds visual and conceptual inspiration in two rich sources that utilize l...
Gratitude September 15, 2019 to December 15, 2019 About the Exhibition Terrence Dempsey, S.J., Founding Director of MOCRA, retired from Saint Louis University on June 30, 2019, after nearly thirty years as a professor of Art History. With the exhibition Gratitude, he desires to express a deeply felt “thank you”—for the o...
Surface to Source February 5, 2020 to November 22, 2020 About the Exhibition For his first show curated as Director of MOCRA, David Brinker delves into the MOCRA collection, bringing out works that haven’t been shown in a number of years and juxtaposing them with perennial favorites. The works from the collection are joined by several work...
Quiet Isn’t Always Peace February 03, 2021 to May 20, 2021 About the Exhibition People everywhere were captivated as Amanda Gorman delivered her poem “The Hill We Climb” on the steps of the Capitol on Inauguration Day. Her cascading cadences of imagery alluded to orators of the past but unequivocally asserted her own voice in addressing th...
Tom Kiefer: Pertenencias / Belongings September 03, 2021 to December 19, 2021 About the Exhibition In July 2003, fine art photographer Tom Kiefer started working part-time as a janitor and groundskeeper at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility near Ajo, Arizona. In mid-2007, he was given permission to collect food confiscated from migrants and ...
Double Vision: Art from Jesuit University Collections February 16, 2022 to May 22, 2022 Three museums and seven centuries of art Double Vision: Art from Jesuit University Collections speaks to the unique role of art in Jesuit teaching as an instrument for finding meaning in life through imagination, feelings and reflection. The exhibition features 28 works from MO...
Lesley Dill: Dream World of the Forest August 24, 2022 to October 16, 2022 About the Exhibition MOCRA is pleased to present three new collage-paintings by Lesley Dill, an American artist who works at the intersection of language and fine art in sculpture, printmaking, installation and performance, exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the psyche. Di...
$Jordan Eagles: VIRAL\VALUE$ Jordan Eagles: VIRAL\VALUE October 26, 2022 to December 18, 2022 Medium and Message Jordan Eagles is the master of a most unlikely medium: blood. His signature preservation technique permanently retains the organic material’s natural colors, patterns, and textures. In recent years, he has produced works made with donated human blood procured from...
This Road Is the Heart Opening: Selections from the MOCRA Collection August 24, 2022 to December 18, 2022 About the Exhibition The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated harmful systemic inequities and our responsibility to name and respond to them. Simultaneously, we are recognizing the importance of attending to our own well-being in mind, body, and spirit, a holistic vision of human wellness ...
Vicente Telles and Brandon Maldonado: Cuentos Nuevomexicanos March 19, 2023 to June 25, 2023 Engaging a Living Tradition Artists Vicente Telles and Brandon Maldonado are forging new links in the chain of the continuing story of the people of New Mexico. Telles is firmly rooted in the Santero tradition (the making of santos, or images of saints), while Maldon...
Open Hands: Crafting the Spiritual January 28, 2024 to May 19, 2024 About the Exhibition Open Hands: Crafting the Spiritual assembles the work of six intergenerational artists from across the country who use everyday materials, found objects, and elements of craft production to explore issues related to faith and spirituality, personal and cu...
Selections from the MOCRA Collection September 6, 2023 to December 17, 2023 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with recent acquisitions and lesser known gems. In particular, we pay tribute to the late ...
Continuum: Figuration and Abstraction in the MOCRA Collection August 28, 2024 to December 15, 2024 About the Exhibition Art is a primary vehicle for conveying spiritual and religious experiences, from intense personal insights to the shared stories that help form a community. This exhibition highlights two general approaches employed by artists to express the religious and spiritua...
Continuum (Continued): Figuration and Abstraction in the MOCRA Collection February 5, 2025 to May 18, 2025 About the Exhibition Art is a primary vehicle for conveying spiritual and religious experiences, from intense personal insights to the shared stories that help form a community. This exhibition highlights two general approaches employed by artists to express the religious and spiritual ...
Selections from the MOCRA Collection January 28, 2023 to June 25, 2023 About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with recent acquisitions and lesser known gems. About the Exhibition Enjoy a look at some of the most popular works in the MOCRA collection, along with recent acqui...

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