MOCRA: Art in the Jesuit Tradition Talk Slated for April 7
04/01/2022
Jesuit art history expert Fr. Tom Lucas, S.J., will hold a presentation on “Art in the Jesuit Tradition,” Thursday, April 7. The illustrated presentation surveys the important role of art in Jesuit education and spirituality from the earliest days of the Society of Jesus.
Fr. Lucas will give his presentation over Zoom to a live audience at 4 p.m. in the MOCRA gallery. There is no charge to attend, but pre-registration is required.
The presention and follow-up question and answer session is part of a series of events around the current exhibition at SLU’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA), which draws from the collections of three Jesuit university museums.
“Double Vision: Art from Jesuit University Collections” includes works from MOCRA, the Haggerty Museum of Art (Marquette University) and Loyola University Museum of Art (Loyola University Chicago).
Fr. Lucas’ presentation will be followed by an opportunity for Q&A, moderated by Virginia Herbers, Director of Mission Formation in SLU’s Office of Mission and Identity. The event will be recorded and available to watch online later.
Lucas is an internationally recognized expert in Jesuit art history, and is well known as a liturgical designer and artist with an international portfolio.
Fr. Lucas is currently the pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento, California, where he continues his art and teaching work. He previously served as professor of art and art history at University of San Francisco (1995–2013) and Seattle University (2013–2019).
Featuring works from the fifteenth to twenty-first centuries, by artists including Keith Haring, Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol and May Wilson, “Double Vision” highlights the diversity, depth and quality of the three museum collections. “Double Vision” will be on view at MOCRA through May 22. More information can be found at slu.edu/mocra/exhibitions.
The exhibition is inspired by the Stations of the Cross, a fourteen-step devotion that commemorates the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. In place of the traditional Passion narrative, fourteen themes expressive of the human condition—such as Justice, Solidarity, Mercy, Wisdom and Compassion—are each paired with two works of art as a means for providing multiple points of entry for exploring the themes.
MOCRA is located at 3700 West Pine Blvd. on the campus of Saint Louis University. Museum hours are Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 314-977-7170 or visit slu.edu/mocra.