Workshops @ MOBIA: Illuminated Initials

Currently on view at MOBIA is a series of abstract paintings by NYC artist Makoto Fujimura. The works, part of the exhibition On Eagles' Wings: The King James Bible Turns 400, were created for the publication The Four Holy Gospels. In this book Fujimura revisits the tradition of illuminated biblical manuscripts by incorporating eighty-nine decorative letters, the opening letter of each chapter of each Gospel. The artist constructs his paintings layer upon layer using Japanese materials and pigments made of ground precious minerals. The compositions are also often hand-touched with gold or platinum.

This summer MOBIA hosted a series of workshops in which children created work inspired by Fujimura's letters. In the gallery, the youngsters identified five ways that the artist approached his letter making process - hidden, stenciled, shaped, free-form, and constructed. After working with a photographer to turn their bodies into the shape of the first initial of their name, the children were challenged to use various materials to make an Illuminated Initial Collage.

You can view additional artwork crafted by children on the atrium level of the Museum of Biblical Art, which is located at the corner of Broadway and 61st Street, NYC.

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Education