Via Crucis: The Way Of The Cross
Richard Hagerty 02.08.2018 - 05.17.2018 Narthex Gallery
Post-modern surrealist painter Richard Hagerty set to debut Via Crucis: The Way of the Cross Exhibition at a still thriving progressive rotating art program founded by Elaine de Kooning in the 1960’s.
Richard “Duke” Hagerty, a Charleston, South Carolina-based Post-Modern Surrealist painter, is set to debut Via Crucis: The Way of the Cross, a series of fourteen panels depicting this iconic subject in narrative material of our time, in the Narthex Gallery at Saint Peter’s (Lexington Avenue and 54th Street) on Thursday, February 8, 2018.
The exhibition will open with a cocktail reception and live discussion moderated by Pastor Jared Stahler of Saint Peter’s Church from 7-9:00pm, and will run through May 17th.
Hagerty’s Via Crucis explores the Stations of the Cross within the context of modern, sometimes political, visual commentary that serves to reinvigorate the dialog around this ancient religious art tradition. A prominent plastic surgeon for more than four decades, Hagerty wielded scalpel by day in the theatre of surgery, and a paintbrush by night creating an impressive body of work in his distinct Post-Modern Surrealist style.
“I have always been interested in the pageantry and mystery of the Stations since I was an altar boy at St. Mary’s Church in Charleston,” said Hagerty. He uses symbols of ancient and modern cultures in the vibrantly colored fourteen panels, as well as references to gender, race, climate, religion, and dreams. Hagerty sees the Stations as embodying the universal truths of love and compassion, and his goal is to bring the viewer into a quiet, personal space of awareness.
The rotating visual art exhibition program was founded by Elaine de Kooning in the 1960s in a church that has traditionally embraced the arts in a unique and progressive manner.
Saint Peter’s, which is renowned for its Louise Nevelson Chapel, Pomodoro Crucifix and works by Kiki Smith and other acclaimed artists in its permanent collection, also has expansive programs in both jazz and classical music, as well as dance, hosting top performers throughout the decades across all disciplines. The rotating visual art galleries at Saint Peter’s are open to both secular and non-secular exhibitions.
“Not since Barnett Newman’s abstract Stations of the Cross in 1958 has an artist presented such a provocative rendering,” said Pastor Stahler. “Where Newman asked ‘why?’ with no figurative reference at all, Hagerty places before us what vast segments of our society want to forget: that human-caused suffering and injustice are all around us, a reality to which we are all captive.”