Thursday, February 24, 2011

Golden-Throated Gary

From medieval icons to Chagall's "White Crucifixion," from Bernini to Dali, our friend Gary Toops took 25 St. John's art lovers on a 1600-year sacred art walk these Thursday evenings in February. The brain child of Gary and our former associate vicar, the Rev. Karen Ann Wojahn, the class took two years to schedule in part because of Gary's busy schedule as teacher, organist, and community choir director. His and Marjorie Toops' Festival Singers rehearse each Tuesday evening at St. John's (a wonderful soundtrack for our weekly Bible study, which meets a few steps away). Over Memorial Day weekend last year, the Festival Singers and the St. John's Middle School choir, under the direction of my colleague Lori Speciale, appeared at Carnegie Hall, members of a 200-voice choir performing John Rutter's "Mass of the Children."

We'll actually have one more meeting of "Exploring Sacred Art," this Saturday at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Our classroom work ended tonight with Gary's analysis of a work by a local artist, Charles Frazee, professor emeritus of religion and church history at Cal State Fullerton and the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont. In 2009, I acquired this icon which Charlie painted of our church's patron, John Chrysostom, the fifth century archbishop, preacher (hence his Greek sobriquet meaning "golden throat"), and courageous reformer.

The late Walter Annenberg (with whom I actually spoke the very week he bid successfully for "At the Lapin Agile") and the Getty had to reveal what they paid at auction for their Renoirs and van Goghs, but I shan't. That's between Charlie and me, as is the five-point ID question I missed on his final when I was in seminary 13 years ago. I barely remember. Okay, it was the Shepherd of Hermas. The Annenberg name-drop was a compensatory defensive gesture.

5 comments:

J.C. Marrero said...

Is that Ignatius O'Reilly playing the guitar at the "Lapin Agile"?

Fr. John said...

I had to look that one up, Juan. You mean the character in A Confederacy of Dunces (which I'm ashamed to say I haven't read)?

J.C. Marrero said...

Yes, it's Ignatious Reilly (I incorrectly added the "O'"), the disgusting protagonist of "A Confederacy of Dunces". The book captures the sublime quirkiness of New Orleans like no other. There is a Nixon reference early on in the book. Irene Reilly, Ignatius's much put-upon mother, votes in presidential elections based on her calculation of which of the candidates treats his mother better. So, for her, the 1960 election was a contest between Rose and Hannah.

Fr. John said...

Whom does Irene vote for?

J.C. Marrero said...

Like her recipe for "potatis salad", it is not revealed. Poor Irene's last chance for happiness, by the way, is to find an "old man with a railroad pension". For this, her best friend, Santa Battaglia, tells her she needs to go out more "and shake herself a little." It's that kind of book.