Week Fifty-Two: Urban Nativity by Wayne Forte

December 29, 2019

Week Fifty-Two: Urban Nativity by Wayne Forte

Filipino-American Artist Wayne Forte created this last image in my tenth anniversary overview of highlights of the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection for the Advent art exhibition, O, Come All Ye Faithful, transposing the manger scene from Bethlehem to the mean streets of a modern American city, where sanitation workers stand in for the shepherds and a NO VACANCY flophouse takes the place of the inn with no room. My mission in going viral with my art holdings these past ten years has been to challenge viewers to see all too familiar Bible stories with different eyes, whether it be Noah's Ark in the Japanese-styled stencil prints of Sadao Watanabe or the Christmas story in this nitty-gritty charcoal drawing from Forte, a goal I plan to pursue in the next decade. I hope you have enjoyed going on this year-long sacred art pilgrimage with me and wish you further art adventures in 2020. I will be returning on January 19 with new art offerings for the new year. (John Kohan)