Sacred Biodiversity: Icons of the Late Cenozoic, the celebrated art series by Angela Manno that toured throughout the Northeastern US is coming to UK at the Moray Art Center.
Featuring 23 originals and 11 reproductions of icons of threatened and endangered species representing every classification: fish, bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile, plants, insects and other invertebrates, from habitats spanning the entire globe. A small selection of Manno’s recent factory farmed animal icons will also be on display. 
“This series focuses on the holocaust of Nature we are witnessing, in particular species extinction, at a rate of 10,000-100,000 per year – one thousand times the natural rate. Based on these statistics, biologist E.O. Wilson estimates that if current trends continue, half of Earth’s animal and plant species will be extinct by the end of this century.
It is clear that the Western mind is divorced from Nature, the primary condition that has lead to the current ecological catastrophe. I feel that the only way back – indeed our own survival – depends on nothing less than a re-enchantment with the Earth as a living reality.
It is for this reason that I have chosen to depict non-human species in a traditionally religious form – the icon, originating in the monasteries of 14th-16th century Russia – a practice that I have maintained for more than twenty years.”
Praise from world renowned conservation biologist EO Wilson:
“In her remarkable animal portraits, Angela Manno has found a way to combine exactitude with meaning in the faces of her subjects, no less than if they were in Nature’s studio looking out to the friendly observer.”
During the run of the exhibition, a number of events will take place:
Artist’s Talk, “Sacred Biodiversity: Icons of the Late Cenozoic,” Sunday, March 29th 3-5pm, exploring the methodology, theological framework, and ecological foundations of the series. All are welcome.
Sacred Biodiversity Group Card reading, Wednesday, April 8th, 3-5pm in the Main Gallery. Registration and some materials required. To register and for a list of materials, please email: [email protected] with the heading “Sacred Biodiversity Group Card Reading”
Panel discussion, “Sacred Biodiversity: Contemporary Icons of Endangered Species,” Wednesday, April 15th, 6-7pm BST. A conversation on iconography, spirituality, and the environment with artist Angela Manno, Catholic theologian Elizabeth Johnson, and Orthodox theologian George Demacopoulos of Fordham University.” Co-sponsored by Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture and the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. All Are Welcome. Click here to register.
Angela Manno’s art has been featured in numerous exhibitions including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History, with works in distinguished public collections including that of NASA. In 2022, the Vatican commissioned her to create a visual prayer featuring her art celebrating the seven year anniversary of Pope Francis’ ground breaking encyclical, Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home.
Manno’s artwork has been noted in numerous publications, including the National Catholic Reporter, Sojourners, ART News, Treehugger, Smithsonian Magazine, and on the cover of the volume Animal Dignity: Reflections on Non-Human Existence and Come Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and Earth by feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson. She is the author of the newly released Sacred Biodiversity Oracle, a 36-card deck and guidebook featuring full-color reproductions of her icons of threatened and endangered species.
The artist is available for interviews. Contact: [email protected] for more info!
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Opening event on March 14th at 3pm – all welcome!
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