Artist Mel Alexenberg
launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as
an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These
museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their
collections. At Global Tribute to
Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on
the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor
at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual
Studies.
“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the
ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and
down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)
Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and
go down throughout the world.
Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from Israel
at the Hunter Museum of American Art in time for lunch nearby at the Rembrandt's
Coffee House. The biblical words
for angel and food are spelled with the same
four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from
everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer
art also offer food.
Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.
Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel.
Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digital Homage to Rembrandt:
Day Angels” that has been in the collection of the Hunter Museum of American
Art since 1986. In tribute to Rembrandt
on the 350th year of his death, the day angels dormant in the museum’s
flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens:
Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They fly from the book cover to the Shrine
of the Book in Jerusalem, Israel, and on to Tennessee where there are two places
called Jerusalem.