Sailing Back to Byzantium: Art of Michael Galovic
Yarra & Hunter Arts Press
Sailing Back to Byzantium: Art of Michael Galovic (Yarra & Hunter Arts Press, 2024)
Sailing Back to Byzantium: Art of Michael Galovic shows how religious themes and images continue to permeate the work of this accomplished iconographer.
In an introduction penned by Gavin Fry, Michael Galovic is described as “constantly taking his art into new places and forms of expression. His works reflect significant philosophical, cultural and artistic concepts, the results of an unceasing curiosity with the ways of our world.” Categorised into scriptural subject matter such as ‘The Annunciation’, ‘The Son of Man’, ‘Theotokos’, and ‘Angels’, together with ‘Uluru’, where ancestral and contemporary lines intersect in a conceptual representation of acknowledgement and reconciliation; additional written contributions from members of religious communities to academics and educators explore Galovic’s spirit of inquiry, covering traditional themes, innovative new work and significant commissions, with some providing personal insights and connections with not only Galovic’s art, but the artist himself. Furthermore, Galovic’s own words offer important background information on individual works and cultural and spiritual knowledge, revealing his appreciation for the intricacies of religious icon art, its symbolism and craftsmanship.
An artwork itself, the book’s two hundred and sixty pages are decorated with works of ethereal beauty, packed with layers of medium (tempera and gold leaf on board) and meaning, a testament to Galovic’s creative input, his understanding and rejuvenation of traditional techniques fused with influences by Modern and Indigenous art and culture. Sailing Back to Byzantium: Art of Michael Galovic both educates and enlightens.
July 2024 | Hardcover | 260pp | AUD $100.00
