Art Walk Los Angeles 2009
Art walk Los Angeles / March 2009 As part of this months “Art Walk Los Angeles”, Names of God is an exhibition of artist Danny Hughes's spiritual and creative exploration of consciousness and well-being. Stemming from the spiritual tenets of Kabbalah, Hughes has created a series of mixed media artworks that paint an honest, simple, and thought-provoking depiction of energy, insight, and compassion. Inspired by the mystical book 72 Names of God¸ Hughes illustrates the kabbalistic philosophy of names and symbols. He creatively collages wood panels with collections of spiritual texts from the 1800's and applies various elements to cause rust-like reactions to further age them. Hughes then draws images using oil paint upon the infused layers of texts. These images are of boldly and graphically drawn Aramaic letters in various groups of three that are found in the book. The grouped letters serve as titles: Healing, Prosperity, Rejuvenation etc., that illuminate a chant or a mantra that ancient spiritual guides ritualized for positive well-being. Hughes's passionate collage work invokes this ritual to, as Hughes states, "bring light and energy that the viewer's soul has been longing for." Hughes's art emphatically places language in the viewer's eye. He mystically invokes the unfamiliar to the familiar. He engages viewers to realize the source of language in their own hearts and souls to further allow understanding and truthful communication for oneself and others. Truth and understanding - names of God - are revitalized. As Hughes rightly sees, God is in the knowing and the revealing, and the loss of understanding and communication is not the danger for those whisked away but for those who dare to whisk away others.