LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR: PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
For generations, families of Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Middle East have suffered and mourned the destruction of homes and loss of loved ones—their histories shaped by war and violence. Amid checkpoints, rockets and grief, ordinary people still hope for something different.
The Rev. George Dorado Blanco’s collection of works illustrate the stark reality of long-standing division in this war-torn region.This exhibit invites us to share in civil discourse to reflect on the sacredness of life and loving our neighbor—in the hope of peaceful reconciliation and coexistence.
August 7, 6-8 pm • First Friday ArtWalk Opening Reception
6 pm: Refreshments and hospitality with music
7pm: Featured speaker: Artist/Activist,The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Bio: George Dorado Blanco, a native of Guantanamo, Cuba, studied painting at the renowned San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana. He graduated in 1977, and taught Design and Composition for Painting and Sculpture at the School of Fine Art Jose Joaquin Tejado in Santiago, Cuba, where he developed his own curriculum. His methodology incorporated avant-garde concepts from the Bauhaus School of Design and the drawings and designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1980, Dorado Blanco resigned his teaching position to come to the United States. In 1988 he graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and introduced the concept of Art and Healing to many churches and communities in the Chicago area.
Artist Statement: My paintings are not the product of a prolific imagination, or alternative realities, but factual, real contemporaneous events brought to our living rooms by television, newspapers, radio or the Internet. Real innocent civilians, families and children are, as we speak, being obliterated from God’s created world. I painted these paintings to remind us of the horror of war, to speak up for peace, justice, healing and reconciliation. They may reflect a reality that makes you feel uncomfortable or disturbed. After all, who wants to see pictures of children suffering and dying? But if you feel moved, or touched by these images to advocate for Peace, then God is moving within you. The worst reaction would be a cold indifference, which is a total dehumanizing detachment toward the suffering of others.
The Other You
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on canvas
$2,500
Rage
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on Canvas
$2,500
Enough I
By the Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on Canvas
$2,500
Enough II
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on Canvas
$2,500
Do Unto Others
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on canvas
$2,500
Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary and the Child
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on canvas
$2,500
Children of Jerusalem
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on canvas
$2,500
Bereavement
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on Canvas
$2,500
Forsaken
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on canvas
$2,500
Negotiation
By The Rev. George Dorado Blanco
Oil on Canvas
$2,500