Last fall, writer Ryan Miller profiled Brother Mel Meyer, S.M., (“Forms of Devotion,” October 2008), a Marianist brother who has also been a full-time artist for 50 years. Brother Mel’s work does not conform to the cliches of religious art; it is distinctly spiritual in character, but there are no literally rendered Jesuses with blue-sky eyes or lamb-in-arms. Rather, Meyer pieces together stained-glass Modernist Madonnas, or sculpts the movement of the Holy Spirit in abstract stainless steel. He studied with French stained glass masters Jacques de Chevallier and Yoki Abescher, Mexican Renaissance muralist Jean Charlot, and sculptor Ivan Restovic; his work is as rigorous as anything you’d find in a secular gallery.
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The Arts Company Press in Nashville has just released a huge, glossy, 236-page coffee table book about Brother Mel’s life and art, titled (logically enough) Brother Mel: A Lifetime of Making Art. Though St. Louisans are familiar with Brother Mel’s work (you can see it hanging everywhere from the SLU Campus to the Foundry in St. Charles to Kirkwood City Hall), not all that many folks have met Brother Mel in person, shaken his hand, asked him questions — or asked him to sign a book. You can do all of these things when the Marianist Galleries hosts a book-launch party this Sunday. It will be a rare day off for Brother Mel, who has dedicated himself to making art every single day — yes, even on Sunday. Which doesn’t really count as breaking the Sabbath, because as Ryan Miller explained, “Whether it’s a simple bowl made from welded silverware or the Neon Chapel in Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Brother Mel’s artwork accomplishes its only goal: ‘to bring beauty to space to lift up spirit.’” –Stefene Russell
Brother Mel: A Lifetime of Making Art Booksigning
Sunday, December 13, 2–6pm
Marianist Galleries, 1256 Maryhurst Drive, Kirkwood, MO 63122
For more information: 314-965-0877
Book widget and podcast with Brother Mel: bookinsider.com/eb/brother_mel/brother_mel.html
Brother Mel’s website: melsmart.com
