Media

Gambit Weekly

Review: Magdalena
Mixed-media Art about Mary Magdalene at International House
by Erik Bookhardt

'Tis the season to be jolly, as Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees and Nativity scenes pop up all over town. Lately, Mary Magdalene — the "other Mary" not seen in the Nativity scene — is an object of increasing fascination. As a libertine who repented, she became the most mysterious saint and, consequently, a favorite of Renaissance religious painters like Domenico Tintoretto, who depicted her with flowing locks, crucifixes, skulls and satiny skin in sensational works that reflected the speculation surrounding her story.

Pelican Bomb

The Composite Magdalene: Mary Visits The International House
by Morgan Cattaneo

For how long has our western, patriarchal culture upheld the complex of the Madonna and the whore? Mary the Virgin—our astral, comforting, tender mother—counterbalanced by Mary Magdalene—the sensual, independent, elusive jezebel. 

This month, as Christians and lackadaisical secularists celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to a virgin mother, the International House Hotel in New Orleans celebrates the archetypal Magdalena. You know her: every man wants her, and every woman wants to be her.

New Orleans Advocate

In a layered exhibit, many facets of Mary Magdalene
From goddess to bad girl
by John D'Addario

One of the most compelling and beloved figures in the Bible is the subject of an exhibition of photographs at the International House hotel in the Central Business District this month.

But given the season, it might not be the one you expect.

“Magdalena,” which features work by a dozen artists, explores various aspects of the figure who, in the words of the exhibition organizers, has been “viewed as everything from the archetypal goddess of wisdom to the bad girl of the Bible” over the centuries.