“My God Told Me to Kill Your God”

At first glance, Mel Chin’s CROSS FOR THE UNFORGIVEN seems to be a beautiful rose window, but look a little closer and you’ll see that its straight lines are made of rifles and its circle’s made of ammunition magazines. Chin’s striking piece is just one of the many thought-provoking, challenging works in “My God Told Me to Kill Your God,” an art and film exhibition presented by the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance and the Department of Visual & Dramatic Arts at Rice University. Curated by faculty members Karin Broker and Brian Huberman, the exhibit also features contemporary works by Eric Avery, Felipe Contreras, Tim Glover, David Krueger, and Ed Wilson. Two films accompany the show, the documentary Not in God’s Name, which features in-depth interviews with the Dalai Lama and other well-known religious leaders, and A Few Bad Men, a film by Rice grad Jonathon Polenz examining the uses and abuses of interrogation and torture. Also scheduled is an artist talk with Chin. The exhibit is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Sundays through November 21, with additional events scheduled throughout this week Department of Visual & Dramatic Arts (formerly Rice Media Center), Rice University, 6100 Main Street. For information, call 713-348-4882 or visit www.arts.rice.edu. Free.

Oct. 24-Nov. 21, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 2007

This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2007.