Sailing Back To Byzantium – Art of Michael Galovic

ISBN: 978-0-9756432-0-4

Michael Galovic’s traditional icons and religious paintings are just one small element in the world of art, a tradition thousands of years in the making. Used to decorate splendid cathedrals and modest churches alike, they are the visual representations of belief and the spiritual world that binds communities together. Michael Galovic uses a deep and sincere understanding of, and admiration for, traditional religious art, but brings to it subjects and ideas very much of his own time. It is a path that can be difficult and not without controversy, but he works with a genuine belief and a single minded determination to translate those ideas into powerful and engaging visual images. This book will reveal his work to a wider audience, bringing joy and understanding to those for whom religion and faith might be another world. But Michael is not content to rest on the success of his masterful icons, constantly taking his art into new places and forms of expression. His works reflect significant philosophical, cultural and artistic concepts, the results of an unceasing curiosity with the ways of our world.

Gavin Fry (Yarra & Hunter Arts Press)

Book review by Adam Wesselinoff catholicweekly.com.au
The re-enchantments of Michael Galovic
Michael Galovic’s status as Australia’s leading religious artist is cemented with the release of his new retrospective, Sailing Back to Byzantium. The lavishly produced collection from Yarra & Hunter Arts Press ranges widely over the last 17 years of his artistic career. Profoundly enjoyable as an art object in its own right, suitable even for prayer and meditation, the monograph is a gift to the reader seeking a deeper understanding of both iconography and contemporary art, as it contains extensive reflections from the artist and a host of knowledgeable interlocutors. It deserves to be read by any Christian interested in the living tradition and possibilities of religious art. (click here for full review)