The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) opens Making Strange: Sacred Imagery and the Self, an exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, and works on paper from the collections of PAFA and the Brodsky Center that highlight the art historical concept of "making strange.” The exhibition opens November 14, 2024 and is on view through April 6, 2025 in the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Gallery in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building. Making Strange: Sacred Imagery and the Self is curated by Han McCoy. 

The works included in Making Strange: Sacred Imagery and the Self explore the historic, modern, and contemporary application of “making strange,” a term coined by art historian Dr. Marcia Hall in her book Sacred Image in the Age of Art: Titian, Tintoretto, Barocci, El Greco, Caravaggio (2011). It refers to a style that emerged during the Counter Reformation (1545-1648) where artists intentionally distorted forms and used symbolism as a technique to create a more engaging and interactive experience for the viewer. Inspired by this technique, Baroque artists (1600s - early 1700s) reinterpreted traditional iconographic images, taking creative liberties until the final composition significantly diverged from the original. The implementation of "making strange" as an artistic practice encourages longer, closer viewing, with the goal of inspiring emotion and deep self-reflection. Making Strange as an exhibition is an exercise in close viewing, recognizing intentional distortion and reinterpretation of traditional sacred imagery across cultures as a means of fostering introspection and meaningful dialogue based on one’s own lived experience.