The Man Exalted (aka, God Releasing Stars Into the Universe), by Michael Newberry

 The Man Exalted (aka, God Releasing Stars Into the Universe),
oil on linen, 7' x 5'
Michael Newberry,1993-2000

Here’s something that makes concrete the exaltation I’m sure we’re all feeling at the rescue of the miners, and with the Silver Ferns’ last-second win in Delhi.

Stephen Hicks describes the work:

This is a big composition that is in transition from black and white underground painting to color overlay. The subject is a man on his outspread knees, with his eyes and mouth open wide, and his outreaching hands extended in an ecstatic gesture. The man is releasing a current of fantastic light that weaves and curves through the night space. There are rocks in the foreground and underneath him. In the background there is indication of mountains to come. The artist is only beginning to apply color to his black and white underground work but the vibrations of light and shadow are already perceptible.
    The man is naked, unaffected, pure. And he becomes one with the energy. The man is a physical catalyst for the expression of the light; the light is the man’s nature.