In my May 17 Sunday Spotlight column I write about Barbara Van Arnam's new exhibit at Gallery 25. "Sacred Wisdom: African Myths and Folk Tales," which runs through May 31, features 20 paintings by Van Arnam that she prepared for a show for a gallery in Ghana. That exhibit fell through, unfortunately, but she was able to regroup the show for Gallery 25.

An interesting (and unavoidable) fact about the show is that Van Arnam, an accomplished artist, is of Nordic descent, which means that she's a white artist painting African themes. (In fact, one of the stories that she depicts, a creation myth titled "Bumba Creates the World," shown above, includes one white figure spewed out by the creator along with eight blacks. I thought it made an apt metaphor for the show.) I wasn't sure what to make of the artist's race. In my column I write:

I'll be honest here. I walked into the show slightly leery of the artist's relationship to the material. Do we really need, I wondered, a show devoted to African art painted by a non-African? Doesn't that suggest an outsider, missionary-zeal, colonizing mentality? All sorts of gentle multicultural alarm bells started ringing inside my head. But as I immersed myself in Van Arnam's vision, I found myself rapidly appreciating her commitment and connection to the material.

Looking back, I admit that I struggled a little with this show. Was my initial reaction of being wary in the interest of diversity too narrow-minded? Or did my ensuing positive reaction mean that I fell too easily for the quality of the art and not the context? Or, did I let the issue of race overwhelm a discussion that should have been colorblind in the first place? In answer to all these questions: I'm still not sure. I do know that I haven't heard from anyone offended. Two things are for sure: 1) I like art that makes me think, and this certainly fits the bill; and 2) I wanted to share some more works from the show in color.

One thing you've gotta love about Catholics is the seriousness with which they dish out ritual. All that pomp and ceremony, all the majesty of Vatican City, all that gorgeous art and those golden treasures -- it's a visual and dramatic feast. Movie directors especially love the Catholic theme. Can you imagine if Ron Howard had been forced to set his "Angels & Demons" at the national headquarters of the Assemblies of God, say, or in the world's biggest Presbyterian social hall? Just think of Tom Hanks running from one bland building to another doused in fluorescent lights, trotting past 3rd grade bulletin-board depictions of burning bushes, bumping into storage racks filled with folding metal chairs, pausing every now and then in slightly musty linoleum-lined hallways adorned with fliers begging people to join the choir. Instead of the Illuminati, the shadowy evil group in the narrative would have to be the 7 p.m. Wednesday meeting of Weight Watchers.

Still, as much as I thrill to some good, old-fashioned Catholic-ritual storyboarding, I reached my limit about half an hour into the silly "Angels & Demons." (You can read my less-than-appreciative Bee review here.) Even all those gorgeous shots of the big group of blood-red-robed cardinals, set against the murky Vatican backdrops like exotic game birds, got tiring after a while. Yes, Catholic iconography often adds a powerful punch to a movie -- from the crisp, retro repression of a "Doubt" to the head-spinning fright of an "Exorcist" -- but in "Angels" it just sort of floods over you until you're gasping for air.

Anyway, "Angels & Demons" managed to confess to $48 million at the box office to land the No. 1 spot. (It was not as good as the $77.1 million opening weekend for its parent film, "The Da Vinci Code," however.) Did you see the movie? What do Catholic -- AND non-Catholic -- viewers think?