own understanding of religion: “Religion must aim to inspire awe, to awe man with the splendor of his existence. By a set of unexpected juxtapositions, it must put you in a state of realization of how splendid things can be, even if they are horrible.” In his congregations, Ossorio created the unexpected by synthesizing forms of beauty with those of decay, by contrasting refinement with crudeness. For Ossorio, all objects had life, and bringing together disparate, ordinary elements, he also found a way to fuse art and spirituality. Ossorio continued to create daring congregations until his death in 1990. References Alfonso Ossorio interview, 1968 Nov. 19, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Dallow, Jessica and Colleen Thomas, From the Molecular to the Galactic, The Art of Max Ernst and Alfonso Ossorio, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ackland Art Museum, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000. Friedman, Bernard Harper, Alfonso Ossorio, New York, H. N. Abrams, 1972. The Harvard Art Museum Archives holds the personal papers of Alfonso Ossorio and Edward Dragon Young. Kertess, Klaus, Ellen G. Landau and Leslie Rose Close, Alfonso Ossorio, Congregations, Southampton, N.Y., Parrish Art Museum, 1997. Ossorio, Alfonso, Alfonso Ossorio, 1940-1980, East Hampton, N.Y., Guild Hall Museum, 1980. Thomas, Lewis, Could I Ask You Something?, Etchings by Alfonso Ossorio, New York, Library Fellows of the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1984. Tillich, Paul and Jerald C. Brauer, My Travel Diary: 1936; Between Two Worlds, with drawings by Alfonso Ossorio, New York, Harper & Row, 1970. External links The Alfonso Ossorio Foundation website Alfonso A. Ossorio in ArtCyclopedia Interview with Alfonso A. Ossorio 1916 births 1990 deaths People from Manila Harvard University alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni Filipino emigrants to the United States Filipino painters 20th-century American painters American male painters Modern sculptors Abstract expressionist artists People from East Hampton (town), New York Sculptors from New York (state) Gay painters Gay sculptors Filipino gay artists American gay artists Filipino LGBT painters American LGBT painters Filipino LGBT sculptors American LGBT sculptors American LGBT people of Asian descent 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors American artists of Filipino descent Burials at Green River Cemetery Portsmouth Abbey School alumni 20th-century Filipino LGBT people