No comments about Acts of Worship: Dramatic Devotionals for Drama People (Lillenas Drama Resource).

No comments about Rembrandt: The Old Testament.

2 comments about Life Of Buddha.

1. I am not a Buddhist but I love this book. It's nothing less than a beautiful work of art.
   
   --Guy P. Harrison, author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
   
   I also recommend:
   
   Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide



2. DGV continues to publish some of the most beautiful, affordably priced illustrated books around. The cover illustration here is not misleading--each of the 88 pages here is devoted to Satogawa, whose work relies on the dramatic and surprising use of color, as well as the concomitant sensations of motion and stillness, centeredness and disturbance. There's even something of a nod to Jacques Louis David in the depiction of King Bimbisaara's suicide. The colors and poses are at once traditional and postmodern, drawing as much on the thangka as the comic book. The text is terse and didn't receive much in the way of editing, but it really doesn't matter here. This is all about the illustration, and Satogawa's work doesn't disappoint.

No comments about How Noah Saved The Animals: Scenes from the Old Testament (Adventures in Art).

No comments about Art As a Way: A Return to the Spiritual Roots.

No comments about The Jagannatha Temple at Puri: Its Architecture, Art and Cult (Studies in South Asian Culture) (Studies in South Asian Culture).

No comments about HAJJ PAINTINGS.

No comments about The Ten Symbols of Longevity (Collection in Context).

1 comments about Like a House on Fire: Renewal of the Arts in a Postmodern Culture.

1. Anyone who's heard Steve Scott's brilliant new wave record/ CD, Love in the Western World, will notice that I named this review after a song on that album. Steve also often names his pieces after his songs or vice versa, which is the first thing that makes this book great; the interconnectedness of all things Steve Scott, for whom life and art and faith are not disconnected pursuits. This book, like his music, like his poetry yells that they don't have to be. If that isn't good news for the artist, I don't know what is.
   
   This book sort of picks up where Crying for a Vision (Stride Books, England) left off, but really both books are a jumble of essays loosely organized around a common theme, and not very "booky" at all. Having said that, House will still be over many reader's heads, and they'll naturally be tempted to put it down. I don't advise that: instead jump around. Skip the way deep histories in the first two chapters and dive in later. "A Jar of Dead Flies" ran in some version in now defunct True Tunes magazine. Part of "Am I Really Here or Is it Just Art?" appeared in HM magazine (just celebrating 20 years--see my magazine guide to get it from Amazon), which is to say they really are independent essays.
   
   "Am I Really Here" relates to Scott's poetry over tape loops album, The Butterfly Effect, which it would be very cool to read and then listen to respectively in an arts/ reading group. House is full of bits like that (the last two essays are projects) that could be discussed over a cup of joe (or a pint of Guiness), with each member of the group bringing examples from their own or other's art (it would really open up the part on post-modernism to thrash it out in a group).
   
   Christianity Today had an article on how traditionally Catholic and various stripes of Protestant colleges are regaining their original vision, which sort of means that how they reinvent themselves is up for grabs. I can't even imagine what might happen if someone used House as a textbook. Imagine reading a book about art by someone who actually made art. Steve Scott's now and then chapbooks, The Boundaries, are being collected into one volume by Stride, and Crying for a Vision is due to be reprinted.
   
   Steve's CDs are also (sometimes) available through RadRockers.com (search under Scott). The 77s were his back up band on Love in the Western World, which RadRockers called " a deliciously creepy, way before its time alternative rock classic, with similarities to David Bowie, Roxy Music and the Police...Lyrically deep and brilliant, with vocal inflections similar to Lou Reed." His other rock collections are Magnificent Obsession and Lost Horizon. His other albums are more experimental, like The Butterfly Effect, or Crossing the Boundaries, which was part of an installation with visual painter Gaylen Stewart, Empty Orchestra (the literal meaning of Karaoke), and More Than a Dream (odd reversions of Scott rock songs). So for an art book by an artist, check out Steve Scott.

1 comments about The Devil: A Mask without a Face (Picturing History).

1. The book begins with a quote by Origen: "No one can know the origin of evil who has not grasped the truth about the so-called Devil and his angels, and who he was before he became a Devil and how he became a Devil..."
   
   This understanding is exactly what the author sets out to provide and he does so with great mastery and interest.
   
   Luther Link knows his subject matter incredibly well. The whole point of the "Picturing History" series by Reaktion Books is to study the artwork of a given subject and use this as a primary source in understanding that subject's history. In many ways, I have found this to be a far more accurate and useful way of learning the history of the subject and Reaktion Books are leaders in the field.
   
   I found the histories of the devil to be fascinating - at times, he was the archenemy, at other times he seemed essential to the concept of God or even as His handmaiden. In other examples he was a mere slave of God and it was not him that did the soul-snatching but he simply suffered eternal damnation along with all of the humans who were sent to Hell by God. The pagan influence was surprising - Lucifer once being a good character but like many pagan ideas, was turned bad by Christianity. This is a mere drop in the bucket to the information provided in _The Devil_.
   
   The art is rich and liberally sprinkled throughout the book. The source of the images is given and we become privy to information doubtfully unearthed before - where the horns, pitchfork, and tail originate. The naked versus the hairy devil - the deformations. Most strikingly, perhaps, is the morphing from angel to demon. The "angelic" and "demonical" behaviors are explored and found to be quite diverse in history - angels often being quite demonic themselves. One piece I found especially powerful was the reproduction of Signorelli's "The Damned." I immediately went surfing to find myself a print!
   
   There is a period of time where very few artpieces are found depicting the devil. The author speculates why this may be but he doesn't entertain the first thought that came to my mind - perhaps it was seen as blasphemous, or inviting evil, to do so. Of course this is just another speculation and one no where near as grounded as those of the author. But considering the great amount of superstition to be found in history, I expect there was at least an inkling of that - much like people were once forbidden to create artistic renditions of God - for other reasons.
   
   With so many books now coming out on the history of the devil or the hierarchy of hell, largely for sensationalist reasons, this book really must be read to show how far superior it is to others. The scholarship is of highest quality which is likely why Reaktion Books caters more to academics than to laypeople. I find this unfortunate though. As a layperson, I highly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who finds this subject interesting. Reaktion Books would be wise to follow Taschen and Phaidon's lead in bringing their books to a wider audience.
   
   The first chapter doesn't pull the reader in as it should but it's definitely worth sticking it out because in later chapters it becomes a page turner. Not intimidating in any way.
   
   Especially for those trying to make sense of the many stories told about the devil, this book provides our best possibility and it leaves the reader satisfied with an understanding that can be drawn on for years to come.