A GOOD Look at the Sistine Chapel

There is a wonderful website you should visit to experience the Sistine Chapel, here.

But perhaps before you look around the chapel you should read Dr. James Romaine's essay about the Ceiling in our book It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God. In that chapter Romaine helps us understand the order of it all: "Michelangelo’s frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling represent the Genesis narrative of Creation, Fall, and Redemption as an epic history of divine action. The program is constructed of nine scenes divided into three groups of three. In order beginning from the altar, these are: The Separation of Light and Darkness, The Creation of Land and Vegetation and The Creation of the Sun and Moon, The Bringing Forth of Life from the Waters, The Creation of Adam, The Creation of Eve, The Temptation and Expulsion, The Faithfulness of Noah, The Flood, and The Drunkenness of Noah. The nine scenes that run the length of the chapel thematically group into three triads: God’s creation of the world before humanity, the creation and fall of humanity, and the life of Noah."

Making Art after 9/11

Following are excerpts from a conversation in Objects of Grace between Dr. James Romaine and artist Makoto Fujimura

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James Romaine: Living two blocks from where the World Trade Center was, how were you impacted by the events of September 11th 2001?

Makoto Fujimura: It was a truly harrowing experience; as the towers were collapsing and the fires were spreading, my wife and our children were all being evacuated from the area, literally being chased by the clouds of dust, ash, and fumes of jet fuel, and we didn’t know when we would return or if our loft would even be there. Judy was at the loft and the children were right around the corner in school so they experienced a lot more than I did. I was trapped in the subway, one station away from the area underneath the towers which collapsed in on itself.

Two months later, having been able to return to our loft, we are just beginning to realize what happened. I feel very protected in that my family was rescued right out of the mouth of the terror. The other side of it is a tremendous feeling of mourning and even anger. Living at Ground Zero is a daily experience of depending on God’s grace.

. . . 

In the conversation we had last year, you talked about your art as an expression of “Costly Grace.” While Christ is ultimately the perfect picture of that costly grace, the 9-11 events were another demonstration of the costs of grace.

MF: Christ is the ultimate meeting of God’s “how” and “why” of salvation. And grace is the operative word that fuses the two. We saw these firemen rush to save lives, climbing the falling towers. There is nothing more noble than losing one’s life to save others. This is the greater love that the Bible speaks of, and that love was exemplified in Jesus.

What we saw were two “art forms.” The terrorists’ “art” of vengeance contrasted with the heroes of 9-11 whose “art” was their sacrifice. (I am using this “art” in the classical use of the term, meaning anything we create.) These are two clear opposing ways of creating. Any works after 9-11 will be marked by, and defined by, these opposing categories.

Where Were You?

Funny how our culture marks significant events by asking the simple question, "Where were you when..."

Where were you when John F. Kennedy was shot, when Neil Armstrong took those epic first steps on the moon, or when the Berlin Wall toppled?

In my lifetime perhaps no better answer to this iconic question would be where I was when the planes hit the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. I don't think there has been an event in our collective American consciousness quite like what happened to our country on the beautiful day, September 11, 2001.

Why is that so? For one, millions of us watched in real time when the first plane hit that first tower. We were confused and thought surely this was a mistake. The plane veered off course. We thought this until the second plane hit its twin. That was deliberate. We saw smoke, fire and debris of an ungodly nature.

That second act begs a more significant question then just the standard “where were you”. That question is, “Where was God”?

Square Halo Books took on that question in our book, Light at Ground Zero: St. Paul’s Chapel after 9/11. This book is a compilation of photographs taken by Krystyna Sanderson of the relief efforts after those towers and our hopes collapsed. These photographs document God's hands, feet, and heart in action as Saint Paul's Chapel became the center where the first responders found relief.

The Church open itself up to became a sanctuary to all who bravely took upon themselves the massive task set before them.

And Krystyna's photographic heart captured it all without any expectation that her pictures would ever see the light of day. At Saint Paul’s we answer the question, “Where was God?” We found God hard at work through His church binding up our Nation’s wounded bodies and souls.

Since September 11th, thousands and thousands of people visited Saint Paul's Chapel and purchased this wonderful book of healing, Light at Ground Zero. It stands as a photographic tribute to good triumphing over evil.

Pairing Biblical verses and thoughts from the Book of Common Prayer with Krystyna’s photographs makes Light at Ground Zero very distinctive.  Photographs paired with verse helps make sense out of a senseless act and answers the question, where was God on 9/11. He was there and Krystyna captured Him in action for all of us to see. We recommend this book to you as you face situations where you may be asking, “Where was God when...”

—Diana DiPasquale, President of Square Halo Books, Inc.

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On September 24, 2011, Square Halo Books is helping to sponsor a forum at The Row House that will feature Krystyna speaking about Light at Ground Zero.

WORLD Magazine

We're very pleased to announce that WORLD Magazine has featured Krystyna Sanderson's book Light at Ground Zero: St. Paul's Chapel After 9/11 on their book review page in the Spotlight section. This issue of the magazine focuses on remembering the tragedy of 9/ll. Light at Ground Zero is the first title from Square Halo Books to be featured in WORLD. We have always been so very proud of this book, and are thankful that we could be a part in making it.

08.18.11

Square Halo Books was delighted to release The Art of Guy Chase this past year. It was the second in a series that we are developing that will be focussing on excellent visual artists who are followers of Christ. So it is with regret that we received the news that Guy passed away last week on the eighteenth of August. James Romaine commented that:

"Guy was a great artist and a better person. He demonstrated that a work of art is a strategy of perceiving the world. His art’s humility and humor encourages a delight in the visible through a contemplation of the invisible. Or, is it the other around? Guy was able to see and manifest these as reconciled.”

We are so very glad to have been able to publish a book that lauded this fine artist and a dear brother in Christ. In addition to our book, Karen Mulder has been working on an article to be released in Image Journal that will give an overview of Guy's work. Look for that this Fall. Also, CIVA's new sourcebook features Guy's work on the front cover and on all the divider pages.

A memorial service for Guy Chase is going to be held tomorrow, August 23rd, 10:00 am, in the House of Mercy Church.  Please remember his family in your prayers on Tuesday.

CCR: Comment, Chase and Romaine

It is always a good day when new articles arrive in your email inbox from Comment. Today was especially welcome since it included an essay by James Romaine about artist Guy Chase. Romaine writes: "Chase's art specifically addresses issues that are central to the process of art appreciation: visual inattentiveness, personal incognizance, and spiritual complacency. His art not only exposes these tendencies—which we all have—but, even more significantly, models a life of prayerful faithfulness."

You can read the article here.

Artist of the Year!

Mary McCleary—featured in It Was Good, Objects of Grace and After Paradise—has been selected as the 2011 Texas Artist of the Year by Art League Houston. As Texas Artist of the Year, Mary McCleary will be featured in an exhibition at Art League Houston, which opens on September 9 and runs through October 21, 2011. We are very proud of Mary and glad that she is getting the recognition that her work deserves! If you are unfamiliar with her work, we encourage you to get After Paradise first. In that title you will find many recent works by McCleary. Older works and a lengthy interview can be found in Objects of Grace. And in It Was Good you will find an essay by McCleary on craftsmanship.

Square Halo's FIRST E-BOOK

It is an exciting day today for Square Halo Books. Our first e-book is now available! You can get Gregory Wolfe's Intruding Upon the Timeless for your iPod and iPad through iTunes. or visit Amazon to get it for your Kindle.


Annie Dillard, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek says: Gregory Wolfe’s vision is the animating force behind Image, one of the best journals on the planet. Intruding Upon the Timeless, a collection of his pieces from Image, takes its title from a phrase of Flannery O’Connor. That’s apt, because not since O’Connor’s Mystery and Manners has there been such bracing insight on the pile-up where art and faith collide. This book will rev your engines and propel you down the same road.


For those of you who still crave a book to hold in your hands with real pages to flip (and who want to look at the Barry Moser engravings up close), you can still buy the book from Hearts & Minds.

The Art of Guy Chase

We are excited to announce that our next book will soon be coming out. This new project, The Art of Guy Chase, explores the visual, conceptual, and spiritual complexities of one of the most provocative contemporary visual artists of faith. Chase’s art is characterized by intentionally cultivated contradictions between humor and sobriety, contemplation and irony, material tactility and sacred meaning. Lavishly illustrated, this book documents Guy Chase’s faithful response to an artistic calling and his methodical engagement with the history of Christianity and the visual arts as a strategy of renewing that relationship today.

This book is edited by Dr. James Romaine and has essays by Romaine, Wayne Roosa, Ted Prescott, Albert Pedulla, and Joel Sheesley. Dr. Romaine is going to lecture at Bethel on February 26th as part of the Monochrome Plus: Guy Chase Retrospective. Here is a link to a Facebook Event invitation.

Makoto Fujimura has said, "Guy Chase’s art is full of surprises, twists, humour, candor, inventiveness and delight; Chase takes the postmodern visual language to its ends of hubris and significance; always turning our assumptions upside down. This marvelous collections of his work and essays by friends/scholars creates a humble dialogue that lays a track for generations of future artists who wrestle with art and faith."

About this book Sandra Bowden wrote, "In a time when painting is suspect as an art form, Guy Chase’s subtle nuanced paintings celebrate the hand—the paint, the brush stroke, the surface texture and the very act of making art. A conceptual thread gives a spirit of modernism, yet each piece is an invitation to come close and enter Chase’s meditative world of devotional reflection. This book chronicles his spiritual and artistic journey and is a valuable contribution to the growing collection of books on artists of faith."


As soon as this book is released, it will be available through Hearts & Minds.

Courage

New York City photographer Krystyna Sanderson has an online store up now that is featuring her piece "Courage" from our book Light at Ground Zero. As we get closer to the tenth anniversary of the horrible attacks made against our country, it is good to be able to look at  Light at Ground Zero and see how God's work of mercy was carried on behind the closed doors of St. Paul's Chapel.

The Four Holy Gospels

The artist Makoto Fujimura is quite a favorite of ours. We first featured him in It Was Good. Then he was interviewed (twice) in our book Objects of Grace. And just recently we did a small book showcasing his art alongside the paintings of Georges Rouault.

But enough about us.

This post is to let you know that Mako has recently partnered with Crossway to create a an illuminated harmony of the Gospels to celebrate the KJV's 400th anniversary. It is easy to imagine how lovely the book would be, based on the reproductions of his paintings in our Square Halo titles, but to see it in your hands is breath taking. It is like holding a new Book of Kells. It is a joy to page through and discover the decorated caps at the beginning of chapters, the marginalia gracefully littering the pages, and of course, the full paintings. My favorite of the larger works was the piece that begins the gospel according to John called In the Beginning.

Mako's art is what I'd call semi-abstract because he often brings in visual elements that the viewer recognizes—like a tree, or a fish, or a flower, etc. This made it especially delightful to page through The Four Holy Gospels. The marginalia is a combination of representational and abstract paintings. The art draws you in, making you want to discover what aspect of the text Mako is bringing out visually. There were so many of these "incidental" pieces that captured my imagination, but I was especially pleased to see the last page, where Mako had painted a blood-stained tree reminiscent of the Shalom lithograph that hangs in our home.

This amazing new book looks lovely displayed on a bookshelf, but it resists becoming merely a decoration. Seeing it makes you want to come up with reasons to take it down and read it (when my eldest daughter saw this book she commented on it by saying, "THAT'S what it should be like to read the Bible").

So I urge you, if you are able, get a copy of The Four Holy Gospels. When you read it your heart and your mind will be changed as the words of our Lord mingle with the beauty in the art. Soli Deo Gloria.

Duke Divinity School . . . and Zombies

Our book, "It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God" was included on a list "of key texts which treat the arts from a theological perspective" compiled by DITA's Director, Dr Jeremy Begbie. To see our book on the same page as books by Begbie, Dyrness, Rookmaaker, Ryken, Seerveld, etc. is quite an honor. 

But it isn't just deep thinkers about theology who are mentioning our book. Recently IWG was mentioned favorably in a response to a blog about zombies!