Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan, If I Am Only for Myself, 2020
Both Jews and Christians have embellished, investigated, and internalized their sacred texts using the art form of calligraphy for over a millennia. Recently, Luce Center Research Affiliate Jonathan Homrighausen curated a virtual exhibit, Visual Music, of fifteen works from contemporary calligraphers engaging Jewish and Christian sacred texts. In this virtual event, Homrighausen will discuss the exhibit with visual culture professor Aaron Rosen of the Luce Center, Jewish artist and calligrapher Judith Joseph of the Jewish Art Salon, and with you!
Registration is required and can be completed here.
Jonathan Homrighausen, a doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Duke University, writes and researches at the intersection of Hebrew Bible, calligraphic art, and scribal craft. He is author of Illuminating Justice: The Ethical Imagination of The Saint John’s Bible (Liturgical Press, 2018), a book tentatively titled Set Me as a Letterform: The Saint John’s Bible, the Song of Songs, and How to Look at Calligraphy (Liturgical Press, 2022), and articles in Religion and the Arts, Image, Teaching Theology and Religion, Transpositions, and Visual Commentary on Scripture. More recently, he curated a virtual exhibit, Visual Music: Calligraphy & Sacred Texts, for the Luce Center for the Arts & Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is currently teaching in Judaic Studies at the College of William & Mary, and preparing a dissertation on the ritual, metaphorical, and material significance of writing in the Book of Esther and its reception.
Dr. Aaron Rosen is Professor of Religion and Visual Culture and Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. and Visiting Professor at King’s College London, where he taught previously. He began his career at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia, after receiving his PhD from Cambridge. He has curated exhibitions around the world and written widely for scholarly and popular publications. He is the author of four books: Imagining Jewish Art; Art and Religion in the 21st Century; Brushes with Faith; and What Would Jesus See? (forthcoming). His edited books include: Religion and Art in the Heart of Modern Manhattan; Visualising a Sacred City; Encounters: The Art of Interfaith Dialogue; and Religion and Sight. He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Hospitality of Images: Modern Art and Interfaith Dialogue. His history for young people, Journey through Art, has been translated into seven languages.
Judith Joseph is a Chicago based artist whose work is exhibited internationally. She works across media: woodblock prints, painting, calligraphy and installation. Her calligraphic specialty is the Ketubah (illuminated Hebrew marriage contract). She has created several hundred as original works. Her work is inspired by nature, stories and Jewish folklore and ideas. To learn more about Judith and her work, visit her personal website or follow her on instagram at @judithjosephstudio.