Following its official launch at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia, on May 29, 2008, critics have started to weigh in on ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love (ISBN 0972114270) a coffee table gift book that showcases the work of acclaimed artist Luther E. Vann and poetry by noted author Aberjhani.

Writing in the June 4, 2008 edition of the weekly news entertainment magazine CONNECT Savannah, news editor Linda Sickler described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions. All in all, Elemental is a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.”

In her review of Vann’s exhibit at the Telfair Museum, The highly regarded art critic and painter Bertha Husband described the artist’s work as “real painting” that is “realized in the process of its creation, and the end result can often surprise the painter, himself.” She further described the style and method as a demanding one that most artists avoid because of the extensive time and “commitment to the language of painting” involved to employ it. Nevertheless, she noted, “Vann succeeds because he has a subject––the life observed in houses, on the streets and in the parks of his city––and a technique he has made his own…”

Another renowned critic and author, Ja A. Jahannes, spoke at the launch for Elemental and called it “A wondrously amazing book.” He added that, “I see the universal mind in both the painting and poetry of Elemental. The ‘universal mind’ is always multi-dimensional––there is always the physical and the spiritual. The book has fusion of here and otherworldliness.”

Vann’s exhibit is currently scheduled to remain on display at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts until September 14. His book, ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love, is available at the Jepson Center Gift Shop, at Barnes and Noble, and through Soar Publishing at http://www.soarpublishingllc.com/ .

--30--